Digger hire in Norwich
If you are looking for digger hire in Norwich, the only real question is which size fits your access and your dig. We run two machines from our depot on Colegate (NR3): the 1-tonne JCB 8008 CTS micro digger at £75 per day, which retracts to 700 mm and goes down a terraced side passage, and the 4.8-tonne JCB 48Z-1 zero tail swing mini excavator at £200 per day for driveways, footings and bulk muck-away. Both prices include VAT, delivery is £1 per road mile, and the online calendar shows genuine live availability rather than a request form.
JCB 8008 CTS (1t) and JCB 48Z-1 (5t)
Including VAT. Delivery £1 per road mile.
Weekly hire: £300 for 7 days — pay four days, keep it for seven. Weekend hire (Friday afternoon to Monday morning) is charged as a single day.
- Micro digger
- JCB 8008 CTS — 1t, £75/day
- Mini excavator
- JCB 48Z-1 — 4.8t, £200/day
- Plant trailer
- Ifor Williams LM166 — £45/day
- Operator
- Trained operator — £200/day
- Delivery
- £1 per road mile from NR3
- Depot
- 51 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1DD
What it is good for
- Rear-garden landscaping through a narrow side passage (1t)
- Extension and garden-room footings (1t or 5t depending on depth)
- Driveway excavation and full site strip (5t)
- Drainage runs, soakaways and utility trenching
- Pond digs, stump removal and fence post holes (1t)
- Bulk muck-away, farm tracks and yard work (5t)
Where we deliver
Delivered and collected by us from the Norwich depot (NR3) at £1 per road mile, worked out on real driving distance to your postcode. Sites 40 road miles or further from the nearest depot carry a two-day minimum hire.
- Norwich
- Thorpe St Andrew
- Sprowston
- Hellesdon
- Costessey
- Taverham
- Drayton
- Hethersett
- Wymondham
- Aylsham
- Wroxham
- Acle
Who covers what.
No surprises after you book. This is exactly where our responsibility ends and yours begins on insurance, deposits and damage — the same wording as our hire agreement.
You cover the machine while it's on your site
Plant is not automatically insured by us once it leaves the depot. You need hired-in plant cover for the full replacement value (theft and accidental damage included), or you accept liability for loss and damage yourself. We may ask to see evidence of cover before we deliver.
No separate security deposit
We don't hold a damage deposit or take a card pre-authorisation. You pay the hire and delivery total up front — by card at checkout or bank transfer — and nothing further unless damage, loss, missing fuel or extra days are chargeable after collection.
Misuse and accidents are yours, breakdowns are ours
From delivery until collection the machine and attachments are your responsibility. Damage from misuse, neglect or an accident is charged at the reasonable cost of repair, and full replacement value if it's lost, stolen or written off. Fair wear and tear or a genuine mechanical breakdown is on us — stop work, ring the depot, and we'll repair or swap the machine as fast as we can.
Back clean and refuelled
Machines arrive serviced, clean and full of fuel. Return them the same way. If a machine comes back excessively dirty or short of fuel we charge the reasonable cost of cleaning or refuelling — no arbitrary penalty fees.
Access, services and competent operators
You confirm safe, legal access for our transport, mark or trace underground services before digging, and make sure only competent, trained operators use the machine. If we can't deliver or collect because access is blocked or nobody's on site, a wasted-journey charge equal to the delivery cost may apply.
Free to cancel up to 48 hours before delivery
Full refund outside 48 hours. Inside 48 hours we may keep one day's hire for the lost slot and transport. Date changes are free subject to availability.
Read the full hire terms →Digger hire Norwich — FAQs
How much is digger hire in Norwich?
The 1-tonne JCB 8008 CTS micro digger is £75 per day including VAT and the 4.8-tonne JCB 48Z-1 mini excavator is £200 per day including VAT. On top of that you pay £1 per road mile from our NR3 depot, which inside the Norwich ring road is usually £3 to £8, so a single day in the city typically lands at £78 to £83 for the micro or £203 to £208 for the 5-tonne. Nothing is added afterwards — the booking page shows the full total before you pay.
Which size digger should I hire?
Measure the narrowest point the machine must pass and work from there. Under about 750 mm and the 1-tonne micro is your only option; it digs to 1.71 m, which covers patios, ponds, drainage and garden-room footings. If you have driveway or double-gate access of roughly 2 m or more and you are moving real volume — a driveway, extension footings, deeper trenching — take the 5-tonne, which digs to 3.71 m and will finish in a day what the micro takes three to do. Send Brian a photo of your access on 07359 365 679 and he will tell you which one fits.
Do you deliver diggers across Norwich and Norfolk?
Yes. Our yard is in the city centre, so anywhere inside Norwich is a short run, and we deliver across Norfolk — Wymondham, Dereham, Aylsham, Wroxham, Great Yarmouth and the surrounding villages — at £1 per road mile from NR3. Sites 40 road miles or further from the nearest depot carry a two-day minimum hire so the transport makes sense both ways.
Can I hire a digger for one day in Norwich?
Yes — there is no minimum hire period in Norwich or anywhere within 40 road miles of the depot. Plenty of our hires are single-day garden jobs. If you want the dig finished properly first time, a trained operator is £200 per day with the 8008 CTS, which often works out cheaper than two days of self-drive.
Are the diggers fuelled and ready to work?
Every machine leaves the yard serviced, checked and full of fuel, and there is no fuel surcharge or refill charge on return. We walk you through the controls at handover and leave you the depot number in case anything comes up on site.
How much is delivery?
Delivery is £1 per road mile from our Norwich depot (NR3), charged on genuine driving distance to your postcode rather than a flat zone rate — so a job five minutes away costs a fraction of one an hour away. The booking page works the cost out live from your postcode before you pay, and all prices include VAT. Sites 40 road miles or further from the nearest depot carry a two-day minimum hire.
Do I need a licence or ticket to use it?
There is no legal requirement for a licence on private domestic work, and our machines go out on a self-drive basis to competent operators. On commercial and CDM-regulated sites your principal contractor will normally expect a CPCS or NPORS card for excavator operation. If you would rather not operate it yourself, we can supply a trained operator with the JCB 8008 CTS for £200 per day — just ask when you book.
What happens if something goes wrong on site?
Every machine leaves us serviced, fuelled and checked, and we walk you through the controls at handover. If a machine develops a genuine fault during your hire, call the depot and we will repair or swap it — you are not charged for downtime that is our fault. You are responsible for the machine while it is on your site, so it should be immobilised and secured overnight, and any accidental damage or loss is chargeable.