As the old saying goes ‘the best offense is a good defense.’
The same can be said of preventing accidents when it comes to your fire sprinkler system. If you are proactive in maintaining these systems, often times you can address the issues before they cause thousands of dollars of damage.
But what happens if your system has an accident?
Are you prepared to choose the correct company that you know you can trust to fix your pipes?
Here’s how to know if you are dealing with a reputable contractor, and some methods to determine if they will be the right fit for you.
In an ideal situation, after your fire sprinkler system experiences a problem, you can turn to a trusted contractor who you have built up a strong relationship with over the period of time you have been overseeing a property.
Before a problem even occurs you will be able to draw up contracts and agree on terms for most services, so that if there is an accident you don’t have to deal with the headache of pricing and contracts. With a company that regularly maintenance your systems, you will have set terms on how quickly they should be responding to get you back up and running with the added benefit of them being familiar with your sprinkler system.
Sometimes for the right relationship, it may cost a little more; but in the long run, it will save you time and money.
If however you wait until your system breaks and attempt to find someone last minute using google, the result is going to be quite pricey.
Unfortunately some contractors may attempt to take advantage of your situation and charge you higher rates for being a new customer. That, coupled with ‘emergency’ response pricing, means you will experience some significant price gouging to get your system working again.
You also run the risk of the contractor being unfamiliar with your sprinkler system and being unable to address the root cause of the issue. This can result in more problems down the road if the solution is only a ‘bandaid’ type fix.
If you search for local fire prevention companies, the results will turn about a dozen or so companies in the local OKC metro area.
First and foremost, you should identify what the specialty of the company is. Some companies only install systems and don’t provide maintenance or inspections. Others come in after the sprinkler systems are installed and add on alarms, portables, and suppression.
There are however companies who do it all. For example, Fire Prevention Services can provide, install, service, and inspect all fire sprinklers, fire pumps, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, suppression systems, and life safety systems.
Once you have found a company, there are still a few questions to ask to determine how reputable the contractor is.
Ensure that they are licensed and insured. You can look for any company’s license number on the department of labor's website. Check under the alarm, locksmith, and fire sprinkler division to make sure that they have gone through the proper channels to get licensed and registered with your area.
Verify their physical address. Some contractors operate under the guise of being a large company, however may only work out of a single truck! You want to make sure that the company is established enough to have its own office.
Check past referrals. Always make sure that the company you are dealing with has a good track record in the local community. They should have at least a year of experience and list past jobs that they have worked on and the customer's responses to those jobs.
Identify Services. It is important to have the company provide you with a list of fire protection-related services that they offer. In addition, making sure that they provide emergency service on any day of the year is key to a quick response to accidents that may occur. With these services, they should be upfront about pricing and not have any hidden costs.
If you are still unsure, here is a list of common questions to ask a contractor when you first speak with them:
Do you provide emergency service if my system goes down 24/7?
What is the average response time if my sprinkler system has an issue?
Is there a minimum billing charge on service calls?
Do you have a company portfolio and customer references?
We hope you can find a reputable and trustworthy company to help maintain and repair your systems. If you have any more questions, feel free to give us a call!
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