After a winter like the 2020-21 season, many property owners and managers are evaluating their snow contractor’s performance. Did business operations continue seamlessly? Were tenant complaints minimal? And most critical of all, were liability risks eliminated?
Snow Contractors must be effective at mitigating both winter weather and risk. Consider these three important questions when selecting a snow pro –
- Are they self-performing or sub-contracting? If they’re using sub-contractors, are they passing all liability to the sub-contractor & is the sub-contractor adequately insured, staffed, and do they have dedicated equipment?
- Does the contract outline the scope of work as well as the level of service?
- Have they allocated the proper amount of equipment and materials to keep on-site, or will they be transferring equipment in-storm?
Passing The Buck
National facilities management companies are continuing to emerge in the snow industry but does their size and national presence equal better qualification? And better yet, what’s the real reason they’re consistently the lowest bidder and/ or matching the lowest price?
In most cases, these national management companies subcontract the work to local owner-operator businesses. To protect itself, the management company utilizes a subcontractor agreement that passes all liability to the owner-operator using a hold-harmless clause. These smaller contractors (often without recognizing it) have indemnified both the property owner and the management company from liability. However, without being adequately insured or equipped themselves, it leaves them personally liable.
So if a snow contractor is coming in at extremely low rates – beware – and try to determine the reason. Ask: If the contractor/ subcontractor can’t properly cover costs –
- Will they reliably show up for every event?
- Will they use an appropriate amount of de-icing material?
- Will the property be adequately staffed, especially for shoveling sidewalks, entrances, emergency exits, and fire hydrants?
Live & Die by Processes
Highly effective snow contractors have a process for everything. They will have a process for quoting your property, pre-season planning and training, site mobilization, and in-season documentation. If a Contractor cannot provide you with satisfactory strategies for each of these processes, this should be a tell-tale sign of the performance that will follow during the winter season.
We also mentioned outlining both the scope of work and the level of service. What’s the difference? The scope summarizes the services, such as snow clearing and ice management, as well as the specific areas that will be serviced. The level of service will outline expectations for surface conditions and may even define timeframes. Finally, is there a job completion verification system in place? It’s important to have a comprehensive contract that specifies both scope of work and level of service so that nothing is left to interpretation during an event.
‘In Route’ is Not What You Want to Hear
Being part of a snow route may not be a problem for higher-tolerance properties. What do we mean by this? Perhaps businesses that only need the property cleared before their 9-5 operations, properties with low customer-traffic, and who aren’t reliant on non-stop distribution.
However, if the property requires constant service during any size event, including protective thaw/ refreeze service, adequate equipment and materials should always be stored on site. The contract may even want to outline at what point staff will arrive on site with impending winter weather (this falls under the ‘level of service’ category). To learn more about a proactive approach to allocating equipment, personnel, and materials, check out this winter services article.
Selecting a snow pro is not one size fits all. And unlike projects that have a definitive completion, the snow contract is designed to last at minimum, an entire season. Therefore, you need to select a reliable partner with whom you see a long-term working relationship.
