Service contracts are offered as a sort of ‘comfort blanket’ where you are contracted to one company and they decommission and recommission your system and promise that you will be given priority over everyone else
• For example three visits to site over three years is three times the transport cost
• Quotations/costs for project work on site for phases 2 & 3 will be more because of inflationary factors
• Tomorrow’s money is always more expensive than today’s
In addition it is more disruptive:
• Members/players are inconvenienced while contractors are on site 3 times instead of once
• Groundstaff are given additional work over three years instead of one
• Members/players are presented with differing standards and playing conditions over a three year period
Financing, by using a finance package specifically designed to suit the customer, is, in my opinion, the ideal for the following reasons:
• It is paid to the contractor by the finance company in agreed stages and you are not pestered about payments
• Your new complete system will be up and running immediately the contractor leaves site
• Your members/players and groundstaff are only inconvenienced once
• The interest on your finance deal will probably be recouped by savings in transport and phasing costs
• You will have an agreed fixed monthly payment over the finance period, which considerable helps cashflow
• The Environment Agency’s view on leaks and water wasted
Financing the project
Once you get the initial go ahead from your employer - not an okay to install, more a ‘we will let you research the costs etc. then you can get back to us and we’ll see if we should take it further’ which is, in reality, what happens! Firstly, find out if there is grant aid available - it is worth the effort and time to research, it could save your employer a considerable amount of money. Financing in cash in one lump sum for such a project is, to many, a dream and, in my view, does not make a lot of financial sense either. Carrying out the project in phases - typically 3 - is also not ideal because it will cost more money:
Most irrigation companies will give you exceptionally good deals due to their relationship with finance companies and their promised ongoing business.
Irrigation System Service and Maintenance
Now the controversial bit! Service and agreements contracts - do we really, honestly, need them? They are offered as a sort of ‘comfort
blanket’ where you are contracted to one company and they decommission and recommission your system and promise that you will be given priority over everyone else (if your system requires attention or repair during the irrigation/summer period) at a cost of typically £600 to £800 for your average 18 hole golf course system.
Innovative thinking would suggest a much better way to spend your money is to be more in control of your own destiny. For example:
• Have your system checked out when convenient to you
• Request a full written report to be received within 14 days - this gives you time to consider alternatives on what may need to be done and by whom
• Ensure this is carried out annually - you will then have an excellent ongoing record of your system’s performance and an accurate record of the costs involved. An added bonus is that this information will satisfy the requirements for Health & Safety in record keeping and equipment maintenance
Reputable companies will only charge a nominal fee for this service and the saved money can be better spent on maintenance as required. Research, which has been carried out by our company, would suggest that the customer must be offered a choice of level of service from full maintenance cover i.e. decommission, recommission, as previously described, to call-outs for technical repairs on an ad-hoc basis at the customer’s requested convenient times.
The main point is that the customer should be given the choice and not forced into a decision based on fear of being stranded when a fault may occur in a drought situation.
Efficiently managed companies will
respond to an emergency call-out whether a service contract/agreement has been signed or not. Research also indicates a very strong case for training groundstaff to carry out basic service, maintenance and repairs to systems and would allay a lot of fears and frustrations. Good irrigation companies will offer this type of support and training free of charge when on site installing or repairing systems.
About the author: Duncan McGilvray is a former Greenkeeper and Course Manager who has been involved with membership associations and training, health and safety, course equipment sales, company
restructuring and managing an irrigation company. Now on
the ‘dark side’ Duncan can be contacted via email at:
duncan.mcgilvray@
enviroproh2o.com
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