4 things to look for in a national washing provider

Companies with property and assets spread across New Zealand face some unique challenges.

One of the biggest is travel. Visiting sites regularly is not a realistic option, which means that many property managers are only able to visit each site once or twice each year. However, they’re still responsible for keeping their properties well maintained and need the assurance that it’s being done to the highest possible standard.

To help give you confidence when selecting a nationwide washing provider, here are the top four aspects to consider.

1. Reporting

Reporting is essential for the success of any nationwide project. You need to have confidence that you will get accurate, regular and reliable information throughout the project. And, if there’s anything untoward, it’s important to know immediately. Some answers that good reporting provides include:

Is your project underway?
Are your projects being done to the required standards and quality?
Is there other valuable information an onsite team can provide?

A good nationwide washing contractor should be able to demonstrate they have robust systems in place to ensure good communication, including comprehensive reporting.

2. Subcontractors

Establishing and maintaining a nationwide business is a resource-hungry operation. As a result, some companies choose to use subcontractors in some, or all, of their regions. While this isn’t wrong per se, businesses sometimes don’t realise they’re staking their brand and reputation on the loyalty and behaviour of the subcontractor (or the subbie’s subbie!).

We advise clients to request a list of all subcontractors, including which subbies will be used and where. It’s also important to conduct the same due diligence on them as you would for the head contractor. This way, you know who will actually be doing the work and be confident you’re minimising the chances of any nasty surprises.

3. Safety

Managing safety on a single site is difficult enough. Successfully managing safety for multiple sites spread across the country requires a well-refined system. To ensure you don’t fall foul of any health and safety laws or regulations, ask your contractors to explain their safety systems, including how they ensure the safety of their team members.

And, don’t be complacent if a contractor waves one of many possible certifications in your face, such as SiteSafe or Appcon. These are sound, but they can also hide a lot. There’s no substitute for quizzing one of the team members on their understanding of the safety system they’re operating under. And, returning to point 2 for a moment; if your contractor is using subcontractors, what is their process for managing their subbie’s health and safety and how can you be confident it is followed? Be sure to ask the hard questions!

4. Quality

Like all the points above, quality challenges are amplified with geographic constraints. Ask your nationwide washing provider to describe how they will manage quality assurance and how you, as the client, will be kept informed. Don’t take the contractor’s word that they will do a good job at face value. In short, be prepared to ask hard questions of your contractors. Where possible, choose face-to-face or verbal discussions, so the contractor needs to respond with on-the-spot questions. More immediate answers often reveal the truth more accurately than a considered, written response.