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Hi Jonathan,
As a Board member, I can give you a little background on what we went through as we changed our mechanical maintenance contractor.
We had four bids submitted and ultimately chose Fountainhead Mechanical – they took over on April 1. Many, many questions were asked/answered via email along with a lengthy and detailed in-person walk through in advance of signing a contract with them. As for specific questions, our President (who is an engineer) asked all the right questions, while I asked the obvious ones such as:
1) Beyond the quarterly preventative maintenance visits, what is your hourly rate for additional services?
2) Do you provide detailed reports after each quarterly maintenance visit as well as after other service calls?
3) What, if any, educational requirements are in place for employees to keep up to date with industry practices and standards?
4) Will the same employee(s) be looking after our building, or will it be whatever technician happens to be available at the time?
5) What is your general response time?
6) How do you communicate with your clients?
6) Can you provide references from other similar-sized condo buildings?
7) How long have you been in business?
8) Can you provide proof of certifications, insurance, Worker’s Compensation coverage, etc.?
Fountainhead was very responsive throughout the entire process. Other than a quarterly maintenance service visit from both the HVAC technician and the plumbing technician, they have responded to a couple of intermittent issues that arose. Very responsive and amazing communication! So very different from our previous contractor. I’ve seen nothing but first-rate professionalism so far.
They use advanced QR Code Tracking Equipment software, tagging each and every piece of equipment that they are responsible. This system allows them to geo-reference the location of equipment, view customer information, view service history, instantly create a quote, etc.
They also have a customer portal so that you can log in to obtain information such as invoice, reports, etc.
We managed to negotiate a 3-year fixed rate contract.
So far, we are very pleased with our decision.
Hope this info helps.
Cheryl Stubbings
Gates II Board Secretary
