Each customer site should be evaluated, and adjustments made for the back half of the snow season to run as seamlessly as possible. This article offers seven major actions that need to be taken to get your site inspection program tuned up, which in turn will help your operation run at peak performance during the short window of opportunity winter brings in most markets.
Before any snowfall, all sites should be staked and marked as needed. This will ensure your contract specifications and customer expectations match. The community will also realize that you are prepared and ready once they see the stakes at all the curbs and fire hydrants.
The software industry has considerably improved the applications available to see satellite images of properties. These new programs allow you to mark up and send pictures to your drivers and shovel crews so they understand the location and scope of work clearly. Amid any winter weather event, backup documentation must be available to maintain the scope of work requirements. What if some or all the location stakes, for whatever reason, disappear between events? The surefire backup plan is to use colorcoded site maps.
Color-coded maps ensure that all teams, from sidewalk crews to loaders, can execute at peak efficiency during the heat of battle without having to call HQ for scope of work clarifications. If the client comes out during an event, the driver and shovel teams can confirm specs with accurate, approved maps that have been signed off on.
When using subcontractors and backup drivers, ensure all speed bumps and storm drain locations are noted and marked as priorities on crew route sheets and color-coded maps. By clearly indicating these locations, teams can easily avoid storm drain backups or speed bump damming during typical melting and refreezing over subsequent days.
For your ice control follow-up teams to be most effective, reviewing and understanding the sundial locations on the properties you service is critical. This knowledge will help your teams control melt and refreeze situations that will likely occur for a few days after each event. Pay particular attention to properties with hills and highly shaded areas. The following day, these should also be marked and located on your maps for the salt teams’ work. Ensure all drains and storm curbs are labeled and placed on your master maps.
Parking after a significant snow event (particularly in communities where parking is already limited) can become a major issue for residents. If there are insufficient open-ground areas adjacent to the paved parking area to stack snow, parking spots will need to be utilized to relocate the snow. The locations and parking spots that will be lost must be identified and agreed upon with your client before the first snowfall. These locations must be placed on maps as priority issues during the event.
Pushing and piling snow in parking spaces where parking is already at a premium will likely cause significant frustration for clients and tenants. This is particularly troublesome if the management company or the budget don’t allow for stacking or off-site relocation. Parking issues are usually the most significant complaint, especially as residents return home after work in the cold and dark and can’t find parking near their homes or in their community. Bottom line: work with the management company and your team to plan where snow will be moved and stacked before it becomes a problem.
Temperature readings during snow and ice events are critical documentation should a client decide to initiate a legal battle with you for neglecting their property after they declined an ice control visit that you recommended. Document the temperature during and after every snow removal and ice control visit. A simple, inexpensive electric temperature gauge costs about $35 — a small price to pay should a client decide to battle you in court.
Remember the adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words?" In our industry, this valuable nugget of wisdom is especially valid. With digital devices available in almost everyone’s hands, capturing and recording goodquality photos of everything at each site visit should be a major priority.
Assigning a recording device (smartphone, tablet, etc.) to each crew may cost about $350 each but will be used much more than you think. Each photo’s time and date stamp allow for easy identification once the photos are uploaded to your computer or network server. Create a company policy that every time a crew touches a location, they need to take photos of all areas before work starts and after it is completed—no exceptions. This guarantees that you have accurate documentation for the quality of work performed.
This is valuable for internal training and potential client disputes that may arise. Also note that in some states, the company must provide tablets and not load or use personal cell devices for company work. Check into this so you don’t have any surprises.
In summary, figure out what works best for your company, depending on the level of expectations you and your clients have regarding documentation and accountability. Several software companies provide great mapping and measuring technology that you should investigate.
Starting today, begin putting together a simple site inspection playbook. And I’m reminded of what my trainer at the gym always tells me about a new workout routine, "A year from now, you’ll wish you had started today" and "If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way…if it’s not, you’ll find an excuse!" Once you make a habit of this type of planning and review, you will find yourself adjusting the plan every season with new ideas and requests from your staff and clients. This is not a destination…it’s an ongoing journey. Happy winter.
Mike McCarron is president and founder of Image Works Landscape Management, a commercial landscape maintenance and snow removal firm in the Northern Virginia market. He has 20+ years of industry experience. Email him at mike@imageworkslandscaping.com.