Turn Key – the Prognosis
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Makes sense, and after all that's what you are paying him for. It always amazes me why then, do people go to refurbishment experts to get assistance with their property, they listen to the advice and then very often decide that they can do the rest themselves. The result is, the property does not get the proper treatment and medication and ultimately continues to suffer.
However, like any profession, it is also going to come down to the expert you seek out for advice, and their experience. So here are a few tips on what you should expect and the expert you will require.
When seeking a turn key service for an accommodation property refurbishment project the main goal and benefit is that it should be painless for you; that means, more cost-effective, faster and more efficient than doing it yourself. That way you are free to go about your usual business and not take your eye off the service you provide and your guests.
A turn key service should be from conception to completion, meaning that when the rooms, bathroom or whatever the project might be, is handed back to you it is completely ready to start operating. A professional in the industry will visit your property, analyse the current rooms or bathroom, listen to any individual requests you have, including your plans, budget and timing constraints and take a general brief from you. After that you should be able to sit back and let it all happen.
The professional should then come back to you with designs, room layouts, specifications, colour schemes and anything else required to give you an accurate picture of what your project will look like after refurbishment and also the process and timing procedures. This will of course be accompanied by a detailed budget. Some companies do not charge for advice and so, at this point, you should not have paid anything. You should, however, be able to clearly see the benefits of using a turn key company in timing, efficiency and price.
If you then decide to proceed, and this is where you listen to the doctor's advice and let them get your property better, then you lock out time for your rooms to be handed over and sit back.
A true turn key service does not mean they will buy the furniture for you and have someone put it in the rooms. It means they will have a professional designer work with you to establish an individual design that suits your property and guest. They will have their own manufacturing capabilities and procure and manufacture all that your refurbishment requires, down to the very last detail of linen, fixtures and prints. They will have the qualified, tried and tested tradespeople under contract to carry out your works, including strip out, plumbing, electrician and carpenters for installation (not just removalists or labourers who put furniture in place) and they will, most importantly, have a site co-ordinator and/or project manager to run the project so that you should not be bothered, hear from them or notice them until the rooms are ready to hand back to you for booking out to guests.
Now that's a turn key service!
Sounds fantastic doesn't it? This should also all be provided at a rate cheaper than if you did it yourself. They are able to achieve this simply by it being their main profession and so scale of economics and efficiency means that it costs less.
One important thing to gauge the benefits is in the timing. For example, a full refurbishment of let's say, 15 rooms excluding bathrooms but including strip out, electrical, carpet, paint and install should take a professional company two working weeks. A new property fit-out is easier as not as many trades are involved, but the process and benefits are, of course, the same.
Your rooms or project, whatever the case, should be handed back to you ready to operate along with a maintenance manual for your future reference. Through this complete process, the only involvement you need to have is to hand over the rooms when expected and do a walk through on completion.
The services I have spoken about should give you a good idea what to expect and also how to gauge the expertise of the company you select. However, a few other points that will help you sort the good from the less experienced are:
Your selection of a turn key company should be based on how comfortable you feel with them and the service they are offering. In order to monitor their experience and suitability ask them:
- How long they have they been in business – of course, you want to be dealing with a company that is sturdy financially and whose history can be checked. No one can survive in any industry for a long period of time if they are not good at what they do.
- Is their expertise specific to the accommodation industry? Specific industry knowledge and experience is paramount. Products they are supplying should be of a commercial grade and these products are completely different from those that go into a domestic application. Also, advice that is given needs to be specific industry advice. Lack of industry knowledge here can cost you dearly down the track when trying to achieve your star rating and the like.
- Do they use qualified tradespeople and have they the relevant insurances in place? For your peace of mind, this should be expected of any professional company doing work on your premises.
- Do they have the team to back them? This means, will you be working with a qualified designer to help assist with your new refurbishment and will you have a project manager to take care of your project?
- Are the products they are supplying locally made, can they be easily replaced and do they have warranties? It is all very easy to supply an overseas imported product, drop it off into a room and then walk away, but what happens then? The products you are being sold should not only be commercial products but should also be able to be replaced on a one-item basis in the future. I'm sure you all know how many times just one bedside table, for example, can get damaged. If the products are made locally or come from a reputable company they should be able to be purchased one at a time, in a relatively short lead time (say, six weeks), in the same colour, style and standard as the initial product. After the project is finished, the service that is then provided is equally as important.
The prognosis: If you go to the right expert, the medicine will be easy to take and will fix your property up so it's better than new.
Amanda Beazley
John Beazley & Co
