Using Satisfaction Ratings to Minimize Risk

 

Warranties in the construction industry have become more prevalent in the last couple of decades. Moreover buyers in the construction industry rely heavily on the length of the warranties for the purchase of any product or service. The warranty is an agreement between the buyer and the manufacturer and has inclusions that if altered voids the warranty. Hence the length of the warranty has no correlation to the actual performance of the product or service being purchased. One of the manufacturers in the construction industry, in order to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers, approached the researchers to implement a system that can better assist and serve their end users beyond just providing a warranty. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the warranty tracking program that tracks the installed roofing projects for the manufacturers providing an overall snapshot of the performance of all the installed projects. The warranty tracking program provides the manufacturer the risky projects (leaks, blisters, end-user dissatisfied) with the use of end-user customer satisfaction every year. The researchers also implemented the high performance roofing program and a performance-based licensure process to attract high performing applicators. Since the inception of the warranty tracking program the manufacturer has been able to resolve 69 out of 70 (98%) risky projects. In conclusion, the warranty tracking program provided the manufacturer a better way to assist and serve their end users through proactive resolution of risky projects.

Keywords: Applicator, Manufacturer, Performance information, Risk minimization, Satisfaction rating.