Commercial snow removal: what to set up before winter

Every winter, commercial property managers who did not set up snow removal contracts in fall find themselves scrambling after the first significant storm. By then, reputable companies have full routes and limited capacity to take on new accounts. The properties that end up with unreliable service or no service at all are almost always the ones that waited.

Here is what to have in place before the first storm.

A seasonal contract, not on-call service. On-call snow removal means you are competing with every other property in the area for a crew that may already be overcommitted. A seasonal contract puts your property on a defined route with a committed response window. You pay whether it snows or not, but you get guaranteed service when it does.

Clear dispatch triggers. Your contract should specify the accumulation threshold that triggers a service visit. Common thresholds are one inch, two inches, or three inches. The right threshold depends on your property type and your liability exposure. A retail center or medical office with high foot traffic at opening time has different needs than a warehouse that opens at 7am and has a flexible crew.

Defined service scope. What exactly does your snow removal contract cover? Parking lot plowing? Walkway and entrance clearing? Ice melt application? Roof clearing? Make sure the scope matches the needs of your property. Gaps in the scope become gaps in service when conditions are bad.

Response time and completion window. When does your property need to be clear? Before business hours? By a specific time? A contract that does not define a completion window is a contract that does not guarantee anything. Get a committed window in writing.

Emergency contact. Who do you call at 5am if the lot is not plowed and you open in two hours? Make sure you have a direct contact number for someone who can actually dispatch equipment, not just take a message.