If you know the right questions to ask when choosing and buying a canopy for your school or trust, it should be an easy, straightforward process.
But to help you with your journey, we’ve come up with our top tips to avoid buyer's regret.
Budgets are often the main driving factor for purchasing a canopy, so if you have a fixed price in mind this makes it easier to work with your supplier when it comes to negotiations.
Aesthetics and quality are also paramount. Will the canopy need to match an existing structure? If so, you need to think about how the canopy will fit in and look next to other nearby buildings and structures and what colours to choose. Your investments act as showpieces for your school – a smart-looking structure indicates you invest in quality facilities for your students, while a lower-quality option can have the opposite effect.
Do you need a clear span canopy or one with a central post for a dining canopy?
Like buying any large purchases, it’s important to do your research first.
If you can, it’s a good idea to go along to an exhibition where you can talk to reputable canopy installers; or look online and ask colleagues or your network for recommendations.
However, be careful of just choosing via a nice-looking website - as they can look promising but can operate as one-person companies who will sell the canopy but sub-out the installation to a third party.
The trouble with this arrangement is the teams are very small and they have no support infrastructure to manage your project properly, or provide a proper after-sales service should anything go wrong.
The best way to get round this problem is to check on their website to see if they have an ‘about us and our team’ page. If they don’t mention the expertise of their wider team, it’s usually an indication it’s a very small company.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that a small company may ask for a very high percentage of the cost of the canopy up front to ease their cash flow.
Once you’ve approached your companies of choice, give them as much detail as possible up front.
Photos, dimensions, access to the area and budgets as well as any specifics like colours or extra features like side walls.
This ensures their quotations will be as accurate as possible, reducing work for you later.
If you can provide even a rough budget, this also helps to ensure you get a solution you can afford.
Far from fleecing you, most companies will design their solutions to fit, as much as possible, within your available budget.
A good supplier will want to visit your school - because only then will they get the kind of information that photos can’t offer, ensuring your quote is accurate and based on your unique circumstances.
If a supplier doesn’t visit your site, it means the company is making a number of assumptions about levels and drainage that could turn out to be inaccurate and therefore go wrong in the near future.
If that happens, they’ll be approaching you for extra money to cover the cost of their oversight.
Getting them to visit site before anything has been agreed makes it unlikely that you’ll be hit with extra charges and you can push back on them if they try.
When comparing quotes, ensure that all suppliers received the same information. Suppliers who haven’t visited your school may be offering different prices, but the quote based on a site visit is going to be more accurate than a desktop price.
In addition, meeting suppliers in person enables you to make more informed judgments about what it’s like to deal with them. They’ll also often bring samples of their product so you can get a feel for what the installation will look like and its overall quality.
Unfortunately, some suppliers, especially those who don’t make a site visit, will add a provisional sum for parts of the work such as groundworks or drainage, or a deliberately vague description to gloss over poor quality or low-grade materials, or general assumptions about your project.
In this case, you need to clarify all the vague parts of the quote so you know exactly what is and isn’t included before you sign on the dotted line, to avoid getting hit with extras later ‘because we didn’t know about X,Y and Z’.
Also, ask for and check the terms and conditions. Make sure to ask:
Like any contract, small clauses can go unnoticed but can slip you up further down the line.
If you like a particular product or supplier but it’s outside your budget, don’t be afraid to ask for a deal.
They might be able to rework their design to fit your finances in a way you’re both happy with.
Suppliers are used to negotiating with contractors and their own suppliers and to some degree, it’s part of a normal commercial relationship so they won’t be surprised if you negotiate.
If you’re close to making a decision about which supplier and canopy you want to buy, it’s always worth asking around in your network about them.
If there isn’t anyone in your network, ask the supplier if they’ve completed projects near you that you can go and visit and see the quality yourself.
So, ask:
A canopy is a big investment that needs to last many years so you want to be confident your decision is the right one.
Taking these steps when procuring your canopy ensures you are more likely to end up with a product you want at a price you’re happy with, with no nasty surprises or letdowns coming after the contract is signed.