Understanding basic Door Service maintenance agreements / contracts for commercial & Industrial properties. 
Servicing your door equipment is very important, no different to getting your car serviced, you need to for the added safety aspect of making sure that your equipment is safe & reliable, which is critical to the keeping of a workplace safe, especially when you consider some car park & loading dock roller shutter doors range in at between 150kg to 500+kg operating above your head. One would imagine you wouldn’t want that to fail, collapse & cause injury or death. 
So now you would look at the need for a service contract to help prevent this type of instant from happening.                                                                                   You would be posing a few questions like:
  • Who? Do I use or get to do my services & maintenances
  • What will the costs be – How much?
  • How can I save time & effort
  • What’s involved in my services
  • Am I locked into using one service provider
  • How frequently do I need the door serviced 
Who? Well here is where it all starts, a lot of professionals in the corporate world will automatically look at large companies they find on the Internet & or whichever companies pop up first with a professional look / structure. “Be Wary of this” as over the recent years there as been a few large companies that have dabbled in the “One Stop Shop” mentality & failed, due to the fact they have been operating in a field that is beyond their core business, this has resulted in poor service delivery to the end customer & resulted in consumers ending up in costly repair bills as well as major down times. After 23 years in the industry I have seen a lot of this happen across Melbourne & Sydney.
So my advice when choosing Who, look at the small business to medium sized business services, because that’s where the old style of service comes into reliability, honesty & true customer service. – Speak to your colleagues, look at the recent history of your company’s service providers, take notice of the small business contacting you, look over their necessary insurances etc.,

What will the Costs be – How much?  Costs per service agreement depend upon which sized company you go with as well as the obvious of what and how many door equipment are you getting serviced.
A larger company has to factor in their overheads & will also look at what call out potential you have to offer them in breakdown works & the odd company will look at the service as a fill in for technician fill ins,
The small business will look at your service needs as to what to keep you happy in all aspects from safety requirements & operational value.
For a cost effective value you can save from between $20.00 to $80.00 per service, which in long-term aspects could be hundreds to thousands of dollars over all.
 How can I save time & effort?  In simple terms “You can’t” because in order to save & get the right service you should advertise the need for the right services so as you can get the best out of what you need for the right price.
If you have multiple sites put out a tender & scan through what’s on offer.
What’s involved in my service?  Your service should be outlined completely per your equipment type From what is required for inspection, what can & should be adjusted, what access is required, will any doorways need to be blocked during this period to pedestrians or vehicles, these are necessary to help in relation to your business operation etc.
Am I Locked into using one service provider? A simple answer is No; also if any company is trying to force you into only using them you are running the risk of being over charged for parts & services in a breakdown situation, My personal advice is that you should reserve the right to get as many quotes from other service providers in the event of breakdowns – this way you are keeping many companies honest regardless of size.
Many door types have interchangeable parts of general usage; there are times when you will have issues especially in new door warranty periods
How frequently do I need the door serviced? The frequency of services will depend on a few factors, the volume of usage of the door is a general rule of thumb, the type of door & what type of equipment is used in conjunction of the door, this should be outlined in your service quote – always discuss this point thoroughly!
These comments should be taken as a guide only & of your decisions should based on your own research, the more questions you ask the better understanding you will have, along with a better service, please note that none this can I reference to any other industry as each industry has its own operating differences etc.