20 Questions for a prospective snow removal company

1)Do you have references locally?
2)Do you offer 24×7 service?
3)How do you charge – per event, per inch, seasonally?
4)What is your strategy for approaching the area to be plowed or cleared?
5)Where will you put the snow?
6)Is the property on  the providers existing route? If not, Do you have existing snow removal accounts nearby?
7)How soon can you service my account when it snows? For when salting or sanding is required?
8)What is the trigger for starting to plow – how many inches or what specific condition?
9)How does the contractor monitor the weather in the area?
10)Do you have back-up plans in place to make sure my property is serviced on time? If so, what are they?
11)How would you approach getting the target snow removal area ready for snow?
12)Do you have insurance covering damage to the properties you plow? What is the amount of the policy?
13)In the case that your equipment fails to operate, what is your corporate disaster recovery plan?
14)Has your equipment passed all mandated safety checks?
15)Are you in compliance with local rules regarding the licensing of snow removal services, such as registration?
16)What type of salt or deicer do you use?
17)Do you have the Material Safety Data Sheets for any deicing chemicals that will be appilied?
18)What are the payment terms (credit, cash, check, net terms) offered?
19)When multiple passes during a snow event are required, do they count as seperate plowing incidents?
20)If needed, do you make a second trip to clear berms left by street plowing equipment?