Choosing a Dealer

There are a variety of sources you can turn to to purchase or obtain garage door products, the most popular of which is the door dealer professional, such as an International Door Association (IDA) Dealer. IDA Garage door dealers are often the most reliable and dependable source for several reasons. These include experience, knowledge and - most importantly - the fact that IDA Dealers make their living by selling, installing and servicing door systems.

Safety: A Primary Concern
A garage door is often the largest moving object in a home or commercial business facility. An improperly installed door and operator system can exert tremendous force when the door closes. This could lead to the entrapment of children or adults and subsequent injury - or worse. Therefore, selecting the right person to install and service your door and/or operator is an extremely serious decision. It is not one that should be taken lightly!

There are thousands of door dealers in business today. What can you do to assure yourself of selecting the right one? We've provided these five checkpoints for you to use:

1.	Experience Of all the five checkpoints, this is perhaps the easiest to validate. How long has the company been in business? If a new company, do the principals have experience in the door and operator industry? How much?
2.	Workmanship This may be the most important checkpoint. And it is also easy to verify. Does the door dealer have satisfied customers? If so, do they have letters of recommendation from their customers? Depending on the project, you may want to talk to a customer or two.
3.	Code and Regulatory Compliance There are numerous requirements pertaining to safety and the installation of a garage door system. Federal, state, and local codes and regulations must be followed. Ask the dealer you select about how they comply with the codes in your city.
4.	Insurance Coverage It is important to you that the door dealer carry proper insurance on their business and employees. One checkpoint is to ask for a copy of the company's Certificate of Insurance. If they don't have one or hesitate to comply with your request, it could be a negative signal.
5.	Financial Integrity Depending on the size of your project, financial integrity of a door dealer can be very important. Although this is a sensitive issue, a dependable, honest door dealer won't mind telling you about the basic financial integrity of their company.

Selecting the right door dealer is as simple as asking a few questions. The most important deals with the issue of reliability. Is the dealer dependable, trustworthy, and safety-conscious? These questions take only moments to answer, and yet they can help you avoid tremendous problems in the future.