CUSTOMERS

Q. How do we know our systems work, are we safe?
A. Before Verified we did not know if our safety systems worked. We thought they were OK, but we needed Verified to be able to see clearly whether or not our employees were safe. Unfortunately, we found that some of our safety systems were not even being tested and many were not being tested with the right frequencies. Nevertheless, at least we now know where the problems were and can work on getting them fixed to ensure our employees will be safe should anything happen

Q. Where are our test records?
A. It was virtually impossible for us to locate our test records. With Verified, the electronic storage of all our test records, including an actual image of the test sheet, makes it very simple for us to locate them.

Q. How do we complete our form 15?
A. For one building we had over 175 test sheets (52 sprinkler test sheets, 52 pumps, 12 fire alarm, 12 evacuation, 12 smoke doors, 12 hydrants as well as extinguishers, exit doors, emergency and exit lighting etc.). It is a very daunting and time consuming task to get all this information together to be able to complete a form 15. With Verified we now just hit a button and the form 15 is completed within a couple of minutes. This saves us a lot of time and money.

Q. Who will sign our form 15?
A. We understood how difficult a task completing a form 15 was but our biggest problem was getting someone in the company to actually sign the form 15 as it is very onerous. No one was willing to put their signature on the form 15 to say that everything was OK. With the Verified form 15 all we are signing is a form that says here are our essential services, here is the testing regime we have in place and here is a list of all the completed tests. Now anyone at the company are more than happy to sign a form 15.

Q. How do we know our contractors are doing what we pay them for?
A. We had no way of checking if our contractors were doing what we paid them for except for checking every test sheet in every logbook at every building. We found that to do this for 15 buildings was actually taking one person one full day per week – that is 52 days per year! With the electronic nature of Verified, we now only spend about an hour a week looking at only the logbooks sheets that are emailed from Verified because there was a fault.

Q. How do we get our money back if we suspect that our contractors have not done all the tests that we have paid them to do?
A. We suspected that our contractors were not doing all the tests that we were paying them to do. However, we just didn’t have the resources to check our contractors. With Verified it is a simple process - when we get an invoice we just get on the Verified website and check if the tests did occur and if they are not on the website then we don’t pay them.

Q. Isn’t the contractor/facility manager responsible?
A. We were quite shocked when we found out that our contractors – despite having a contract with them – were not responsible for signing off our essential services. We are ultimately responsible – even if a contractor misses tests that we have contracted them to do.

Q. Why can’t our staff control this?
A. We were naive to think that our on-site staff would be able to control our essential services obligations. The amount of knowledge that is required to ensure compliance is quite extensive, which is why Verified proved such a great solution for us. Our on-site staff now only require minimal knowledge and are now only involved if there is something that they need to attend to such as a fault that needs to be fixed.

Q. I am paying for all these audits, so why can't I sign a form 15?
A. We were paying over $5,000 per year for yearly audits and preparation of the form 15 but we still couldn’t sign the form 15. This was mainly due to the fact that the audit only looks at what has happened in the previous 6 months – it’s history. Quite often the audits were showing non compliance, faults and incomplete testing which meant we couldn’t sign a form 15 to say that everything was OK. We needed something that told us of problems in real time.

Q. Are the regulations getting harder?
A. When we found out that the regulations were going to get harder in the near future we knew we had to do something and Verified was the solution for us.

Q. How do we control 44 essential services, 175 test records and multiple contractors across all of our sites?
A. We tried many different systems but until finding Verified we just could not control 44 essential services, 175 test records and multiple contractors (and subcontractors) across all of our sites with one tool.

Q. What about the use of PDA’s?
A. Every contractor would have to use the same PDA system for us to get the same consistent records. Also, Australian Standards require on-site logbooks to be filled in and made available on-site. PDA’s often don’t allow for signature capture (another Australian Standards requirement) and they can increase costs significantly. PDA’s may also not be able to confirm on-site attendance by the contractor. They also breakdown, are subject to flat batteries or get lost/forgotten. Verified combines the benefits of technology with a low cost and simple solution.

Q. What if we want our staff to do some of the tests?
A. We decided to reduce our maintenance costs by getting our on site staff to do some of the tests. The Verified combined logbook easily accommodated for this and actually makes the process much easier.

Q. We have multiple contractors and receive information in many different formats, how do we manage this?
A. Another issue that we use to have is that multiple contractors provide information in many different formats. The Verified system now gives us all our information in a consistent format regardless of the contractors.

 

CONTRACTORS

Q: Does my maintenance regime change?
A: No. There are no changes to the contractors maintenance regime.

Q: Do the logbooks comply with Australian Standards?
A: Yes. The forms are designed to comply with Australian Standards, with simple instructions printed on the logbook.

Q: Are there any special requirements for filling out the sheet in the logbook?
A: Yes, as the forms are designed to be scanned: they must be filled out with a black or blue ballpoint pen; handwriting must be clear and legible and all crosses are to be contained within the red boxes.

Q: Do we have to pay for postage?
A: No. All envelopes are supplied pre-paid and self-addressed.

Q: What if we run out of envelopes?
A: There are enough envelopes supplied with each logbook to cover the life of the logbook. If they become lost or damaged, please contact Verified to obtain free replacements.

Q: Do the logbooks remain on site?
A: Yes. It is a requirement of the Australian Standards that the logbooks remain on site.

Q: Do we still receive a copy of the logbook sheet?
A: Yes. The green copy can be removed and kept for your records.

Q: What happens if the original (white) sheet is lost or damaged?
A: The second copy (green copy) of the logbook sheet can be sent into Verified for scanning. A photocopy or fax is not acceptable, as it cannot be scanned.

Q: What happens if the test sheet does not get sent to Verified?
A: Verified periodically reports on completed tests. Therefore, if a sheet does not get sent to Verified, an automatic report will show a missed test.

Q: Do I still fill out my own Air Conditioning/Mech logbook?
A: Yes. However, you must also fill out the Other Essential Services sheet (crossing the A/C Mech Ventilation System box) in the combined Verified logbook also.

Q: Are there any other logbooks that need to be filled out?
A: No. The Verified logbook replaces the contractor logbooks.

Q: What about Passive Essential Services?
A: At the back of the Combined logbook there is a sheet labelled ‘Other Essential Services’ that covers 17 items, including: A/C Mech Ventilation System; Emergency Lifts; Paths of Travel to Exits; Fire Indices; Fire Resisting Structures; Fire Isolated Passageways etc.

Q: Can any other documents be sent using the Verified reply paid envelopes?
A: No. Only logbook sheets from the “Verified” supplied logbooks are to be posted. Other contractor test sheets can not be scanned into the Verified database.