International Play Company (IPLAYCO)
Customer Assurance Checklist
Before buying It is
important to ask!
When choosing a soft modular playground supplier review this
helpful checklist of quality, safety and durability controls to ensure that
your supplier meets or exceeds these crucial commitments to you and your
project. When it comes to child safety and your responsibility good, ok or 2nd
best simply isn’t good enough. Due diligence will let you and your staff sleep
at night knowing that you have made the right choice.
Insurance
Does the manufacturer/supplier have adequate liability
insurance that is capable of handling any minor or major claim? Even if the
equipment or project may not be at fault you are obligated to defend any claims
made at your facility. Do they have adequate Workers’ Compensation and
Employer’s Liability insurance coverage (“WC&EL”) for at site installations
during the build out?
We currently carry liability insurance coverage of
$5,000,000 with Lloyds of London, an international insurance provider. Upon
request, we can provide copies of our insurance coverage as well as the contact
information for our insurance broker who is available to answer any questions
that you may have. Our manufacturing and installation personnel are covered by
appropriate WC&EL insurance. Proof
of this coverage is generally required by local city officials when obtaining
various installation permits, as applicable.
· Ask our Competitors:
Be sure to ask for a copy of their liability and WC&EL insurance policies, as well as the contact information of their insurance brokers to verify that the policies are currently effective and are in good standing.
Materials Specifications
Does the manufacturer/supplier produce the playground
locally and provide adequate safety standards, fire spread ratings, and
toxicity levels testing as required on all raw materials in order to meet local
and international standards?
Once we process your order, we will provide to you product
safety information on the materials used for your order. This valuable
information can be used by fire officials and other authorities so that the
burden of proof does not rest with you when officials request this information.
Our products meet international standards and have even been tested by
international laboratories, including very stringent French standards for
quality assurance. Product safety testing is a significant investment which we
willingly undertake in order to provide our customers with long term
peace-of-mind.
· Ask our Competitors: Request fire and safety information to ensure that the supplier’s materials meet required safety standards.
·
Engineered specification availability: Do the
products meet engineering requirements for public use in both small and larger
play structures?
For those play structures that require engineering
certification (i.e. for earthquake and other requirements), we deal with
reputable independent firms. Pricing for engineer certification can be quoted
separately, if required for your project.
· Ask our Competitors: Inquire if they have experience in dealing with engineering firms for their play structures and if they have experience with firms that can certify to local requirements. Certain states, provinces and countries require specific engineering certifications, such as California due to earthquake building codes. It is imperative that supporting documentation sent to engineers and government officials is complete and accurate, to avoid potential liability.
·
Does the supplier actually manufacture? Are they
able to provide adequate warranty, parts, and service?
International Play’s offices are comprised of over 40,000 sq
feet of manufacturing, testing, and retail development facilities. Our
manufacturing plant includes design, detailing, artwork, theming, steel
fabrication, woodworking, upholstery, framing, plastics, tooling, painting and
finishing departments as well as Robotic C.N.C milling machines. In addition to
our R & D and Retail Development Facility, we have over $1 million in
inventory and production equipment. All
this capacity is available for production, refurbishing, upgrades of existing playgrounds,
warranty, and service parts. We pride
ourselves on having the ability to move quickly on all of your new and existing
playgrounds, parts and services.
What about our
Competitors?
Inquire where the playground is manufactured and what
warranty, parts and services are available when you need them. Having to wait
on parts and service can cost you time and money and increases the risk of
untimely maintenance and repairs that may lead to safety issues which
ultimately increases your liability risk.
What level of quality and durability does the supplier use
in the playground and materials?
We use materials in our play structures that are produced to
meet or exceed North American standards for quality and durability. Some
examples include 36” diameter tube system for slides, climbs, and crawls that
allow easy access insuring safety for adults and staff to access and crawl
anywhere needed and even two guests to pass within the same tube space. In
addition our tubes are among the thickest walled in the industry with a minimum
average thickness of 3/8 – 1/2 inch for strength and durability. Our fully
enclosed netted play frame features No-Climb netting attached to our steel
frames with FRP (Fiber Glass Reinforced Polymers) rods and secured with numerous
150lb test safety ties interlaced throughout the enclosures. The structure is
then finished with Tuff Coat™ padded pipe foam with matching safety ties that
offer a safe, tidy and professional look that is also easily adjusted if
required.
Our Custom decks are fabricated with premium quality heavy
duty vinyl and use closed cell memory foam. All of our structures use only our
exclusive IPC clamps for rigidity and durability not tie wraps which are
commonly used by the majority of the competition.
Some of the materials we use are made exclusively for us and
are therefore not offered by anyone else which is just one more reason why our
equipment has become recognized worldwide for its quality and durability.
Before buying It is
important to ask!
Always take the time to do your homework, always ask for
samples of materials and inquire about installation finishes and techniques to
ensure that you are getting an “Apples to Apples” comparison. Request samples of installations that have
been around for over 5 years to get comfortable with the quality and the
durability of playgrounds provided by these suppliers.
Industry Standards
Does the supplier meet local and international standards for
the playground industry?
We meet or exceed industry safety guidelines and standards
such as ASTM, CSA/CPRA (we have certified CPRA inspectors in house), ROSPA,
TUV, and French standards. As mentioned above, we submit our materials for
rigorous testing by UL certified labs so we know what is in what we sell.
We are one of very few companies that actually build to
engineered specifications and have real world experience with larger structures
that require engineering certifications.
· Ask Our Competitors: Inquire about manufacturing standards and request product safety information to ensure that local and national standards can be met.
·
Industry
experience: What experience does the supplier have? How long have they been
in business?
Since we began in 1999 we have created a sales, design, and
production team with over 200 years of collective experience in the industry,
which provides peace-of-mind to our customers. We build every playground as if
our own children are playing on it daily. If you build it to be fun, strong and
safe enough for your own family it will meet and exceed all expectations. We
even offer a training facility where any of our customers can see and test our
equipment for themselves.
Leverage our experience in the Family Entertainment Center
world:
We would be pleased to show you what is popular, what is new
and exciting, and what stands the test of time.
We truly want all of our customers to be a huge success!
· Ask Our Competitors: Ask for information on the supplier to gauge if they will be around for a long time to come.
At Iplayco, we work hard to make your business a huge
success and your playground stand the test of time for years to come! We
consider every installation to be a long-term commitment to our customers.
Our customers include such industry giants as Disney’s Epcot
Center, Marvel Comics, Merlin Entertainment, Universal Studios to name just a
few, not to mention a number of restaurant chains, entertainment centers, theme
parks, churches, museums, fitness centers, and other family-friendly facilities
in over 60 countries and over a thousand locations worldwide.
