BORGA surprises – lifetime warranty for steel halls

Without long introductions – a lifetime warranty for a steel hall? It’s hard to believe. And yet this is the option that BORGA sp. z o. o. has included in its offer. Where’s the catch?

Michał Krasowski: The problem with catches is that they are short-term and presumed to be to someone’s detriment, and this goes against our business approach. In the case of competitive companies, the most common practice is to limit the warranty: its duration or scope. The standard is a 3-year warranty period, which confirms the tendency to offer the minimum. The scope is also often limited – we usually find out about this after carefully reviewing the small print in the contract. For example, you find that the warranty only covers installation (for non-manufacturer construction companies) or is limited to specific problems with the facility.

We know of cases where a client filed a complaint with the manufacturer related to an incorrectly constructed structure: there were huge problems that affected the functioning of the hall, and their removal required large financial outlays. Please imagine that this manufacturer rejected the complaint because, according to the provisions of the contract, the construction company provided a guarantee/warranty only for assembly and certain materials. The warranty did not cover the structure. It can’t be like this! That is why for years we have preferred transparency in contracts and honesty in relationships with clients. Will you trust someone who doesn’t trust you? The lifetime warranty is a gesture of trust that we make towards the customer. We are often very surprised because the market has accustomed us to always getting the bare minimum. It’s time to end this. Why should we limit the warranty on our products?

• we have excellent designers who will adapt the project to the client’s needs and ensure that the structure meets all required standards and regulations.
• we have our own production plant, and therefore we are able to constantly control the quality of materials and construction elements.
• we have excellent specialists who are responsible for building the hall in accordance with art and at the required level.

Thanks to this, we minimize the number of elements that we have no influence on – we know what we offer and we can guarantee the quality and durability of our facilities.
By providing a guarantee, we trust that the customer:

• will use the facility in accordance with its intended purpose,
• will carry out regular inspections,
• will implement post-review recommendations.

It’s a win-win solution – everyone wins.

I understand that a lifetime warranty is your ace in the hole, but is it enough? Agriculture is a very specific area, and the requirements for storing agricultural crops are strictly defined. There is no place here for standard solutions and “copy-paste” objects. An individual approach to the client is often just a cliché that looks good in marketing terms. How to know whether the producer actually understands the farmer’s needs and is able to meet them?

Michał Krasowski: Good point. I think there are two main aspects worth considering if we want to cooperate with specialists:

• specialization – choosing a company that specializes in structures for a specific industry is a guarantee that it understands and meets the needs of its customers. If someone has only been building agricultural infrastructure facilities for years, we can assume that they know the biggest problems and know how to neutralize them.
• experience – the more experience a manufacturer has on the market, the greater the probability that it knows its customers, understands their needs and has developed appropriate solutions that work. The very fact that the company has been operating on the market for many years is the best guarantee of the quality provided, although you need to watch out for certain pitfalls. We have become accustomed to obtaining knowledge from the Internet, which is also well known to marketing specialists. Therefore, we should not trust the first impression made on us by the company’s business card, i.e. its website. Currently, the cost of a well-made website is relatively low, so this is not an indicator that can be trusted. It is much better to take a closer look at the company’s share capital. If someone offers us a structure worth hundreds of thousands of zlotys, and the company’s share capital is several or tens of thousands, a red flag should go off.

BORGA has been operating on the market for 50 years, of which we have been in Poland for 30 years. During this time, we have completed a huge number of smaller and larger projects for many different industries. Our team includes specialists in various fields, we keep up to date with changes in regulations and standards and try to implement them in advance to always be one step ahead. Agriculture is particularly close to us because BORGA comes from the Swedish countryside. It all started with the introduction of amenities and modern solutions for agriculture. We currently operate in 12 countries, where we also have our own production plants. The facts speak for themselves.

You mentioned your own production plants. You design, produce, assemble and offer a lifetime warranty yourself. Does this mean that you do not employ subcontractors to produce components? Do you hide any solutions you use, or do you not trust external companies?

Michał Krasowski: There are many “producers” on the steel hall market who have nothing to do with production. They offer facilities that only bear their own logo, because the design, components and assembly are carried out by external companies. What does such a company know about optimizing customer-specific solutions? What responsibility for the structure can we expect from her?

NO. BORGA is not about hiding its solutions, but about guaranteeing:

• Maintaining standards. A modern, automated and robotic production line ensures repeatable quality of construction elements, thanks to which each product meets the highest standards.
• Quality. We are constantly improving our designs – we are not waiting for new regulations to force us to improve their quality. For example: our structures were compliant with the EN 1090-1 standard even before the regulations came into force in the EU.

The entire process takes place in a complex with an area of ​​several thousand square meters – almost the size of two football fields. It includes production and warehouse space, along with external storage areas for materials and final products. We know what we do and what we deliver to the client, so we can take full responsibility for our designs and after that… sleep soundly.

So let’s sum up – what should you pay attention to when choosing a steel hall manufacturer?

• the company’s experience on the market and its share capital;
• whether he is also a manufacturer or just a seller;
• type and scope of warranty offered;
• does he know the specifics of the agricultural industry.

The announced subsidies for grain storage and warehouses for agricultural produce encourage people to familiarize themselves with the offers of steel hall manufacturers. It is worth considering the investment carefully and choosing a reliable partner who will support us for years. It may also be helpful to familiarize yourself with the company’s previous implementations and opinions of the company’s current clients. In addition to the above-mentioned criteria, user opinions are an irreplaceable source of knowledge and perfectly verify the promises made by manufacturers.