How do I check a greenhouse’s equipment maintenance and repair records?
Ask for records on the heating, fans, vents, curtains, irrigation, controls and any backup power, then compare them with the equipment itself. Look for regular servicing, repeated repairs and long gaps, and ask what has failed during a crop and how quickly it was fixed.
In a greenhouse, one failure can damage a crop within hours, so the records matter. Ask for service logs and repair invoices for each system. Look for regular checks before the heating season and before summer heat, and for notes on what was replaced. Repeated repairs to the same item may mean it is near the end of its life.
Walk the structure with the records. Check heaters and burners, fans and louvres, curtains and motors, the control system, pumps and lines. Look at the glazing or film, frame joints and doors. Ask what the seller does if power fails or a controller stops working, and whether a backup exists and has been tested. Ask what a bad night has cost in the past.
Ask which equipment is oldest and what the seller would replace first. Request a list of spare parts and the names of local technicians who know the system. Have a technician inspect the main systems with you, and ask your accountant to show how upkeep appears in the books. Your lawyer can confirm which items are owned outright. Ask also who is on call during a cold night or a heat wave, because the people matter as much as the machines.
Key takeaways
- Match service logs and repair invoices for each system to the equipment itself.
- Ask what failed during a crop, how fast it was fixed and what it cost.
- Find out whether a backup for heat and power exists and has been tested.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
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