Access (No Longer) Denied

The installation of access panels beneath kitchen and bathroom sinks offers a number of advantages to pest management professionals involved in the termite market, including ready access to bath traps and other areas where termites frequently enter homes. However, veteran PCO Paul Hardy says such benefits pale in comparison to the reason every home treated by Orkin Pest Control must have access panels installed in “termite-sensitive” areas. “We require our technicians to put one in each bathroom and underneath the kitchen sink,” Hardy says. “There are no exceptions.”

Why is Orkin so adamant about including access panels in its residential termite treatment specs? After all, no matter how easy the installation process, it takes both time and money to install the plastic panels, which are available from Diversified Plastics Inc. in Sand Springs, Okla. “Since implementing the policy in the spring of 1996 (the policy was made mandatory in 1997), we’ve reduced our retreat rate from 14 to 4 percent,” Hardy says, “and it’s in part because we started installing the access panels in all of our residential accounts.”

AN OBVIOUS CHOICE. Orkin first considered including access panels in its residential termite specs after analyzing its claims history over a five-year period. What company officials discovered is about 90 percent of all termite problems serviced by Orkin Pest Control develop on the outside of the home, around foundation walls. And although the remaining 10 percent of termite problems surface in the interior of the home, that’s the area that is the most expensive to replace and repair.

“After reviewing the results of our own internal audit, we determined we could cut our retreat rates by as much as 10 percent if our technicians could gain access to the utility pipes in homes to conduct a thorough visual inspection. We figured that would be the easiest, most economical way to reduce our retreat rates and save money,” Hardy says, “and we were right.”

The company typically installs 8- by 8-inch plastic panels from Diversified Plastics in its residential accounts, although on occasion Orkin purchases larger, custom-designed units for particularly challenging accounts. Three units are installed in a typical home. “We just include the cost of the panels in the cost of the service,” Hardy says. “We don’t charge separately for the parts and labor. We figure the panels easily pay for themselves by reducing our retreat rates.”

Hardy says all company technicians are trained in the proper installation of the access panels, which require a keyhole saw and several screws to attach to the wall. “They’re not very difficult to install, so it’s a relatively error-free process,” he observes.
 
SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS. Larry Hiner, vice president and co-owner of Diversified Plastics, says he’s been providing access panels to Orkin and other progressive pest control companies for many years. “It’s not anything new, but it’s only been the past few years that the industry has come to understand that my company’s access panels can save them money. The cost of the panels is negligible when you consider what they save the typical PCO in the cost of chemicals and technician time to retreat a home,” he says.

The units are available in six sizes and come with hardware to enable quick and easy installation. All units come with a tamper-resistant option to prevent children from gaining access to wall voids and other out-of-the-way locations.
“The access units have helped reduce the threat of litigation in recent years so now they’re mandatory, not optional, on all residential accounts,” Hardy says. “A technician could lose his job if he doesn’t install the units in an account or installs them improperly. We think they’re that important to maintaining our company’s residential termite control standards.”

“Just because a PCO has listed ‘inaccessible’ on his inspection form, won’t necessarily keep him from ending up in court,” Hiner adds. “If the access panels prevent even one lawsuit they’ll pay for themselves, so we think it’s a good investment for pest management professionals.”

To learn more about the various styles and sizes of access panels available from Diversified Plastics, contact your local distributor or call Larry Hiner at 800/245-2597. You can also access the company’s site at www.pestworld.com/dplastics.

The author is publisher of PCT magazine and can be contacted via e-mail at dmoreland@pctonline.com