'You've been served!'

You've been sued. It could have been prevented, or you could have at least had a solid defense to get you out. It's too late for that now.

That should grab your attention. That's the situation one glass shop recently found itself in, and shared what they learned the hard way so that the rest of us might avoid the same perils in the future. So, without going into the whole case, here are some takeaway points that we should all take to heart.

State your warranty clearly. Spell out what you do and do not cover, and for how long. Don't leave any room for "creative interpretations" that can be used against you. For example, this company's statement that printed on every work order and invoice read as follows: "Materials and Labor are guaranteed for one year. Insulated glass carries 5-year warranty from manufacturer, we warrant labor for 1 year." That statement is clear to people in our industry, but not so clear to outsiders. Worse, it leaves plenty of room for interpretation. In this case, the glass shop sold IGUs to a millwork company, who installed the glass in windows they were making. The glass company simply brokered the IGUs, buying them from a local manufacturer and delivering them to the millwork company. When the IGUs began to fail in the first year, the customer claimed that the glass shop was on the hook to cover their labor costs, even though the glass shop sold them no labor, because the warranty stated that labor was covered for the first year! Obviously, that was not the intent of the warranty, but the glass shop ended up with a fight on their hands, and it's a fight they could easily lose.

Avoid even the appearance of deception. The millwork company went on to claim that they were maliciously deceived by the glass company into thinking that the glass company was manufacturing the IGUs in-house. Again, the warranty statement at least implies that someone else is making them, but state it in writing on your quote for all to see.

Keep your Web site updated, and be careful what it says. This glass shop's Web site stated, "We keep all glass fabrication in-house!" But the shop doesn't make IGUs. Again, the intent of the owners was honest: they do fabricate their own glass (cut, polish, bevel. drill, etc.), and they don't manufacture IGUs and never meant to imply that they do. In hindsight, that distinction between fabricating and manufacturing could and should be more clear, lest it be used against them in court. Which it was. Read your Web site as an outsider, or better yet as a plaintiff's attorney, and see what could be misunderstood or twisted to use against you.

Choose your vendors carefully. Don't just buy on price. Does your IGU supplier have a professional operation, a clean plant and good equipment? Does your temperer routinely test their glass and log the results? Saving a few cents now can cost you in the long run, at the least in callbacks, and at worst in a jury award! If things go bad, you are going to have to explain how and why you chose that specific vendor.

Require insurance certificates from your vendors. This is the big one, the most important lesson here. The glass company in this case obtained a ruling against the IGU supplier requiring it to indemnify the glass shop. But the supplier did not have insurance in place, and no money with which to indemnify, so the glass company was left holding the bag. Don't just assume your suppliers are taking care of their business, require them to give you a certificate of insurance.

If you get sued or have a claim made against you, be involved. Don't just hand it off to your insurance company and hope that it goes away. Your insurance company is looking out for #1, despite what they might say. If there is a way for them to deny coverage, they will. They will choose an attorney for you, and that attorney probably gets a lot of business from the insurance company. Most attorneys take their obligation to you, the insured, seriously, but some might want to look good to the insurance company by identifying a way to get them out of the claim altogether, leaving you on your own. So, stay in the loop, ask questions, be involved, and be cooperative. You might also consider hiring your own attorney to look over the shoulder of the insurance company's attorney; this is an additional expense to you, but will keep everyone honest.

Our friend in this case ended up settling with the customer, but could have avoided a great deal of expense, time, and heartache if they had just known then what they know now! So now you know, and of course "you should not consider this as legal advice" and should talk to your own attorney about any and all of the above! In the end, the above is worth exactly what you paid for it.

--By Chris Mammen, president, M3 Glass Technologies, Irving, Texas

Green Phoenix? You bet.

I have spent a fair amount of time in Phoenix and never considered it a green, environmentally friendly city. The city, located in Sonoran Desert, far from its main water source, the Colorado River, sprawls 517 square miles and has a population of more than 1.5 million, ranking it the fifth largest city in the country and the largest capital city in terms of population. All of those people in all of that space use a lot of water and a lot of energy, particularly since average high temperatures top 100 degrees during the summer. And sure, it’s a dry heat, but I attended my sister’s college graduation from Arizona State University one May, and the temperature hit 115. I’ll tell you, once it’s over 100, dry heat or not, it’s just hot. Air conditioners hum to make buildings comfortable, sprinklers work to keep nonnative plants alive, and misters spray cool water mist onto shoppers in outdoor malls. Phoenix seemed to me to be an unsustainable city. And then I went to Greenbuild and learned quite the opposite.

The City of Phoenix hosted the 2009 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Nov. 11-13 in its Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified convention center. View a photo gallery of the convention center. The day-lit and glass-heavy convention center that features solar panels and sits just blocks away from the Valley Metro light rail is a perfect representation of the efforts Phoenix has taken to become an environmentally friendly and sustainable city.

"Greenbuild didn't come to Arizona by accident," Beth Vershure, executive director of the Greenbuild Arizona Host Committee, said in the Official Greenbuild 2009 Blog, according to a Nov. 13 U.S. Green Building Council release. "A strong USGBC chapter, the Valley's new light rail system, Phoenix's LEED Silver convention center addition and USGBC's recognition of Arizona's growing commitment to sustainability all factored into this decision."

According to a Nov. 7 Arizona Republic blog posting, Phoenix’s water usage has sustained the same level as a decade ago, despite the city’s population growth. Additionally, the city is beginning its 30th year of its comprehensive recycling program.

In March, the city government enacted the Green Phoenix strategy to make Phoenix “carbon-neutral and the most sustainable city in America,” said Mayor Phil Gordon in his letter for the convention catalog. “The Green Phoenix initiative … is a comprehensive, collaborative effort designed to leverage the Federal government’s emphasis on job creation, energy efficiency and economic recovery.”

If fully implemented, the three- to four-year plan would cut the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent, equal to taking 80,000 vehicles off the road, according to a March 11 article from the Arizona Republic. The plan also includes building a solar power plant on 1,200 acres at the city’s landfill in Buckeye, Ariz., and transforming Phoenix into a “solar city” by installing solar panels and solar water heaters in existing buildings and requiring them for all new facilities. Home and business owners would also receive incentives for solar panels and weatherization, according to the article.

Is Phoenix green? You bet.

--By Katy Devlin, commercial glass & metals editor

Will 2010 be a better year for the glass industry?

According to the hundreds of glass company executives who have already responded to Glass Magazine's 2010 "State of the Industry" survey, the answer is "no" by a slim margin. But the jury is still out. If you'd like to participate in this important industry survey, you have until Nov. 23 to do so. We will reveal the final results for this question and many others regarding the financial health of the North American glass industry in the January 2010 issue. Click here to take the short survey. I look forward to sharing the results.


—Jenni Chase, Editor, Glass Magazine

"Safety first" comes front and center

Anyone who ever doubted the sincerity of “Safety first” corporate value statements need only look at recent industry events to see that the phrase is more than just a catchy slogan.

In fact, safety has been driving many of the most important developments in the auto glass industry over the last few weeks.

In Vegas, Cindy Ketcherside of IGD Industries won the first Carl Tompkins Distinguished Service Award from the AGRSS Council, in recognition of her long-time dedication to enhancing industry safety.

You’ve gotta' love the mantra she has made a part of her company’s fabric: “We’re not in the auto glass business installing ‘windshields,’ we’re in the safety business of installing ‘safety-shields.’ ”

Cindy gets it.

Also recently, Allstate Insurance rolled out a new Distinguished Performers Program to recognize and reward quality workmanship within auto glass shops--a welcome initiative that shifts the emphasis from price-driven coverage to safety and quality. The NGA has thrown our support behind the effort and will be encouraging other insurers to follow suit.

Allstate is getting it.

Harvesting--the unsavory practice of proactively encouraging unnecessary installations--is gaining national attention.

Safety is at the core of the harvesting issue, along with ethics.

And here at the NGA, one company joined the association last week with the explicit goal of getting 100 of their technicians NGA certified.

At the core of their motivation … you guessed it: Safety.

I think you get the point. Safety is top-of-mind for many far-sighted executives and companies committed to instilling best practices throughout their shops. They know it’s both the right thing to do and good business.

— By David Walker, Vice President of Association Services, National Glass Association