On buying tools for the sanitarian.

One topic we should have written about long before now is how to purchase and maintain portable testing equipment. Since we started this column and our small instrumentation workshops for state affiliates, we have heard from many of you about unpleasant experiences with various suppliers and vendors, as well as about poor purchasing decisions. After all this time, you'd think we would know better, but we, too, seem to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Enough.

After we'd ticked off our collection of errors, blunders, and boners, it dawned on us that there has to be a better way of doing things. So, taking a page from a how-to-book on making capital purchases and setting up preventive maintenance programs for institutions, we finally have some semblance of a protocol for buying the equipment we write about.

Let's start from the beginning. Axiom Number 1: The only difference between purchasing portable or other small testing tools and purchasing larger capital or fixed equipment is size. The principles and practices are the same. Axiom Number 2: There is no difference between principles of preventive maintenance for portable field-testing equipment and principles of preventive maintenance for any large dishwasher; ventilation system; package sewage treatment plant; point-of-use water purification unit; or state-of-the-art, fully computerized, rotating-rack convection oven. Preventive maintenance is preventive maintenance.

The most important factors in a good service life are the decisions you make before purchase. Repair and calibration services are sometimes remote. They may be difficult to obtain, and they may not always be timely in their response. Good planning before the purchase of any portable testing equipment can minimize interruption of use caused by a breakdown or a delay in service.

Prepurchase Planning

When buying portable environmental testing equipment, consider the following issues, at a minimum, before making your purchase decision. Remember that the low bid may not always be the best buy.

History

Consider the history of the product and that of its vendor or supplier. Generally, the longer a product has been on the market and the longer a vendor or supplier has been dealing with any particular piece of portable testing equipment, the better the chances are of timely service and uninterrupted use in the event of a breakdown. It's also valuable to ask for user references to learn more about the nuances of the equipment you are planning to purchase. A quick call to a fellow sanitarian who has experience with equipment should provide honest insight about overall value and utility.

Service Plan

Is a service plan available both for scheduled maintenance and for calibration? Factory service and calibration usually are guaranteed. Often, loaner equipment is available for the duration of the service period, and it is far easier to deal with a single source than to go through an intermediary.

Compatibility

Is the equipment you are about to purchase compatible with the equipment and supplies you already own? Most portable electronic equipment, for instance, runs on batteries or requires periodic recharging. Consider the economy you achieve by stocking one type of battery for most of your field equipment and having rechargers with multiple uses. Try to steer clear of any proprietary power source. Also, will the new equipment come with similar service and operate within parameters similar to those of your existing equipment? Compatibility is particularly important if continuity is required.

Availability

If the equipment is readily available, purchases and replacements can be made in a timely fashion. This consideration also applies to availability of parts and expendable supplies provided by the vendor or supplier.

Warranties and Guarantees

Not all warranties and guarantees are alike. Read the fine print to be sure of uninterrupted service, replacement, and repair within the first year of use. If this level of service is not possible, compare the warrantees or guarantees offered by various vendors and go for the best deal. Make certain that equipment purchased in 1999 is guaranteed to be Y2K compliant.

Discounts

Is the vendor or supplier willing to give a discount? Service and expendable-supply contracts are particularly negotiable. Also, look at various payment structures and try to negotiate one that best meets your budgetary circumstances.

Trade-Ins

Does the vendor or supplier provide any trade-in options? Believe it or not, worn-out or obsolete equipment may have a trade-in value. Even vendors that do not provide trade-in options generally know of some business that is willing to buy your used equipment.

Shelf Life

Ask about shelf life. This consideration is particularly important for equipment that has an integral power supply or uses a wet processing method or low-level radiation source. Some sensing elements may be effective for only 12 to 14 months after manufacture. Even a new-in-box unit may not work properly if it has been sitting too long in the vendor's or distributor's warehouse.

Storage Conditions

Are any unusual storage conditions necessary for maintaining the equipment? If the equipment is portable, can it be damaged by being kept in the trunk of a car during extremes of temperature and humidity? Consider how you would normally use and transport this equipment and ask your questions accordingly.

Standards Compliance

Is the equipment in compliance with regulatory and safety standards? Consider the use to which the unit will be put, and ask the following questions: Is this equipment certified to a traceable standard, and, if it is to be used for legal purposes, is it accepted by the courts? A UL[R] trademark (or the trademark of a similar third-party testing and certification agency) provides information on safe-use conditions; an NSF[R] mark attests not only to functionality, but also to toxic characteristics (or, more importantly, the lack thereof).

Staff Training

Will the vendor or supplier provide a sample of the equipment for a trial period before purchase? This consideration is probably the most important, since there is no substitute for evaluating a new piece of portable equipment in the field, ensuring its acceptance by staff, and assessing the full range of capabilities; the brochures do not always tell the whole story.

Preventive Maintenance and Service

Once the purchase decision is made, several preventive maintenance items become essential to ensuring continued successful use and service. A comprehensive, no-hassle preventive maintenance program for portable equipment should, at the least, incorporate the following half dozen items:

1. Policy and procedures for use - prepare a written policy and accompanying procedures specific to the equipment, including conditions for use, directions, frequency of field calibration and service, interpretation of results, and troubleshooting (if needed).

2. Specifications log - prepare a log that includes data on the vendor or supplier, date of purchase, guarantee and warranty information, and a schedule for routine maintenance and calibration.

3. Repair and service log - also compile a log that records all unanticipated malfunctions, repairs, recalibrations, and nuances encountered with use in the field, as well as those not covered by the manufacturer's directions.

4. Repair and service requests - formal repair requests that detail what service or repair is needed also serve as a valuable tracking mechanism and service history. Frequency of repairs often is the first indication that equipment has exceeded its economic and useful life.

5. Documented staff training - if the equipment is used for making legal measurement, it is particularly important that the vendor or supplier provide documented staff training in the use of the equipment. Our experiences have made us firm believers that all sanitarians should be trained in the proper use and calibration of all field equipment, even (and particularly) equipment so basic as a bimetallic dial thermometer.

6. Documentation of storage - maintain a storage log for all equipment. Such a log helps identify possible malfunctions resulting from prolonged or inappropriate storage. The log also should include a sign-out sheet that indicates removal of the equipment from it usual storage site. Nothing is more frustrating than needing something you know should be there but isn't. cation commi