Selecting the right door dealer is as simple as asking a few questions. The most important deals with the issue or reliability. Is the dealer dependable, trustworthy and safety-conscience? It will take a moment of your time to determine and it will save you lots and lots of headaches in the future.

A garage door is the largest moving object in the home and in commercial business facilities. An improperly installed door and operator system can exert tremendous force when the door closes. This could lead to entrapment of children or adults and subsequent injury or worse. Therefore, selecting the right person to install and service your door and/or operator is a very, very serious decision. It is not one you should take lightly!

There are a variety of sources for you to turn to purchase or obtain service for garage door products. The most popular source is the door dealer professional. Garage door dealers are the most reliable and dependable because of several important reasons. These reasons include experience, knowledge and the very fact that door dealers make their living by selling, installing and servicing door systems.

There are thousands of door dealers in business today. What can you do to assure yourself of selecting the right one? We've provided these five checkpoints for you to use:

1. Experience
Of all the five checkpoints, this is perhaps the easiest to validate. How long has the company been in business? If a new company, do the principals have experience in the door and operator industry? How much?

2. Workmanship
This may be the most important checkpoint. And, it is also very easy to verify. Does the door dealer have a satisfied customers? If so, do they have letters of recommendation from their customers? Depending upon the project, you may want to talk to a customer or two.

3. Code and Regulatory Compliance
There are numerous requirements pertaining to safety and the installation of a garage door system. Federal, state and local codes and regulations must be followed. Ask the dealer you select about how they comply with the codes in your city.

4. Insurance Coverage
It is important to you that the door dealer carry proper insurance on their business and employees. One checkpoint is to ask for a copy of the company's Certificate of Insurance. If they don't have one or hesitate to comply with your request, it could be a negative signal.

5. Financial Integrity
Depending on the size of your project, financial integrity of a door dealer can be very important. Although this is a sensitive issue, a dependable, honest door dealer won't mind telling you about the basic financial integrity of their company.

How can you protect yourself?

Use only locally certified contractors.

1. Have your contractor show you their State Contractor's Card
2. Have your contractor show you their Hillsborough County Contractor's card
3. Does your contractor have their certificate number on his car or truck?