Dakota Peat & Equipment introduced Product Verification Testing, a patent-pending technology specifically designed to tests soil amendments prior to installation in a construction or renovation project. The testing system was developed by a collaboration of industry experts, agronomists and university professors and uses a forensic, DNA-like analysis of soil samples. The PVT can test for humus, sphagnum, reed sedge, compost, Dakota Peat, calcined clay and other soil amendments.
PVT was developed by Dakota in response to a growing number of complaints by professional turf managers who had discovered that products specified during the bidding process had been substituted with other products without their knowledge during construction. Although initial investigations into the complaints were focused on instances where Dakota Peat had been spec’d but not used in the final construction, research showed that the practice of substitution was both rampant throughout the turf industry and was being done with other products.
PVT is the only product testing solution available in the industry that will allow construction decision-makers to guarantee that the products that are specified are the products that are used. PVT is the result of three years of development and hundreds of thousands of dollars in capitol investment by Dakota.
“I call this practice of product substitution, a bait switch,” says Randy Dufault, Dakota sales manager. “We estimate that over 50 percent of the jobs that spec’d Dakota peat didn’t get Dakota Peat. While I understand that product substitution is being done because people are trying to be competitive in the bidding process, we believe that people who are doing construction and renovation projects ought to get what they paid for. PVT ensures that that happens and levels the playing field among suppliers.”
For more information, including a free video, contact Dakota Peat & Equipment at 800-424-3443 or visit the company’s Web site at www.dakotapeat.com.
