Patent ID: 7249030

Claim:
A method for a third party provider to guarantee the performance of long-term capital equipment or fixtures of an owner by managing and maintaining all components of the long-term capital equipment or fixtures for a specified period of time so as to allow the owner to better plan and prioritize limited budget resources, comprising the steps of: (1) diagnosing existing conditions of the long-term capital equipment or fixtures by the provider to determine if any repairs are required to bring the long-term capital equipment or fixtures to a predetermined start-up standard of performance, said predetermined start-up standard of performance being negotiated between the owner and the provider; (2) repairing the long-term capital equipment or fixtures by the provider to reach the start-up standard if any of the existing conditions are below the predetermined start-up standard; (3) developing a maintenance schedule by the provider to perform recurrent inspections, preventive maintenance, and housekeeping on the long-term capital equipment or fixtures so as to maintain the long-term capital equipment or fixtures at a standard of performance for a specified period of time, said standard of performance being negotiated between the owner and the provider and set to within industry acceptable parameters; and (4) providing a warranty by the provider on the long-term capital equipment or fixtures in conjunction with the purchase by the owner of performance of the (1)–(3) steps, said providing of the warranty including transferring from the owner to the provider the technical and financial risk including costs associated with managing and maintaining all components of the long-term capital equipment or fixtures within the standard of performance during the specified period of time.