Equipment Durability And Quality

by Diane M. Calabrese | Published March 2026

 

 

On the surface durability and quality seem inextricably linked.

But as we think about it, we know it’s more complicated. Consider aesthetics.

Stunning items – a Jaguar E series car, a Versace gown, have a way of luring purchasers. Although they demand a lot of attention to maintain, with that attention, they combine beauty and durability.

Consequently, there exists a kind of durability spectrum. At one end are items with good longevity that also have low maintenance requirements. At the other end there are items that require a lot of tender loving care but with that TLC have good longevity.

Most industrial and commercial buyers do not choose pressure washers, cleaning systems and ancillaries for their good looks. But some could be negatively swayed by appearance.

And sleek, clean lines in equipment like pressure washers have a way of grabbing and holding attention of prospective buyers. So cosmetic issues – like it or not, feature into almost every purchase.

But the priorities for buyers are durability and quality. And buyers have various ways of assessing both.

One method is verifying “that the whole machine uses high quality parts,” says Delany Johnson, senior sales engineer at Wayne Combustion Systems in Fort Wayne, IN. Durability is important.

A buyer is trying to balance what is needed in the present and in the future, explains Johnson. “Do your research. Know who is the best.”

Use a wide scope when doing research, says Johnson. “Certification helps but shouldn’t be the only reason for purchasing equipment. UL is a safety standard [and] doesn’t mean it’s the best equipment.”

There’s no substitute for research, says Johnson. With today’s world filled with digital organic reviews of everything, a prospective buyer can gain some insight into how equipment performs for those who already own it.

Never let the digital world reviews substitute for talking to colleagues, and especially to talking with vendors. And read the equipment specifications offered by the manufacturer.

The parties who have a vested interest in equipment durability and quality only begin with the end user and the manufacturer. In the next section, we look at just how important durability has become to meeting environmental challenges – and economic ones.

Maxwell Baldwin, owner/director of operations at Whisper Wash in St. Petersburg, FL, gets us started on the added dimension here. “Durability and the ability to rebuild products are a determining factor in quality,” he explains.

Are there indicators Baldwin suggests as useful in assessing equipment? “Doing research and figuring out what best fits your needs is imperative,” he says.

“There are a lot of options in this industry,” explains Baldwin. Make the most of them by doing the research needed to get the best fit.

Each buyer will have different criteria for defining an ideal piece of equipment. “I believe being able to service your product either at home or from your local distributor/dealer is another critical factor or feature to picking equipment,” says Baldwin.

Confronted with so many choices for some types of equipment, how can the decision-making be refined to get maximum durability and maximum quality? “I may be biased in this question, but I believe being built in the United States is going to be a simple way to filter quality,” says Baldwin.

“Our economy has become very dependent on throwaway purchasing with products built overseas, and for a product to be built here, in my opinion, matters,” explains Baldwin “That doesn’t mean everything built in other countries is bad.”

Baldwin elaborates. “Some other countries are known for their fantastic quality, engineering, quality control, and customer service,” he explains. “However, due diligence is a must when determining where you are buying equipment.”

Service accessibility also factors into Baldwin’s assessment. “I would also say with being built in USA [goes] hand-in-hand with customer service.”

Proper service is correlated with durability. “If you can find a company that will stand by their product as well as stand by you when you are using it, that is huge,” says Baldwin.

“All-in-all do some research, find a company that will support you and find out where [a product] is made and what parts are available for service,” says Baldwin. In other words, any appraisal of quality must include the ease with which a product can be maintained in optimal working condition – and that includes getting routine service.

 

Durability, quality and sustainability

 

For decades ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ were the trio of watchwords signifying environmental consciousness. ‘Circular economy’ has now supplanted them.

But the concept remains the same: Do as much as possible with less.

Using less of everything — energy, fewer materials, water, acreage, etc., contributes to environmental health. One obvious way to use less is to extend the life of equipment.

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is one of the leading groups promulgating the circular economy concept. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are deeply involved national entities.

Many non-government organizations (NGOs) and business groups engage with the circular economy concept. Among them, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which a few years ago developed a “toolbox” (guidance) for small businesses.

Embedded in the circular economy is the concept of conformity. By conforming to the same parameters and principles (part of the larger standardization approach of ISO), companies ensure that products can be directly compared.

In the ideal of a circular economy there’s a reduction in the use of materials, products (including services) are less resource intensive, and waste from processes is looked at in terms of its possibilities. (Perhaps the waste can be used to manufacture new products or other products.)

Firms now combing through refuse in the United States to figure out whether they can find a feasible way to extract rare earth elements are participating in the circular economy. So, too, are manufacturers in our industry who add months or more to the service life of a pump or a motor.

The broadest scope of the circular economy includes the vision of translating what’s conserved in vital economies to resources for building struggling economies. The result would be a vigorous and sustainable world economy and a healthy environment.

According to EPA, the United Nations International Resource Panel concluded natural resource extraction and processing contributes to half of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a powerful statistic for those who want to persuade others to extend the life of products by ascertaining they are quality products instead of short-lived and often disposable.

The manufacturers in our industry take seriously the output of quality products. Many meet ISO standards, such as ISO 9001 (quality). And they use a variety of other self-appraisal and evaluation tools to document their adherence to quality (including safety).

Among the standards organizations important to manufacturers in our industry are ASTM, a group that brings together relevant industry members to develop consensus standards intended to ensure product quality.  ASTM International has a global reach.

ANSI [sometimes ANS], the American National Standards Institute, accredits procedures used by standards setting organizations. CSA, Canadian Standards Association, ties together business, industry, government interests in an effort to enhance safety and health.

Any organization with a focus on good product outcomes will indirectly feed into the assurance of quality. For example, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) gets the word out about potentially injurious products, and any product can be cited.

CPSC can issue product recalls. It issued one for a specific brand of pressure washer in August 2025.

Although not dealing per se with quality, the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) contributes a great deal to the quality of products. NFPA develops and disseminates the consensus codes that are developed to reduce the risk of fire and related events. And manufacturers in our industry follow the codes.

Standards keep businesses focused on the long-term consequences of their activities and the longevity (durability) of their products. Coupled with initiatives such as the circular economy, standards help to avoid implementation of outright wasteful ideas like the 2009 federal program that became known by the common name ‘cash-for-clunkers’.

The CARS [Cash Allowance Rebate System] was a program so fraught with undesirable and unintended consequences that it was soon abandoned. Did it reduce pollution or add to pollution (via the manufacturing of new vehicles)? That’s just one of the still debatable outcomes.

In at least the mid-Atlantic region, there was much less scrap metal to be dealt with than expected. That’s thanks to enterprising residents who diverted autos headed to scrapyards and took them to ports for transport to countries in Africa. (But the program did diminish the availability of spare parts for old vehicles.)

There was an amazing amount of durability built into automobiles that were not infiltrated with electronics. At some point, the contribution that a return to some analog equipment could make to sustainability may get the attention it deserves.

As for Jaguar E cars and the Versace dresses – known to this writer from movies and magazines only, beauty sometimes takes precedence over practicality. Conformity in everything can go too far.