Choosing a tower internals installation contractor requires more than comparing cost and availability. The equipment going into your column was engineered to tight tolerances. The crew installing it determines whether those tolerances survive contact with the field.
After enough turnarounds, you learn the evaluation comes down to five things. In this article, we have asked our staff at Tray-Tec, Inc. what are the best practices. They’ve shared the following:
1. Experience With the Actual Equipment
Trays, structured packing, random packing, liquid distributors, support grids, and transition internals each install differently. A contractor who has only set trays will struggle the first time a distributor shows up with low levelness tolerance. Ask what equipment their crews have installed, in what column sizes, and how recently. Specific answers mean real experience. Vague answers mean you are the training project.
2. Safety Procedures That Match the Work
Tower internals work is confined space work. That means entry permits, gas monitoring, attendants, and rescue capability. Ask who provides rescue coverage. If the answer is a third party you have to schedule, that is cost and coordination risk the contractor just moved onto your outage. Review their TRIR, their ISNetworld or Avetta standing, and whether their crews hold the certifications your site requires before they arrive at the gate.
3. Quality Control You Can Verify
Confirm how installation work will be inspected before the column closes. Levelness readings, downcomer clearances, and torque verification should be recorded deck by deck, not summarized after the fact. Ask what documentation arrives at completion. A contractor confident in their work will hand you measurement logs and photos without being asked twice. Client and third-party inspector access should be standard, not negotiated.
4. Turnaround Schedule Discipline
Internal work sits on the critical path. A crew that falls behind inside your column pushes every scope behind it. Ask how the contractor plans work within an outage window, how they communicate field issues when they find them, and what happens when an opened column reveals damage nobody planned for. The answer you want is a defined escalation path and same-day communication, because surprises found at deck 14 do not improve with age.
5. A Scope Everyone Agrees On Before Work Starts
A clear scope of work and defined responsibilities prevent the most common turnaround conflict: two teams each assuming the other owned a task. Who receives and stages the equipment. Who verifies it against the vessel drawing. Who supplies rigging. Who signs off before closure. Settle this in writing before the manway opens and the project runs quieter for it.
Conclusion: Remember the 5 Points
Equipment performance depends on installation quality. Evaluate a contractor on their crews, their safety record, their documentation, and their schedule discipline, and weigh those factors as heavily as the number at the bottom of the bid. The cheapest install may cost you double down the line in repairs and other last minute fixes.
If you are looking to hire a tower contractor and are not sure where to start, get in touch with us and our team will be able to assist you.
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