VALENCIA — A family owned plumbing, heating and air conditioning business has earned a prestigious award from the National Comfort Institute recognizing the company's dedication to Performance-Based contracting.

Bill Kennihan, president of Kennihan Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, accepted the John Garofalo Implementation Award at NCI's annual conference in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.

The award, named for HVAC industry icon and former NCI business coach John Garofalo, who died in 2016, recognizes the company's record of exceeding customer expectations, integrity and ethics, and strong leadership.

David Holt, NCI's director of training and coaching, called Kennihan Plumbing, which will celebrate its 50th year in business next year, a perfect candidate for the award.

“This year's winner embodies implementation of not just the technical practices of Performance-Based contracting, but also they embrace performance-based business strategies that John Garofalo believed in,” Holt said. “Today they regularly use this knowledge to improve the safety, health, comfort and energy efficiency of their customers' homes and businesses.”

Jose Montes, Kennihan Plumbing's office manager, said of winning the NCI's annual award, “Winning the implementation award means that ... we really care about going into people's homes and providing safety, comfort and efficiency. And we always put those priorities (first) in mind when we go into a home.”

The NCI, in a news release, called Kennihan Plumbing's “deep, multigenerational leadership team” a priceless asset for the business, and noted that the company is also NCI-certified, which means that employees have attended classes, learned how to use specialized tools, and keep up-to-date on the latest diagnostic and repair techniques in their fields.

NCI is the nations' premier Performance-Based training, certification and membership organization for heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical contractors.