Spring is right around the corner, but even if you don’t have any plans for construction, remodeling, or major projects to your building there are still other arrangements you should be mapping out for the year. Setting up a schedule for proper building maintenance in the necessary intervals at the beginning of each year will ensure that your building is always at its best and will stand the test of time and traffic.
Building maintenance is among the most instrumental facets of running a business and therefore must be taken seriously by property owners and managers. Properly caring for what is likely one of your major investments will also ensure that everything continues to run smoothly without any inconvenient or expensive issues sneaking up on you. Among the main benefits of incorporating a building maintenance schedule into your budget and planning for the year (and sticking to it!) is that it will save you money, keep your real assets working at their best, improve safety, keep your property in good working order, and will largely prevent any major issues from arising. For these reasons, staying ahead of the game and having an overall awareness of your building and what’s needed for regular maintenance is a must. It is also important to have a plan of action that ties in the management of each of the separate aspects of your building.
Maintaining a Solid Foundation
The structure of your building itself—or effectively the “bones” of your building—is a good place to start, and there are some major checkpoints and regular maintenance requirements that all property owners and managers should be aware of.
“Primarily what we deal with at McGill Restoration is exterior work, and my recommendation for building owners and property managers is to regularly assess joint sealants around all window penetrations and door openings,” advises Darin Cielocha of McGill Restoration. “Furthermore, checking the control joints on any masonry at specific intervals is important too. These are prime examples of items that aren’t designed to last forever. A simple rule that applies to concrete is that eventually it will crack, so plan accordingly. The materials used to construct your building were made to be tough and to withstand the forces placed on them as well as environmental factors, but just about every component of a building will eventually wear out and need to be either restored or replaced. A building’s joints are made to absorb the differential movement between two materials, so naturally they are something to be assessed regularly—we recommend checking them every 5-7 years. Another simple rule of thumb is that anytime you put on a coating of anything—whether its paint, protective, etc.—at some point in time it will need to be recoated. This may be due to normal wear and tear, expansion or exposure to the elements, especially from fading due to ultraviolet light. Brick and block structures are especially nice because they are more durable than many of their counterparts, but they will also need to be assessed into their 3rd or 4th decade.
Generally if you assess the necessary checkpoints every 5-7 years and then plan and budget accordingly to approach and correct the issues as recommended you’ll be in great shape. This will give you a baseline from which to formulate your maintenance schedule, and then you can factor everything into it by frequency—weekly, monthly, annually, every 5 years, every 10 years and so on. There should at minimum be some attention paid to building maintenance every year though. Your building is one of your biggest assets, and even if you plan to take on a little at a time it will make a big difference while everything also remains manageable—always think proactively. Once you’ve set your budget, it is also important to stick to it. As a rule of thumb you should spend at least 1% of the total value of your building on its maintenance each year.”
He adds, “Our expertise allows us to forecast items you should be concerned about short term and long term by testing certain things, so we can always be of assistance in giving property owners an honest assessment of where they are currently and what they will be looking at down the line. It is important to understand that small problems with your building will never present themselves and then just go away, but they will compound if not corrected. We check for the things that you don’t see.
Restoration is crucial because of its concern with preservation; every city and town has a skyline that tells its past. It is a major act of sustainability too, as you’re not tearing down something and putting something new in its place. As restoration specialists, we look at everything from the perspective of preservation. We specialize in removing years of muck and correcting any deterioration or issues so that you can keep the historically accurate look of the building while improving it to functionally just as good as new.”
Maintaining an Optimal Working Environment
It’s important to keep in mind that a lot of items that should be included on your building maintenance checklist are things that you’d only notice if they weren’t being done or working properly. Many of your building’s systems and equipment is heavily relied upon to work day in and day out to serve a variety of vital purposes. Proper maintenance will ensure that your daily operations continue to run smoothly without any issues arising that have the potential to compound and seriously affect your business’s bottom line.
“One of the best values and best ways to take care of building maintenance is to get an Annual Maintenance Agreement,” advises Troy Spady of Complete Comfort Heating and Cooling. “A standard agreement calls for a visit in the spring to prepare for the cooling season and another visit in the fall to ensure you are ready for the heating season. Some of our customers have us come out quarterly to change filters and belts. We can customize a schedule that will fit your needs. By investing in an Annual Maintenance Agreement, you save time and money knowing your system is running optimally year round.
Recently we have also had a peaked interest in WiFi thermostats from building owners who are not on-site. This gives them the ability to know what is going on with their heating and cooling system 24/7 no matter where they happen to be. There have also been advances in technology in HVAC systems that allow remote access functionality where a dealer can access system information remotely. This makes troubleshooting before going on site a reality and provides an even greater level of service to building owners.”
He adds, “With building maintenance, the key is to be proactive. There is nothing worse than having something break down when it could have been prevented. At the very least if something does break down, there is peace of mind knowing you have someone in your corner to call that is familiar with your equipment and values you as a customer. It’s important to find the HVAC company that you can trust and that will take care of you. We take pride in fitting that description at Complete Comfort.
The comfort of everyone in your building is one of the most integral parts of running your business. Maintaining your heating and cooling system is one of the easiest ways to ensure that employees are comfortable year round. Not only will keeping on top of building maintenance save you unforeseen headaches, it will save you money in the long run. Call us today to ask about Annual Maintenance Agreements for your business and home!”
Your building’s entrances and windows are factors that will also affect your building’s efficiency and your company’s bottom line, so regular assessment and maintenance is important in this area as well.
“Maintaining windows and doors is not only energy efficient but will also save you time and money,” explains Tracey Nichols, General Manager at Glass Services, Inc. “By performing periodic door inspections, your business entryway will be at optimal performance. This means less disruption to your customers and employees. Furthermore, the efficiency of the glass matters a great deal in conjunction with the heating and air systems–the better the coating the less stress on the systems.” There have also been notable improvements to the products used by industry professionals to seal around windows and doors, as they have been engineered specifically for optimal performance. Nichols adds, “With today’s technology silicone sealants carry the best warranty of the caulking industry. Insulated glass originally had a 5 year warranty and now 10 year warranty against seal failure is the standard.”
As we are living in a modern society where almost everything is run by electricity, your business likely relies on this powerful energy for day-to-day operations. Your generator is a contingency plan for power outages, and it’s not only important to have one but also to make sure that it is properly maintained so it will work when you need it to. “A lot of people have a generator on the property as a back-up plan, but it’s not seamlessly integrated due to the proper care and maintenance being neglected,” expla
ins Tobias Sommer of Generators For Sale. “A generator is basically an engine that runs electricity through your building, so like a car that’s stored in a garage, it you don’t continue to run the engine and check that all systems are functioning properly it may not work when you need it to. We go through an annual maintenance protocol with our clients which includes checking the generator’s fuel lines, air filters, spark plugs and oil. Running the engine periodically and making sure it gets up to speed and stays warm is also a good idea and will alert you to other problems as well. A common example is damage from rodents, as they like to get into the generator because it is a good place to hide and then will eat the electrical wires. Maintaining the back-up systems for your building is just as important as having them. There’s few things worse than having a false sense of security, especially when has the propensity to negatively affect your business.”
“Failure to do r
egular building maintenance can be very costly in the long run, especially with high replacement and repair costs for major building components,” adds Corwin Keller, owner of Ideal Heating and Air Conditioning. “Implementing a building maintenance schedule will benefit you with lower utility costs, prevention of emergency repair costs, increased lifespan of equipment, and in accurately budgeting for maintenance and repairs. In my experience, quarterly check-ups on all building equipment is optimal. You may also want to consider upgrading your HVAC system to geothermal heating and cooling, as it can greatly decrease your energy bills. In addition, building automation can even out temperatures and reduce frequent starting/stopping of the equipment.
It is important to work with an expert who you can trust to properly take care of any heating, cooling, and ventilation needs in your building. A good schedule would include checking controls, changing filters, adjusting belts, lubing bearings, and recommending proactive repairs to prevent emergency failures. To keep your HVAC equipment running smoothly, as a property owner or manager it is important to make sure filters are changed regularly and belts are adjusted regularly. Both of these will affect the power consumption by the motor and can cause premature failure.”
When all of
your building’s systems are working together in harmony, the environment will be pleasant, productive and safe for all. If this doesn’t accurately describe your building, consider looking into the options that will get you to that point because there is plenty of cutting-edge technology at your disposal. These solutions will optimize your building’s efficiency while saving you a lot of hard earned money in the long run too. Pat Killeen of Engineered Controls explains, “Who of us can give proper attention on our business or tasks at hand when we are hot or cold, the lights are too bright or too dim, or we question our safety? The comfort and safety provided by the proper control and maintenance of our buildings systems enable us and our employees or coworkers to give proper focus of our core business or mission. Building systems that are properly maintained and controlled will run at top efficiency and for the longest possible amount of time with the result of minimizing our operating cost and capital expenditures. The bottom line of properly controlled and maintained building systems is maximum employee satisfaction, maximum productivity and cost savings.
Some of the common critical building systems include heating and cooling systems, data room environment systems, lighting systems, access control systems, security/surveillance systems, backup power systems, and fire alarm systems. While each of these systems can stand alone, integrating the systems that complement each other can reap benefits of a more efficient energy usage while still maintaining a safe and comfortable working environment. An example of a potential benefit of system integration would be to configure an area of your building for occupancy including temperature and lighting based on access to the building by a particular card holder. This example would save energy and equipment life by running critical systems only as needed based on actual occupancy not simply on a time schedule that may or may not be set correctly or a building running 24 hours a day. With our systems integration to chiller, generator, boilers, or other system equipment alarms can be sent to alert the building operators or owners of failures 24 hours a day.”
He adds, “The presence of building control technologies and building automation has greatly increased over the years. This increase in automated functions and the role it plays in occupant comfort and safety and mechanical system operation has increased the need for skilled support. Our Engineered Controls service team is solid with long term seasoned service providers while we are also growing with the addition of new systems technicians. To provide quality service for our customers we are in a constant state of training with our service staff. Our service providers enjoy full factory support and I am pleased to say they are all factory certified on the products we service. Service providers with a depth of support and solid system skills are critical to satisfying customers. Our service approach is customer focused, with the intention of providing valuable services meeting our customers at their point of need.”
Maintaining Your Entire Property
As the saying goes, “You only have one chance to make a first impression.” It is just as important to maintain the exterior aspects of your building as it is to maintain those on the interior. Aside from regular attention to the landscape and the necessary tasks for proper grounds maintenance, it is also important not to overlook your signage—after all, it’s largely what gets your brand and your business noticed! Aside from the obvious checkpoints, there are many things to take into consideration when it comes to maintaining the exterior facets of your property.
“The goal of building maintenance is for the integrity of the building to be maintained for years to come, both in terms of what can be easily seen, such as clean windows and gutters, as well as that which takes a closer look, such as the condition of a building’s exterior and roof,” explains Dustin Linden, owner of Linden Cleaning. “As a window cleaner, I serve a valuable role for homeowners and businesses alike by maintaining the appearance of a business or home with clean windows and gutters. Doing this work puts me in a position to see what many home and business owners rarel
y see. Not often do they get on ladders to look closely at the exterior of their windows or crawl on the roof to inspect their shingles. More often than I’d like, I have had to inform owners or property managers of damages that have occurred over the years to their buildings of which they were not aware. One of these issues is loose or rotting window casings, which expose a building to the elements. Maintaining this will help save on heating and cooling costs. I have also pointed out windows that have broken seals which gradually get worse and worse in terms of cloudy appearance and homeowners are able to address this problem by calling a window installation professional.
I have also been in the position when I am cleaning someone’s gutters and notice that certain sections of their home’s shingles are missing, rotten, or getting to that point. I have helped people identify areas where downspouts are not positioned appropriately and water ends up in their basement as a result, and have taken steps to fix the problems rerouting or repairing gutter sections. I have also identified problems with plumbing issues where pipes have frozen and repairs are needed. I have even helped by pointing out a tree branch that had punctured a roof and they were able to promptly call a roofer to fix this issue. These are some of the benefits I’ve been able to give my clients over the years in addition to being able to provide regularly cleaned windows on a maintenance schedule with professional cleaning at a practical price. Call Linden Cleaning Service and ask about our maintenance cleaning packages for windows and gutters.
He adds, “One of the many benefits of setting up a regular maintenance schedule is a regular inspection of the building’s exterior while the window and/or gutter services are being completed. Many problems, if found earlier, can be fixed at a fraction of the price before costlier repairs are needed later on. My recommendation for any building with gutters is to have them cleaned in the spring and the fall. Proper drainage is essential for your building’s health. The spring storms have a tendency to cause flooding on the basement level if the gutters are not properly maintained. Fall cleaning is important to remove the leaves and other debris so that melting snow in the winter can also drain properly and not cause costly roof damage. In terms of a regular schedule, commercial window cleaning should be done on a monthly basis to maintain a professional appearance for the business.”
“Knowing your contractors well is the key to building trust, and open communication is in your best interest because the professionals who are maintaining your property day to day are the ones who will notice and address any issues that arise,” agrees Brandy Prettyman, owner of The Grounds Guys of SW Omaha. “We do a View Report with our clients, which allows us the time and focus to walk the property together and discuss goals, concerns, and where things are currently vs. where they want them to be in 3 months, 6 months and on up. This helps us to get on the same page and lay the foundation for our working relationship as a team.
Having a well-designed landscape will assist you with both security and maintenance. For example, if you have good drainage that is away from the building then rainfall won’t have the propensity to damage your building either due to flooding or negatively affecting the foundation. The biggest thing about grounds maintenance that makes it so important in the scheme of things is that the outside of your property is an extension of your business. Staying out ahead of things and keeping your property looking good will always reward you.”
She adds, “All too often for business owners there’s always another problem popping up or issue to deal with. If you take the time in whatever your ‘slow’ season or downtime for your business may be to assess the problems you’ve had over the year and to evaluate how you should have solved them it will help you plan for the future. During this process we can be brought in for a consultation where we sit down, go through everything and form a triage that incorporates proactively handling recurring problems or establishing a better maintenance plan moving forward. The best part is once you get it down on paper and have services scheduled for the year, the responsibility and worries are taken off your plate as you’ve delegated these tasks to a professional and it is now their responsibility to follow through. Having a plan in place and following it up with clear and regular communication between your team and the professionals who are doing your maintenance is essential to keeping your building in great condition.”
Another key part of your property, as it will literally be trafficked by all employees and visitors to your building, is the parking lot. “A well maintained parking lot is not only aesthetically pleasing to your customers, and shows your care and concern for the appearance of your property, but it also offers protection against any potential safety-related issues and huge costly repairs,” emphasizes Debra Maxfield of Stripe it Rich, LLC. “Stripe it Rich will inspect your parking lot for these issues and provide their feedback as to any potential risks that exist or any areas that may lead to future repairs which can be expensive and inconvenient. Furthermore, we are concerned with giving you a budget you can live with and we work closely with our clients to protect and maximize your investment dollars.” She adds, “Maintaining any facility is often an arduous task. My best advice is to select the companies you trust, and who support you by providing excellent customer service, to get the job done.”
There is a lot involved in keeping up with any property, but commercial properties do have their own specific maintenance requirements in addition to the standard checkpoints. Having an overview of the entire year in place will allow you to set things up to stay within your budget as well as to ensure that everything is taken care of when and how it needs to be to keep everything running smoothly. This also allows you to do those little things that you may tend to overlook, which are also the ones that will greatly help you to avoid any major (and likely costly!) setbacks. Consulting with local professionals right now will give you an accurate assessment of what is needed short and long term, as well as plenty of options with respect to forming a plan of action that works best for your building as well as your business’s day-to-day operations.