If you rent or lease your business premises, you will know how important maintenance is. If you are not looking after your building or location, you will find that you are susceptible to everything from water ingress (perhaps through faulty roofing). You may even find you are at greater risk of infestations by pests such as rats. No matter the size of your premises, it is essential that you start being proactive about maintenance by implementing an integrated facilities management solution as soon as you are able to. When you are proactive, you can avoid costly problems.
Implementing a Maintenance Schedule
Tackling maintenance on an ad-hoc basis is not the best approach. It can end up being costly and time-consuming. Creating and implementing a maintenance schedule will help you monitor what needs doing and by when. A schedule is also going to help you utilize the resources that you have. It will also help you to manage tradespeople and services to ensure you are proactive. After all, you want to spread out visits from service providers. You do not want to have everyone working at the premises at the same time, as this will be chaotic.
First Impressions Count
Breaking down your maintenance schedule and focusing on key areas will always be important, having everything done at once will feel chaotic, and if visitors and customers see maintenance everywhere then it will create a bad impression. However if you focus on smaller areas at a time, it will not look as bad. If you try and focus on all areas of your premises each week or month, you will find that your resources are too stretched. First impressions count for visitors and employees, which is why you must be proactive about maintaining the entrance or frontage to your premises. This may mean hiring a landscaper to manage any greenery you have out of the front. Or, it may mean getting in a cleaner to keep everything in a good state of repair.
Keep Everything Neat and Tidy
If premises feel chaotic (or if it looks chaotic), they will be more challenging to maintain. Therefore, you must keep everything (and everywhere) as neat and tidy as possible. When you have neat and tidy areas, problem areas can be identified and rectified swiftly. Maintenance is much harder to carry out when spaces are cluttered and unorganized. Invest some of your time and effort into re-organizing public spaces. Make sure that everything has a place and that all employees or visitors follow this system.
Focus on Fire Prevention
To maintain your premises, you need to focus on fire prevention. Any type of fire can quickly take hold of your business and end up ruining what you have built and created. To maintain your premises you need to carry out regular fire safety checks. You need to make sure that fire exit points are clear from blockages and easily accessible (and known to everyone). You also need to regularly test fire alarms (at least once a month) and make sure that fire extinguishers are in working condition and, once again easy to locate. Thinking about a worst-case scenario when you are looking at maintenance can be beneficial.
Focusing on Pest Control
No matter where your business premises is located, you will always find that you encounter problems (or issues) with pests. From rats and other rodents in office blocks to insects, bugs, and birds, they can all cause damage to your premises. This damage can be costly, but it can also be avoidable too. Pest control has to be one area of maintenance you do not overlook. You will find that reaching out to Commercial Pest Control London specialists will give you valuable peace of mind. Taking preventative action against pests and even taking control of pest infestations swiftly will help you keep maintenance costs affordable.
Keeping Premises Safe and Secure
Vandals and trespassers can cause a lot of damage to your premises. Therefore, you must focus on introducing safety and security measures as soon as possible. From remote alarm systems to reinforced doors and shutters, they can all help keep intruders out. Trespassers and potential burglars can leave behind a trail of destruction, and this is what you will want to naturally avoid. A CCTV system and even passcode/pin entry will help deter unwanted visitors.
Focusing on the Interior and Exterior
If you have larger premises to take care of, it can be hard to spread your resources. However, you must always maintain focus on both the interior (and exterior) of the premises in equal measure. If you focus on one area more than another, you may overlook an issue or problem that may escalate. Timing maintenance jobs throughout the year and focusing on the whole of the premises or building may be like a juggling act, but with practice, you will find a system (and schedule) that works for you.
Look at Making Improvements
When business premises are old, they often require more maintenance (to keep them up to scratch). When you are spending a lot on maintenance to maintain old spaces, you may find it beneficial to look at making improvements. For example, if your premises still have older wooden framed windows that need regular cleaning and painting, then why not look at modern self-cleaning UPVC frames instead? Making improvements can be costly, but you must weigh how much time and money you spend maintaining old (and potentially out-of-date) fixtures and fittings.
Keep Up To Date With Rules, Regulations, and Legislation
To make maintenance a little bit easier, it is important to know your responsibilities. Knowing what regulations and legislation you must follow is also important. When you are employing people to work at your business premises, you need to ensure that the workplace and environment are safe. Maintenance will always be easy to apply if you have guidelines to follow. Staying aware and being proactive (not reactive) will help you maintain premises, ensuring that they meet local or state guidelines. Remember that local states and authorities can apply fines for premises that are not up to code.
