The way a building is maintained is a reflection of the property owner’s dedication to creating a safe and positive environment. Business owners and investors should be aware of the various benefits of property maintenance. This is essential to long-term client retention and employee satisfaction.
What is Property Maintenance and Why Should it Matter to You?
Property maintenance contractors perform those essential services that you don’t have the time or skillset for. They maintain the condition of a property and take care of repairs in a timely fashion. Commercial property maintenance is a workable solution if you are a busy commercial property owner or facility manager. Contractors can help preserve the condition of your assets, equipment, and real estate.
This is especially true if the building is subject to heavy foot traffic. Property maintenance should be considered an integral part of the overall upkeep and protection whether the facility is small or large. Property maintenance service providers are caretakers and are primarily responsible for making sure your property looks good and is running efficiently at all times.
Keep reading to learn more about the top 15 property maintenance services that will make the life of any property manager easier.
1. Landscape and Lawn Maintenance
Landscaping of commercial properties is far more intensive as compared to regular lawns maintained at homes. Essential commercial property management and maintenance involve the upkeep of landscape beds and regular mowing. This type of property maintenance service is particularly essential in community buildings for tenants and other residents.
A proper watering system for landscaping is necessary in most parts of the United States. Hiring reputable property management companies will allow you to benefit from the skillset of trained maintenance technicians. They will even take care of the irrigation system as part of lawn care. Shrubs and trees can enhance the visual appeal and value of any commercial property. This is similar to how homeowners benefit from the curb appeal of residential properties.
2. Painting and Drywall Maintenance
Commercial buildings suffer extensive wear and tear over the years. Having a team of experts to monitor and address the problems as necessary can help. This type of maintenance will involve immediate touch-ups and repairs. It will also prove to be an early alert system so that you can schedule and budget for larger painting projects promptly.
3. Exterior Building Repair and Maintenance
You cannot allow the façade of your commercial building to fall into disrepair. It should be immediately attended to and corrected. This will help in maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the property’s exterior. It is also necessary for safety reasons.
Building exteriors have to be kept clean using power washing techniques. Regular rooftop inspections and addressing of repairs are an integral part of commercial building maintenance. Rooftops also require the removal of leaf debris and occasional cleaning.
4. Plumbing Needs and Maintenance
Plumbing repairs are a vital aspect of commercial building maintenance that requires someone to be available at all hours of the day. You may want to consider hiring a comprehensive property maintenance company with trained technicians. An overflowing or clogged sink in the restroom area creates a slip/fall liability risk besides being unsightly. With that said, this can create potential water damage in surrounding and immediate areas.
5. Electrical Maintenance
Property managers should consider hiring competent facility management professionals for emergency repairs. Routine maintenance should include resetting tripped breakers and taking care of any other issues that may crop up. You should make checking outdoor lighting and replacing bulbs in light fixtures part of your maintenance workflow.
6. HVAC Maintenance
HVAC systems are easily the most expensive investments in any property. They are vital to the overall comfort of the building, especially the common areas. The right maintenance staff will ensure that your HVAC unit remains in good condition. They will perform routine air conditioning checks and clean/replace the air filters as necessary.
The HVAC maintenance program should include scheduled ductwork cleaning. With professional full-time contractors, you won’t need to hire another technician for performing annual inspections and cleaning, generally performed during the spring. You can include equipment maintenance and ductwork cleaning as part of the contracted maintenance work.
7. Commercial Maintenance of Parking Lots
Parking areas usually provide for first impressions. They need regular litter clean-up and emptying of trash receptacles. This service is routinely contracted out by commercial property owners. Parking area maintenance may include repainting and repaving as necessary.
There are several tasks in parking lot maintenance that requires immediate attention or may become a safety risk. You can make use of handyman services with the necessary skills for lighting maintenance of parking lots as well. This will help with crime deterrence and add to the general safety.
8. Graffiti Removal Management
Graffiti tags can cause a well-maintained building to suffer in perception and appearance. Graffiti tags may draw others if not removed immediately. Unfortunately, buildings that have graffiti on the exterior attract more crime. You can deter more graffiti by maintaining proper property lighting in parking lots and other areas. However, you would need to invest in regular property maintenance for having existing graffiti and the odd cases cleaned.
9. Cleaning Requirements
The average family keeps their rental property or house clean by dividing the chores among themselves. You may follow this approach and hold your employees responsible for keeping their work tables clean. However, this puts added pressure on the workers. Alternatively, you can create an in-house team for regular maintenance and cleaning.
The majority of companies hire vendors to take care of their cleaning tasks to acquire an exceptional level of cleanliness. Commercial properties require cleaners for regular maintenance. A clean entrance area and lobby play a vital role in creating a good first impression of the entire property.
Frequent cleaning is required in highly trafficked areas of commercial buildings. This will include regular washing of windows (interior and exterior) and glass doors. By hiring a commercial cleaning contractor, you can also ensure restroom cleanliness that creates a lasting impression on visitors.
10. Building Repairs
Repairs should be scheduled as quickly as possible when something doesn’t work properly or breaks down. Roof and other major systems need to be checked, repaired, and replaced whenever necessary. You should have the following taken care of by professionals:
- Property’s foundation
- Leaking roof
- Additional major maintenance
11. Preventive Maintenance
Periodic inspections are essential for ensuring the longevity of assets and avoiding expensive emergency maintenance. It can be difficult to gauge the kind of job that should be made part of preventative maintenance. These are a few recommended tasks:
- Quarterly service of HVAC units
- Pest prevention
- Landscaping
The right kind of preventive maintenance can help you avoid making an emergency repair call.
12. Emergency Maintenance
Emergencies can be kept under control by a facility management team by investing in preventive maintenance and routine inspections. You can considerably reduce costs and recovery times by being prepared to address and respond to emergencies. This type of maintenance may be more important during extreme weather seasons.
13. Fire and Safety Code Compliance
Every building needs to satisfy local and state requirements for commercial construction and fire safety. The guidelines that need to be followed by commercial establishments are more stringent than the guidelines that need to be followed by single-family homes and residential properties.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) have certain standards in place to ensure the safety of all building occupants. Professional facility management contractors have a better understanding of these codes and keep up with important information to ensure their clients remain compliant.
14. Property Remodeling and Improvement Projects
Asset improvement projects require planning and experience. The overall cost can be impacted by business-specific requirements for occupancy, permit applications, ADA standards, and changes to building codes.
It is a given fact, that by hiring a professional crew or team with strong industry connections and solid knowledge, you can make sure that you finish on time and within budget. The professional project manager can ensure outstanding work and that larger projects are completed on time.
15. Specialized Equipment Maintenance
You should strongly consider hiring experienced and trained contractors if you have specialized equipment on your commercial property. Such equipment is usually present in hospitals, educational institutions, and factories.
Advantages of Professional Property Maintenance Service
Building maintenance is necessary for both commercial and residential spaces. However, this is not a job for a single person. There are several complex responsibilities involved in building maintenance services. These are a few advantages of hiring a commercial contractor:
1. Keep the building safe
You should take the safety and security of your building seriously for the interests of all occupants. This is one of the reasons why you should consider hiring commercial facility maintenance and management contractors. You can improve the safety of your facility and ensure that it is secured for use by employing necessary repairs and performing regular inspections.
2. Maintain the value of assets
Building maintenance services can ensure that the property is kept at the highest level of service and in great working condition. This can maintain the real estate value of the property. It reduces the chances of decreasing curb appeal because of physical deterioration or damage.
3. Prevents unscheduled large-scale reconstruction
Properties managed by professional service providers don’t usually require expensive large-scale reconstructions. All aspects of the property are taken care of and examined at the right time. Major problems are prevented by fixing minor issues on time. A thorough maintenance plan will list all tasks that need to be performed every day, week, month, quarter, and year. This helps in ensuring that nothing gets missed.
4. Improves aesthetics
The exterior appearance of a commercial building is as important as the interior aesthetics. General building maintenance contractors will ensure the high aesthetic value that impresses clients and creates a comfortable work environment for the employees.
5. Save money
Customized facility maintenance and management services typically prove to be cheaper in the long run. You can ask for those services that you think an in-house team will not be able to perform appropriately. A comprehensive plan can help you save a lot of money.
How to Provide Superior Property Maintenance Service
Superior building maintenance services allow a property to stand out. Most people don’t remember experiences that are not note-worthy. You should consider providing consistent and high-quality results. It is the responsibility of all facility management teams to respond to maintenance phone calls and requests in a timely and prompt manner.
You can consider making use of an automated system for streamlining the process and informing the necessary stakeholders of any updates. Superior property maintenance service requires speed and efficiency while attending to maintenance and repair requests. Offering on-call service is the simplest way of ensuring speed and efficiency.
Whether you decide to hire contractors or invest in an in-house maintenance team, you should consider ways of providing superior property maintenance services. Most issues should be taken care of within a week of the request. However, repairs when performed on short notice can become expensive. Hence, maintenance should be prioritized.
In-House Property Maintenance vs. Contracted Property Maintenance
An in-house property maintenance team allows for better communication and simplifies the owner’s responsibilities. However, at the same time, it drives up maintenance costs in terms of hiring skilled workers and a supervisor. You should consider outsourcing the task to a contractor if you want structured and organized assistance.
Get A Quote Today
Servi-Tek is a commercial property management and maintenance company that has a reputation for leaving clients with a lot less to worry about as property owners and facility managers. Our full range of services allows us to be a one-stop-shop for all facility maintenance requirements.
We can coordinate routine and scheduled maintenance on time to prevent unnecessary repairs and budget allocations. Get in touch with us today by calling at 866-454-6185 or using our online form.
