IMPORTANT NOTICE

It is often easy to identify properties in need of maintenance work. It may simply be that the decorative finishes require renewal, or it may be that the lifts break down with alarming regularity, or it may even be that every time it rains puddles appear on the floor. These are obvious signs that maintenance is required, but they are also signs that the maintenance of the property might be inadequate. Building maintenance is much more than the individual items of repair that requires to be attended to and there are many factors which act together to determine an appropriate level of maintenance for a building. Determining an appropriate level of maintenance depends upon a number of different factors, such as the corporate strategy of the landlord, the specific needs of the occupiers and the property specific factors such as quality of the fabric and the building design. Building maintenance should not be viewed as an optional cost on property ownership or occupation. Rather, it is an intrinsic part of it and without it the value of the property asset will diminish substantially.

The primary purpose of any building is to house activity, whether residential, commercial, industrial or some other use. The building must then be properly maintained in order to enable the carrying out of the activity. If a property is maintained but the aesthetic appearance not updated for 20 years, it will look old fashioned and for many organisations concerned with image, this is not acceptable. By failing to maintain a property in a good state of repair, the economic value of it is very likely to be less than it would be if it were maintained. There are a number of factors that will directly affect the need for, and level of, building maintenance and they include:

1. Building Design
The way in which a property has been designed will have a significant impact upon the need for maintenance throughout the life of the building. For example, a building that contains features such as lifts and escalators will require work to maintain these elements that would not occur if these were simply staircases. Building design can also affect how maintenance is undertaken. While on a single-storey property it may be simple to clean the exterior of the windows using a ladder to gain access, on a multi-storey property this simple item of maintenance requires specialist equipment which is fastened to the building and enables the job to be done safely. Also, poorly designed buildings can drive up maintenance costs, and the amount of maintenance required. For example, a building that is over-specified with hi-tech features such as automatic doors, electric blinds, video entry systems etc can demand high maintenance. Similarly, a building with an unusual design that requires additional expensive equipment or specialists to clean it or to carry out servicing will increase the maintenance costs.

2. Quality of Construction
Even if a building has been designed to be low-maintenance, poor construction practice and use of low quality materials may introduce defects that will lead to high maintenance expenditure during the life of the building. For example, where a plumbing system is poorly installed, there may be leaks that need to be repaired. Moreover, it may prove very difficult to identify the source of the problem, resulting in expensive exploratory works. The basic premise is that initial costs can be increased by the use of good quality hardwearing materials and good construction practices in order to reduce the expected annual maintenance costs.

3. Building Function
The use of the building will have a considerable bearing on the level of maintenance required. For example, a hospital with an intensive care unit and surgical theatres will require a high level of maintenance to ensure acceptable cleanliness standards are met and also to ensure that electrical systems do not break down and threaten the lives of patients. However, a car mechanic’s workshop will require a far lower level of maintenance, as a certain amount of dirt and oil is expected and in the event of electrical failure, the risk to occupants is considerably less.

4. Expectations of Owners
The expectations of owners must also be considered when determining an appropriate level of maintenance. Landlords must protect the value of their asset where they can, and enforcing certain standards of maintenance through the lease obligations is something that all landlords should do. Tenants must, therefore ensure that any maintenance programme they set will comply with this requirement.

5. Expectations of Occupiers and Users
People who occupy or use a property, whether staff of the company based within it, residents in an apartment or shoppers in a retail mall, have expectations of the level of cooling, lighting and cleanliness of the building, along with other aspects of its physical appearance and comfort. In some cases, for example, shoppers will simply choose to shop elsewhere if the standard of the environment is below expectations. It must be noted that the expectations of occupiers and users of buildings increases as new technological innovations are developed.

6. Corporate Strategy
The corporate strategy of the landlord and tenant of an estate, or building, will dictate the attitude of the company towards expenditure on building maintenance. For a company for whom quality and image are important, the physical appearance of all the company’s assets may be important. Similarly, the company may also believe continual improvement of the environment is important, in which case, it may go beyond maintenance to undertake improvement or upgrading works. This is particularly true of those businesses whose customers visit premises, or businesses that occupy high profile buildings.

AMFacilities offers a Total Facilities Management service for both home and offices and we’d be glad to work with you to address any issues you may have in maintaining your property.  At AMFacilities we engage the right PEOPLE using the right PROCESSES to provide the right PLACE for our customers to live, work and play. Feel free to contact us for necessary advice in providing efficient facility management services for your home and office.

“The excitement of cheap service goes long before the pain of poor quality”.

For further enquiries please contact us on: 01 8161151, info@amfacilities.com, www.amfacilities.com