Whether it’s a shopping mall or an office complex, an entertainment center, or department store, commercial buildings are about business and money transactions. These structures also have the potential for long-term profit for their owners. But maintaining a commercial building requires a certain level of skill and professionalism. Let’s look at some of the hardest things in maintaining commercial buildings.
Rapid wear and tear
These buildings are very busy. Different kinds of people go in and out all day; from the moment they open their doors till when they close. The potential for rapid wear and tear is huge. Because of this, commercial buildings have a very low tolerance for deferred or delayed maintenance. Some particular areas to be mindful of are:
Appearance is everything
Replace damaged or faulty fixtures quickly. No broken lights, loose door handles, dirty windows, or greasy floors. These “little things” add up quickly to create a shabby looking building.
Scheduling
Have a regular schedule for inspecting emergency exit lighting, smoke and fire detectors, etc, to avoid accidents and potential lawsuits.
Prioritize pest control
Little creatures scurrying about are an unwelcome sight in any building. In a commercial building, you may lose many valuable tenants and spend thousands of dollars on extermination fees if you aren’t proactive about pest and rodent control!
Access Control and Security
Security is another major problem with commercial building maintenance. Class A office buildings, retail establishments, and self-storage facilities are prime targets for theft and vandalism. Also, it doesn’t help that these 3 categories of commercial buildings tend to have people entering and exiting all through the working hours making it quite difficult to monitor everyone.
Unfortunately, it takes just 1 security incident or theft for tenants to lose confidence in your ability to keep them and their items safe.
These days, there are several options available for you to deploy and keep your building secure. Many commercial facilities now use one, or a combination, of the following:
- Traditional security methods (patrol guards and security personnel).
- Smart surveillance (motion sensor cameras, infrared barriers, etc).
- Visitor management solutions.
- IoT-based remote monitoring.
- Smart key management.
And much more.
Security is vital for good business. The more secure your commercial building, the more confidence potential customers have to do business on your premises.
Preserving Rental Value
Did you know that if a potential client comes to your office to do business but ends up being stuck in a faulty elevator for 1 hour, it will almost certainly ruin your chances of sealing that deal? Yes, it’s not directly your fault since you are not in charge of maintenance, but it erodes your business reputation.
That’s one of the reasons why commercial tenants are extremely vigilant when they are considering a new business location.
A commercial building kept in tip-top shape will more likely attract higher caliber tenants and rent than a building that’s shabby and poorly maintained.
Again, because of business continuity and maintaining their contact information, most corporate organizations would rather not move to a new location every year. Corporate tenants tend to sign longer leases of up to between 3 and 5 years. Therefore, they have a higher vested interest in the condition of the building. You have to continually assure them that you are on top of your maintenance responsibilities.
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