It’sIt’s one thing to construct a building and another thing to maintain it. Building maintenance is the process of ticking off a long list of tasks and deliverables to make sure a building remains clean, comfortable, and fully functional. In most cases, the building’s management hires a team of experts and contractors to check and repair the building’s functional parts.
In addition to the tedious list of to-do’s that contractors need to sort one by one, they also need to inspect every nook and cranny in the building to anticipate potential problems. For example, they have to check centrifugal pumps, going as far as to call companies like Masterflow Solutions, even if there are no reports of the water supply shortage.
To have a better understanding of what building maintenance looks like, here’s a list of items contractors need to accomplish to maintain a building:
Clean glass doors and windows.
Most buildings have a cleaning and maintenance staff who checks on the doors and windows and makes sure they are always clean and presentable. A team of janitors and expert cleaners are usually assigned to do this task. Aside from these individuals, the management may opt to hire additional maintenance services at least once or twice a year.
Repair broken locks.
Security is essential, regardless of whether the building to be maintained is a residential complex or a commercial structure. One of the simplest ways to ensure safety is to keep door locks in good condition. Check for rusty and malfunctioning locks, replace them immediately when necessary.
Check the access control system.
Another way to ensure security is to check the building’s access control system. Most buildings use access control systems to digitize building entries and exits. However, this automated system could also be the cause of security threats. To avoid this scenario, maintenance teams need to check the access control system and see to it that the building’s main point of access is not compromised.
Inspect smoke detectors.
Modern buildings include the use of smoke detectors as a safety protocol. To make sure these protocols will be followed without glitches, the maintenance team needs to check smoke detectors and test if they are working correctly. If there are issues, the maintenance team’s mandate is to fix these immediately.
Fix leaks.
Leaks are not just inconvenient to tenants; they may also cause potential harm. To avoid accidents, maintenance teams need to fix leaks as soon as they are reported. They may also do seasonal inspections to anticipate leaks before they can lead to an accident.
Check the roofing.
Issues in the ceiling often lead to leaks, but these are not the only source of excess water. Another potential area of concern is the building’s roofing. To keep the roofing in good condition, maintenance teams need to install roof protection or other materials to make the roof last longer.
Maintain proper lighting and ventilation.
A comfortable and fully functional building is one that has proper lighting and ventilation. Maintenance teams and contractors are responsible for checking heating and cooling systems. Also, they are tasked to look into lighting facilities and make sure everything is in place. The maintenance team has to replace a light bulb if it gets broken.
Eliminate pests.
Pests and rodents are inevitable. At some point, a building’s owner may have been too lax in their sanitation rules. Or, it could also be the fault of the tenant. Either way, resolving these issues is best done by mitigating risks at an early stage through stringent pest control initiatives.
The maintenance team
To say that maintaining a building entails a lot of tasks is an understatement. Besides the items mentioned in this article, maintenance teams also need to respond to specific issues raised by tenants. With all these in mind, you might wonder how one team can handle all of these. The answer is simple: they delegate tasks and work together towards a simple purpose: to make a building comfortable, clean, and fully functional.
The maintenance team is typically comprised of a janitor, a technician, and a supervisor. The janitor is the sole person responsible for cleaning, scrubbing, and disinfecting the entire building. Meanwhile, the role of the technician is to zero in on technical issues such as electrical wiring, air filters, light bulbs, smoke detector systems, among many others. The supervisor assigns the tasks and maps out how the team will implement its maintenance plans.
Maintaining a building is not an easy task. There is a wide variety of duties and responsibilities involved. If you’re a newbie contractor, know that the tasks ahead are not going to be easy, but you will learn a lot.
