Whether owned or leased, your commercial property is often your single most valuable operational asset as a business. It’s the foundation upon which your entire enterprise rests. Yet many business owners fail to establish a proactive, consistent maintenance schedule which opens up the opportunity for expensive liabilities.
The stark reality is that reactive maintenance costs small businesses so much more than proactive upkeep. Emergency repairs always arrive at the worst possible moments, disrupting your operations and forcing rushed decisions that inevitably cost more. Equally important to consider is the fact that insurance claims can be denied if it’s suspected that the property has been neglected, leaving you personally liable for damages that could have been prevented.
Here, we provide a guide to essential maintenance tasks to protect your investment, maintain compliance, and ensure your business stays operational year-round. This begins with a robust and legally sound safety policy.
Structural integrity
In any situation, the structural health of the property should be your focus. Begin with the roof and guttering, which bears the brunt of Britain’s notoriously unpredictable weather, by clearing all debris and potential blockages from
gutters and downpipes before the winter arrives.
Now is also the time to inspect roof tiles for cracks, missing pieces, or areas of standing water, which can result in internal leaks that will damage stock, equipment and machinery, and interior finishes. If left unaddressed, even a minor problem can escalate and become incredibly costly to repair.
Next, check external walls by walking the perimeter of the building and looking for cracks in the brickwork, any signs of loose mortar, and telltale signs of damp penetration, such as discolouration. Pay special attention to vents, making sure they’re completely clear to allow for proper ventilation but secured with an appropriate mesh to avoid pests from getting in.
Windows and doors are often overlooked until they fail completely, so before it reaches that stage, check all seals and weather stripping. Degraded seals compromise energy efficiency and moisture control, which can lead to condensation problems and unnecessarily inflated heating bills. Be sure to also test all security hardware including locks, hinges, and closing mechanisms to ensure they function properly.
Pest prevention
Small businesses often underestimate the importance of pest prevention until it’s too late.
Hutton + Rostron, building surveyors specialising in building pathology, explain that,
“buildings provide a warm, sheltered, and occasionally moist environment for a variety of living organisms. Pest organisms can cause damage to buildings and/or inconvenience to building occupants, [and] range from deathwatch beetle to cluster flies, from feral cats to fungi”. So, a valuable and arguably essential part of property maintenance for any property is regular pest audits.
Check for any small entry points around pipes, cables, and other systems that might have gaps. A gap of just six millimetres is enough for mice to get through, and certainly insects, so sealing these off is vital. Likewise, check storage areas, basements, and loft areas for early signs like droppings, gnaw or scratch marks, and any unusual odours that might signify you have a pest infestation.
Different pests leave different calling cards, from the greasy rub marks that mice leave along their regular routes to the wood shavings that indicate wood-boring beetle activity, so know what to look for and don’t neglect the signs of a problem.
Health and safety
As health and safety experts at
PHS Compliance highlight, “If you are responsible for a business or commercial premise, you have a legal duty to ensure your building or workplace is safe for the people using it, including the reducing the risk of fire.” Given regular fire safety equipment maintenance is a legal requirement, ensure that you schedule in monthly checks of all fire extinguishers, verifying that the pressure gauges read in the green zone and units remain accessible, as well as properly located throughout the property.
It’s also essential that you test smoke alarms and emergency lighting systems every month, replacing batteries promptly and keeping detailed records of when the alarms were checked or batteries last changed. These simple checks take minutes but could save lives and your business.
General housekeeping also plays a surprisingly vital role in maintenance and the health and safety of the building. Make sure waste bins are sealed and stored away from building exteriors to avoid attracting pests, and keep any surrounding grounds clear of overgrown vegetation and debris, which provide shelter for rodents and insects and could also potentially block drainage systems.
Mechanical and utility systems
In a commercial building, HVAC systems are constantly working overtime to heat, cool, and ventilate your premises, but can be easily forgotten until they break down. To keep them running smoothly, change the filters every one to three months, depending on the industry you operate in or how often it’s used, which will help to improve air quality and the efficiency of the system. It’s also a good idea to schedule a professional service once a year to keep your warranty in place and catch any developing problems before they become an expensive breakdown.
Plumbing and drainage require routine vigilance too. A good habit to get into is regularly checking for dripping taps, leaks under sinks, and any visible corrosion on exposed pipework, as these can all signal a potential problem. Food service and retail businesses should also schedule in professional drain and grease trap clearances regularly. Blocked drains can force your business to close until the problem is resolved and create perfect conditions for pest infestations, so it’s a service that’s worth the investment.
Financial and documentation
Documenting all your maintenance protects your business, so ensure that you have a detailed maintenance log in place that records all inspections, repairs, and professional services. These records prove invaluable during insurance claims, lease disputes, and regulatory inspections, and are a critical factor for future
investment property buyers assessing the asset’s condition.
On a similar note, many small businesses don’t keep reserves specifically for maintenance, but allocating funds for both routine checks and anticipated replacement costs will give you peace of mind should anything unexpected happen to your property.
From reactive stress to proactive success
Taking your maintenance approach from reactive firefighting to proactive maintenance can completely change how you operate, and the success of your business as a whole. A well-maintained property rarely surprises you with costly emergencies and compliance issues. Your machinery and equipment will last longer, your insurance premiums might be lower, and you’ll avoid the stress and chaos that comes from unexpected closures.
Most importantly, when you have a comprehensive maintenance schedule in place, you don’t have to worry about your premises. Your focus is then where it belongs: growing your business.
[Image source: Deposit photos]
Guest contributor
