Facilities management is one of the most important aspects of an organisation’s basic infrastructure, however big or small the business is. Whether your commercial property is a retail unit, offices or a factory/service unit, general housekeeping of your property’s structure and everyday functioning is essential in ensuring your business can operate on an ongoing basis. Every commercial property is bound by regulations, but first and foremost is required to be an appealing and safe place of work for employees, and for visitors and customers.
To achieve this and to minimise potential disruption to your business, your organisation requires a system of support for all aspects of your facility. This will involve both internal and external personnel and will demand that a schedule of planned maintenance is in place for all areas.
Deterioration of your facility can occur through climatic conditions, wilful or accidental damage, as a result of the durability of parts or materials used and of course, through natural everyday use. Internally, a visual checklist carried out by appointed personnel on a routine basis can identify issues and prevent reactive measures that are often too late, but essentially a full, planned maintenance schedule is required to be in place, involving qualified technical personnel in each case, to cover the following aspects of your facility’s infrastructure:
Everyday cleaning – for washrooms, offices, toilets, canteens and public areas
Air conditioning systems – where applicable an air conditioning maintenance system should be in place to ensure the unit continues to function efficiently, is cleaned and refrigerant levels are checked and addressed
Fire safety – risk assessments, alarm systems, extinguishers and fire drills are all required to be installed or carried out by qualified personnel on a routine basis
Electrical safety – PAT testing of all portable appliances is required as well as basic safety checks of sockets, plugs and wiring and where heavy plant or machinery is in use installation wiring checks and thermal imaging surveys are also required
Security – routine checks of alarms, fire doors, CCTV systems and evacuation procedures are required
Water chlorination and cooling – where applicable routine maintenance of filtration and cooling systems and pipework is required for units controlled by very strict regulations
Heating – systems, ducting and pipework should be checked by commercial heating engineers on a routine basis
Boilers – regular commercial boiler servicing should be in place to ensure heating, water and showering systems continue functioning and adhere to regulations
Structural – inspections of walls, roofs, doors, ceilings, guttering etc can identify potentially costly issues before they occur
These are the basic features that are present in most commercial properties, and of course there will be some organisations that need to cover more specific requirements within their facility.
In the majority of cases, the essential utilities are not fundamental to an organisation’s every day running, and hence it is required that external personnel are appointed to undertake the technical tasks beyond your appointed internal people. This ensures that a planned maintenance programme covers all aspects of your facility so that your employees, visitors and customers are safe and your business can function efficiently.