If you own a car, you’ll be well aware of the various measures that are in place to see that it is maintained. After 3 years, the law dictates an annual MOT for the vast majority of vehicles, and although not mandatory, it is recommended that your car receives a full service every 12,000 miles or every 12 months – whichever is sooner. Furthermore, modern cars have a number of signals and alerts built in to issues that need attending to – such as low tyre pressure and reduced oil level.
With a property, there are no such mandatory checks or helpful warning signals. It’s all down to the property owner or occupier to keep an eye on. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it can be that case that first you know of an issue visible internal damage appears or there is another significant failure – by which point, expensive emergency repairs may become necessary.
For commercial property owners/landlords and residential landlords with sizeable portfolios, having a Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programme is often a sensible precaution. Here are 3 reasons why…
Prevent problems from escalating
Although having minor works undertaken on a regular basis can be annoying, it is often the far preferable option that leaving a defect to worsen, therefore requiring major unplanned work. Reactive work is generally more time-consuming, meaning prolonged disruption to the property and its occupants. Where maintenance tasks are scheduled ahead of time, to take place on a regular basis – even while an asset is still functioning normally. The idea is to prevent problems as they occur,
Save money
On the whole, taking a proactive approach to maintaining a property rather than waiting for an issue to develop in severity will be far more cost efficient. As well as a lower cost for materials and labour, it is also worth bearing in mind that major unplanned repair work can often result in significant disruption. For a landlord, this means a period of time during which rent cannot be collected, and for a tenant, can potentially lead to them having to temporarily close all or part of the premises.
Plan and manage cashflow
If you know the issues that you might face and a rough idea of when they might need addressing, you can better manage and plan for any expenditure. Having to instruct emergency repairs can drain cashflow, potentially leaving you struggling to pay other bills or ongoing business costs.
Lea Hough Chartered Surveyors work with both commercial landlords and tenants to ensure buildings are maintained to a good standard, helping to keep disruption and costs to a minimum. We also prepare Stock Condition Surveys for clients with large property portfolios, such as Care Home Providers, Housing Associations and Commercial Landlords, and Quinquennial Surveys of Churches.
For more information or to speak to one of our Chartered Surveyors, please contact us.
