Managing a business often comes with the responsibility of managing a commercial property. With so much to consider, it can be easy to overlook any aspect of a building or its functional contents, leading to the need for repairs to be undertaken quickly, and sometimes with a significant level of cost and disruption.
A planned preventative maintenance (PPM) programme helps to ensure that buildings and other assets within the property are maintained to a good and compliant standard, reducing issues that can be caused by dilapidation. Here, we explain some of the benefits of having a PPM programme.
Help to avoid downtime
Commercial buildings depend on many vital services and systems running smoothly for the business to continue functioning. There is not only the fabric of the building itself to maintain, which on its own can be a considerable undertaking, but also aspects such as electrics, heating, air conditioning, plumbing / hot water systems, bathrooms and toilets. PPM can help to increase the lifespan of equipment through proper maintenance, also helping to avoid downtime that may occur through equipment failure or the workplace becoming unsuitable for staff/visitors to attend work.
Avoid emergency repair costs
Where issues arise unexpectedly in a commercial building, these often need to be addressed quickly – and sometimes outside of normal hours of business operation. Where a defect has the potential to pose a health and safety risk, or otherwise impacts the ability for work to be undertaken, the business may have to impose a halt to operations until the issue has been resolved. Emergency call out fees for engineers or out of hours surcharges can be expensive, and come on top of the fees for the actual repair and materials/parts.
If an issue is identified at an early stage or pre-empted by regular inspection, repair costs can be significantly lower and usually much less disruptive.
It’s also worth remembering that any issue that develops with one aspect of a building can quickly cause other damage or further building defects, which can lead to repair costs spiralling.
Keep on top of health and safety/compliance
Areas of a building that fall into disrepair can sometime pose a health and safety risk to employees. By having a PPM plan in place, you can minimise the number of hazards that may present themselves. By consulting the professionals on a regular basis, you can also be sure to keep on top of any other compliance matters, which can change and often be brought into force with relatively short notice. Being able to prove that you are ahead of the game with compliance and health and safety, and by having a strong track record of little or few workplace incidents, can potentially reduce insurance premiums.
Prevention is better than the cure and the long-term savings made through PPM usually outweigh upfront costs.
For more information or to discuss how Lea Hough’s team can help you to put a PPM programme in place, please get in touch.
