The Importance of Building Maintenance for Your Facility
A well-kept structure is simple to take for granted. However, unseen to the general public, a hardworking crew of building maintenance experts ensures the building is secure, functional, and hazard free.
In this article we’ll discuss the fundamentals of building maintenance, the building maintenance industry, and cost-effective strategies for preserving your facilities.
What is Building Maintenance?
Many different activities can be included in the category of “building maintenance,” depending on the type of company or institution. In general, maintenance involves a lot of “behind the scenes” effort to keep a building running well and ensure its occupants are comfortable. This could be anything from replacing light bulbs to cleaning out blocked lint traps in dryer vents. Anything to keep guests or residents safe and in quality conditions.
Types of Building Maintenance
Building maintenance can be divided into three categories: Routine, Preventative, and Corrective. Each division has it’s own standards and requires a particular skill or level of knowledge to perform necessary functions.
Routine Maintenance
Routine maintenance includes tasks such as tidying up, taking out the trash, lubricating and oiling machine parts, checking on the plumbing and electrical condition, and even repainting and weeding. These checks and cleanings are done on a set schedule and are meant to keep a building in good working order and safe from degradation. Routine maintenance can be scheduled daily, weekly, or cyclical. Its primary function is to keep the building in top condition, to save on costly repairs to appliances and infrastructure down the line.
Preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance is just what it sounds like. Its work done to PREVENT problems or issues in the future. This could be replacing regular light bulbs with LED’s which last longer and save on electricity. It could also be flushing or draining a hot water tank to keep it running at its optimal capacity. This work can be all encompassing, but the idea behind it remains the same. Get ahead of any potential problems, so they don’t happen.
Corrective Maintenance
This phase of building maintenance is typically done on structures that have foregone Routine and Preventative maintenance. The work is no longer focused on maintaining, but more so on repairing. This could be replacing old broken appliances, repairing plumbing to improve water pressure and flushing mechanisms, and fixing or replacing air conditioning units that are old or broken. Corrective maintenance is also used as a fix for emergency calls, such as when appliances break during a guest or resident’s stay and needs to be quickly replaced.
Who Can Benefit from Building Maintenance?
Here are some of the industries that require building maintenance:
- Government: For the benefit of the general public, public buildings such as city halls, post offices, and libraries are dependent on the work of building maintenance specialists to remain in good form.
- Business premises: It is essential to hire a reliable maintenance company for any business structure. Most smaller organizations use outside companies to handle maintenance, while larger ones have their dedicated maintenance staff.
- Residential Facilities: Both the inside and outside of residential buildings need maintenance. Regular inspections, maintenance, and repairs are done to ensure everything is in good shape.