Do you manage a commercial or industrial building? Facility maintenance is one of the most important responsibilities when owning or managing any building. This responsibility requires you to oversee the upkeep of all the critical elements inside and outside your facility, such as landscaping, security, plumbing, machinery, electrical systems, HVAC systems, safety mechanisms, and cleanliness. 

Unfortunately, too many building managers fail to promptly prevent or resolve many common facility maintenance problems. They usually wait for the issues to worsen before making the necessary repairs or renovations. Procrastinating on maintenance issues increases the costs of resolving them and reduces your facility’s operational efficiency until resolved. That is why you should tackle all potential or current facility maintenance issues before they become a bigger problem.

Below are the top 5 most frequent maintenance issues in facilities and the actionable strategies you can execute to prevent or resolve them effectively. 

1) Failure to Enforce a Preventative Maintenance Plan

Planned preventative maintenance is the number one way to stop facility maintenance problems before they start. It can offer your business the most cost savings, safety, equipment lifespan, and efficiency for managing its operations. 

Perhaps the most common cause of facility maintenance problems is failure to create and enforce a preventative maintenance plan. Instead, many managers will wait until something goes wrong with their plumbing, electricity, or machinery before requesting help to fix them. You can be sure that it costs more to repair a problem than it does to prevent one. 

For this reason, you need to develop a custom preventative maintenance plan based on your facility’s needs. This plan could include routine equipment, machinery, and utilities inspections to ensure they function at their maximum potential. If the inspection discovers any minor or potential issues, you can make simple repairs to prevent them from worsening.  

2) Inconsistent or Non-existent Cleaning Routine

Commercial and industrial facilities are easily susceptible to dirt and debris. Whether it’s soot from machinery or dirt from all the walking back and forth, your facility won’t stay clean for too long. Depending on the operations conducted at your facility, it may only take one or two days for it to go from clean and sanitary to dirty and unsanitary.

Many facility managers make the mistake of not prioritizing cleaning. They will either have an inconsistent or non-existent cleaning routine, which can be damaging to your facility’s safety and operational efficiency. You need to have a consistent cleaning routine to ensure your facility never becomes susceptible to dirt buildup, germs, bug infestations, bacteria, and other unsanitary conditions. 

An unclean facility can risk damage and deterioration to the building’s machinery, flooring, walls, and virtually everything else. On top of that, the aesthetics of your facility will suffer if you don’t clean it. That could ultimately affect the reputation of your business and the health and safety of your employees and other stakeholders.  

A professional commercial cleaning service can assist you with daily or weekly cleanings of your facility. It can perform office cleaning, bathroom sanitation, carpet & upholstery cleaning, hard floor maintenance, window cleaning, and other specialised cleaning services.  

3) Failure to Cut and Trim the Outdoor Vegetation

Some facility managers wait too long to mow the grass, trim the bushes, and adequately care for all the plants, trees, and shrubbery outside their facility. It is easy to forget about vegetation overgrowth on the outside when you spend most of your time inside. 

Although this might not affect the operational efficiency of your business, it will still create an unsightly outdoor appearance at your facility. That could give clients and stakeholders a negative impression of your operations. In some cases, the overgrowth could impact your operations if it obstructs walkways or attracts pests to the area. 

You don’t need to be a professional landscaper or groundskeeper to deal with this problem. All you need to do is hire a grounds maintenance professional to manage the vegetation throughout your outdoor areas. They can prevent overgrowth of your trees, grass, and plants while ensuring they are still healthy and viable to maintain appearances. 

4) Operational Inefficiency for Reasons Unknown

Does your facility experience operational inefficiency for some unknown reason? You may notice that all the machines, lights, and equipment are working fine, but something is still not improving operational efficiency. At this point, your goal is to identify the cause of the inefficiency. That is where a consultant can help.

Hiring a comprehensive facility consultancy service can help you identify the best ways to streamline your facility operations in a way that is cost-effective and ideally in sync with the goals of your business. The consultant will review the current status of your facility’s operations and develop the best practices to enhance their efficiency. 

More importantly, the consultant will ensure that all aspects of your operations comply with government regulatory requirements. Thus, your business will not risk facing legal issues or penalties for non-compliance. 

5) Inexperienced Staff Members

If your facility’s machines and equipment are operated by untrained or poorly trained staff members, they risk misusing them. This could cause premature wear and tear on your machinery and reduce its lifespan. Your staff might also not understand the proper safety and cleanliness protocols to use. 

You must educate your staff on maintaining a clean, safe, and functional facility. That could mean training them on how to operate machinery properly and requiring them to clean their work areas at the end of each day. If you hire a consultant, they can assist you in educating your staff. 

Request a Facility Maintenance Professional Today

Do you need a facility maintenance professional to inspect, repair, landscape, or clean your commercial or industrial building? Tier1 Facilities Management is the premier facility maintenance provider for businesses in all industries and sectors. 

Contact Tier1 at 0330 133 520 or sales@tier1fm.com for more information or to schedule an appointment for service.