The idea of a “workplace” has changed a lot since the beginning of the year. As a result of the spread of the pandemic, businesses across the country had to set up office from home to ensure worker safety. Now, with stringent plans and established safety guidelines in place, organizations are slowly beginning the transition back into the office, at least part time.
For the larger offices and commercial buildings, in particular, this means the return of workers to buildings that have potentially been unoccupied for months. In these cases, it is up to the owners of these buildings to prepare the building so that it is fit for use under the new circumstances.
7 Steps For Maintaining Your Facility
When undertaking the task to ensure that your building’s tenants can safely transition into the office, there are many things to consider. It all starts with a facility maintenance checklist. This will help you to navigate the copious maintenance requirements that buildings may need after being in lockdown.
Specific areas like the buildings’ air conditioning and other automated systems will need to be rescheduled. More importantly, their mechanical systems may need special care considering their lack of use.
To make sure that you cover all the bases in preparation for the return to the office, here are some of the main steps necessary to maintain your facility.
Step 1: Building Walkthrough
The first step involves evaluating the current condition of the building. Buildings can easily contract small issues such as a leaky roof or the breakage of a water valve. When left undealt with over time, these issues can quickly develop into large maintenance challenges.
This means that the first thing to do is a walkthrough. Doing so allows you to evaluate its state so that you can determine the degree and nature of the necessary preparation for re-opening. Make sure to take note of all the areas that need work on your maintenance checklist as you go along.
Step 2: Check The Plumbing
Because many of the building systems would have been inactive for a long period of time, you will need to test each of the systems to evaluate their condition.
This includes checking the drains and sewers to test the valves and seals. If drains aren’t used on a regular basis, there’s a good possibility of a sewer odor. To address this, pour a mixture of half a gallon of water and 1 cup of vinegar down the drain.
Step 3: Automated Systems Check
When the building was inoperable, many of the building’s automated systems (such as lighting timers or heating/ cooling systems) would have either been adjusted or shut off entirely. The re-opening may affect business hours as well as the areas of operation for the office space. Remember to consider all these factors when reprogramming the respective automated systems.
Step 4: Advanced Maintenance
Facility maintenance is most effectively done when the managers don’t need to worry about the safety or inconveniences of the workers in a building. An empty building presents the perfect opportunity to perform undisturbed facility maintenance and any other building touch-ups.
We recommend taking advantage of the opportunity of a vacant building and perform tenant improvements and any large maintenance components, such as flooring installations or painting, a few weeks before the scheduled date of return. This will ensure your facility is up to scratch and ready for use!
Step 5: Annual Property Inspections
Make sure to inspect the annual property systems such as the fire alarm, irrigation systems, backflow valves, and other system components. If any of these are in less-than-optimal condition, you will need to consult the appropriate maintenance groups.
Step 6: Reschedule Preventative Maintenance
It’s very important to keep up with your preventative facility maintenance appointments. If you have missed any maintenance appointments that include servicing essential systems, such as plumbing, fire services, or HVAC, be sure to reschedule them.
Chances are, these service providers are likely to have a backlog of calls when business starts again. So, make an appointment as soon as possible to be a step ahead of the crowd. The same advice goes for booking future preventative maintenance appointments well in advance.
Step 7: Regulations Compliance
It is important to consider how you might need to update the facility to allow for COVID-19 safety regulations.
This may include:
- the provision of hand sanitizing stations
- automatic sensing doors
- touchless tap sensors
- spatial layouts to enforce social distancing practices
On a large scale, the installation of these systems may require the help of a contractor.
In Conclusion
There are many things to consider when re-opening a building for operation. While there is much to be done, using a facility maintenance checklist and following the steps mentioned above will help you to prepare for the new normal.
If you need to make any structural changes or reconfigure your facility layout, be sure to contact us. At Chad Fisher Construction, we can help you to prepare your facility for re-opening.