The Guide to Building & Facilities Management

Building fabric maintenance services are intended to keep or restore the appearance and aesthetics of your structure whilst lowering liability risks. It includes every part of a property that does not fall under mechanical, electrical, or other speciality services.

Fabric maintenance, in general, is an essential component of ensuring that your structure is both functional and attractive. When it comes to the maintenance of building fabric, prevention is always preferable to cure. Even if the finances of a company were limitless, emergency repairs are still costly. Furthermore, it cannot be neglected since you must comply with legal standards and consider the health and safety of all stakeholders, such as employees, visitors, and public members.

Finishes are usually the last step in any building or construction process, forming the final surface. Finishes protect a building’s surfaces from abrasion, corrosion, ice, water, and other elements. Builders can provide a creative touch while also improving the overall look of your structure. Even though finishes are typically concerned with buildings’ interior surfaces, they may also be utilised on exteriors.

Insulation is filling a gap between two surfaces with a substance that prevents heat flow or loss. There are several forms of insulation, including thermal, electrical, fire, and acoustic insulation. Thermal insulating fabric focuses on the space between your structure’s inside and outside walls. Fire protection involves preventing fire spread from one component to another or between rooms. Electrical insulation is used to separate and protect electrical conductors from harm. The importance of fire safety is paramount as it is critical in preventing the loss of life, as well as reducing the cost of fires to businesses due to property damage that could easily be avoided with the proper fire safety compliance strategy.

When equipment breaks down, reactive maintenance is performed. Reactively maintained facilities management and maintenance seek to return the equipment to operating condition as near to normal as possible after it has broken down.

Reactive property maintenance is the practice of seeking for and implementing practical repair solutions to unforeseen, suddenly appearing issues and emergencies. Reactive building maintenance provides efficient protection from unanticipated hazards, dangers, and damage by applying speedy repairs and restorative actions.

There are many benefits to employing reactive services including:

• The initial expenditure is low because this approach allows you to wait until something breaks before repairing it. This lowers the amount you would have spent on routine maintenance.

• It saves money on labour costs because you wait until the equipment fails or sections of your property degrade, therefore fewer employees are required in your workplace. Most reactive maintenance is typically outsourced to other firms. Additionally, since you don’t have any planned maintenance, fewer workers are needed to perform tasks, allowing you to save on payroll.

• Reduced maintenance. With the “run until it fails” approach, planned maintenance is reduced significantly. You decide not to have routine equipment inspections or facility checks. This also leads to only spending when necessary, since you’re only willing to spend when absolutely necessary.

There are many different elements and moving parts that exist within businesses that fail from time to time. Reactive services include plumbing, roofing repairs, building fabric maintenance, electrical services, locksmiths, joinery, and drainage and flood management.

Planned maintenance is undertaking repairs to prevent an asset from failing. Planned maintenance is a catchall phrase for any planned, recorded, and scheduled maintenance operation. One of the most important aspects of running a company is to set up an effective maintenance management system, which allows you to budget and allocate resources while ensuring that your organization maintains efficiency. Planned maintenance helps to reduce the need for reactive maintenance by reducing unplanned downtime.

The major advantage of planned maintenance is that it may be scheduled in such a way as to avoid interfering with the whole production process. This might imply scheduling planned maintenance during off-seasons or performing repairs at night when most of the business is not operating.

Other benefits of planned maintenance include:

• Reduces equipment downtime and boosts equipment performance.

• Costs are reduced since issues are addressed while they are still minor.

• Because maintenance activities, parts inventories, tools, and financial expenditures can be spread out more evenly throughout the year, time spent on these tasks is more efficient.

• The ability to better plan and order spare parts.

• Assists in ensuring that the manufacturer meets warranty requirements.

The services included within planned maintenance include emergency lighting and fire detection, heating and ventilation maintenance, PAT testing, water hygiene treatment, property compliance works, and water treatment.

Outsourcing facilities management allows an organisation to focus on the fundamental operations of its business while minimising time spent on property and facilities management.

Facilities management (FM) outsourcing eliminates the need for companies to engage with individual contractors. As a result, organisations will experience cost savings as a consequence of outsourcing complete facilities management to a competent hired professional.

Furthermore, Facilities Management companies use managing systems that aid in the reporting and organisation of various services to help a company run more efficiently. A great example of this system is tabsCAFM. The TabsCAFM solution is a computer software program that enables organisations in the Facilities, Estates and Service Management sectors to manage personnel, locations, and procedures more efficiently. FM providers use these kinds of systems to integrate with reporting, client portals and asset management to form a centre of information.

Businesses that outsource facilities management to a reputable facilities management company will benefit from the following:

• Cost Savings

• Enhanced flexibility

• Time to focus on key business operations

• Statutory compliance

• Mobile workforce

• Consistency in service

Depending on the company sector, size, and type, facilities management services are provided differently. While some organisations only require a single service, others may need a comprehensive facilities management solution. Companies that operate in more complex or hazardous environments must adhere to additional regulatory standards and necessitate more specialty services, for example. No matter the size or type of business, it could always benefit from a fully-fledged facilities management service.