You probably already know the importance of property maintenance, but the real challenge lies in keeping up with it all. The first step to tackling this massive undertaking is creating a maintenance plan. It’ll help you mitigate potential hazards, such as slip injuries due to damaged flooring or fires from poor wiring. You won’t want to deal with such consequences that can be costly and life-threatening.
Staying on top of property maintenance can also keep the values up. It can make your tenants feel satisfied, keeping your vacancy rate at a minimum. It can boost the property value of your centre or commercial building. If done with several upgrades, it can even help increase your property’s rental income in the future.
So how do you keep up with your maintenance plan? We’ll let you in on the three secrets behind performing revenue-boosting commercial property maintenance.
Secret #1: Aim for superior administrative services.
Achieving outstanding property maintenance starts with superior administrative work. That includes your ability to communicate with the tenants and stakeholders, stay within the maintenance budget and hire qualified technicians and contractors.
Here are some tips to improve the administrative aspect of property maintenance:
- Respond to requests promptly.
Asking repeatedly for repairs or routine checks can be frustrating. You don’t want your tenants or customers to experience that, so do your best to respond promptly.
It’s best to create an online system for all repair requests. That way, you can easily track them and respond accordingly. And if your tenants or customers can check the repair status online, they’ll feel assured that their needs are being addressed. That’s a great way to keep them happy and satisfied with property maintenance.
- Track maintenance expenses efficiently.
As a building owner or property manager, you need to ensure you’re paying the maintenance technicians and contractors on time. You also have to track the expenses to keep everything within budget. So consider using an efficient app with accounting features to ensure you never miss an invoice.
When you handle maintenance expenses efficiently, you can prevent unnecessary costs and even free up some space in the budget for a few property upgrades.
- Prioritise preventative maintenance.
In your maintenance plan, prioritise specific preventative tasks. These can help prolong the life of valuable assets and minimise urgent and costly repairs. For instance, discovering and addressing mould early in your school or clinic’s bathroom can help prevent larger and more expensive tasks like whole floor replacement.
Secret #2: Don’t skip the maintenance checklist.
You might think it’s all right to skip one or two items in your maintenance checklist, but that can cause expensive problems later. If you want to keep the values up, consider these must-have items for your next round of building maintenance:
- Garden area: Start the checklist by working from the outside in. If you run a child care centre, make sure to include playground maintenance, too.
- Exterior property: A building is only as safe and efficient as the shell protecting it. So be sure to check the roofing, gutters, exterior walls, signages and more.
- Interior structure: Inspect walls and ceilings for cracks and water damage. Also, don’t forget about the flooring, shelves, windows, doors and cabinetry.
- HVAC units: Air quality and temperature can impact everyday comfort. Keep your tenants and customers satisfied with regular HVAC system maintenance.
- Plumbing & fixtures: Emergency plumbing repairs aren’t only disruptive to the business but are also costly. So always include this item in your routine checks.
- Electrical system: Old electrical systems and poor wiring can be enough to bury your business. Tick this item off the checklist by leaving it to the pros.
- Pest control maintenance: Whether you manage a child care centre or retail store, you need pest control to ensure the space is safe and compliant.
- Seasonal preparations: If your property is located in an area that receives snowfall or gets too hot in the summer, include seasonal preps in the checklist.
- Special items: Depending on your property, you might need to add deep carpet cleaning, interior painting or other special items to your checklist.
Secret #3: Hire a regular property maintenance company
While you can hire a handyman every time something needs to be fixed on your property, it’s more cost-effective to have a contract with a maintenance company. That can save you time and money and take the stress out of finding an individual contractor for every task you need to complete in your property maintenance plan.
Here are some tips on hiring a regular maintenance company:
- Define the tasks.
Most tasks in your maintenance plan may be general repair requests or checks. But it’s also vital to think about the unique needs of your property or tenants/customers. For instance, if your commercial space has vinyl flooring or uses a particular hot water system, make sure to hire a maintenance company experienced in that area.
- Decide on the schedule.
Commercial property maintenance companies often have the tools and team to provide urgent and scheduled services. Usually, you can ask them to come in bi-monthly, monthly or annually. That flexibility gives you a better way to carry out your plan. And since they specialise in commercial spaces, they know how to work efficiently to minimise disruption to your operations or facility.
- Hire a company skilled in multiple services.
Not all maintenance companies have the skills to work on different jobs. Be sure to assess your property needs, list down the necessary tasks and find a firm skilled in everything in the checklist. That can save you thousands of hours and dollars. After all, maintenance packages are usually more affordable than individual services. Plus, dealing with downtime or vacancy as you look for different contractors may come with a hefty price. So find a one-stop-shop for your needs as much as possible.
Need help with property maintenance? Hire Mathiou Services today!
It’s time to put these secrets of value-boosting property maintenance to work. And if you need further help, Mathiou Services is here to take some tasks off your plate.
We’re a one-stop shop for all your commercial building maintenance needs. Our team provides top-notch services, from electrical and plumbing repairs to carpentry and pest control. We take pride in our unparalleled workmanship, outstanding professionalism and clear communication—keeping maintenance easy for you.
Our team has decades of experience servicing commercial areas, including child care centres, office spaces and retail shops. Plus, we have a nationwide reach, so whether you need property maintenance in Sydney or Canberra, we can help you.
Get in touch with us today to request a consultation or quote.
