Building Maintenance is a necessary cost whose avoidance or continuous deferment is too unavoidably expensive.
The average lifespan of a conventionally constructed building (masonry and wood) is 60 years but it can exceed this period depending on preservation techniques employed by the owner. To keep your building from faster deterioration and dilapidation, building maintenance must be done deliberately and proactively. Unfortunately, many building owners prefer to defer building maintenance.
Maintenance deferment is simply postponement of maintenance. It’s a ‘cheat sheet’ employed by most property owners to manage cashflows. If properly planned, and budget allocation made for the deferred maintenance, it usually serves its intended purpose. Regrettably, many a times it gradually metamorphosizes into maintenance evasion. This comes with a cost because it leads to deterioration whose solution is complete retrofit or overhaul. For instance, a minor sink leakage may result in replacement of the entire kitchen cabinets and drawers if not fixed in time.
Buildings, just like other fixed assets, require regular maintenance to sustain their optimal operation. They have a life span that can really be prolonged through proper maintenance. Proper maintenance of buildings fosters strong tenancy relations, reduces vacancy rates, enhances property value and generally increases return on investment. To realize better returns, real estate investors and corporate tenants should incorporate facilities management services as part of their building operations. This is because, unlike property management, facilities management offers 360 degrees view and solution to efficient operation of a building.
The opportunity cost of building maintenance is what facilities management seek to address. Unfortunately, facilities management is yet to be fully embraced in Kenya. This can be attributed to limited awareness and poor building maintenance culture. It is important to understand the two parameters if we are to achieve sustainability for buildings in Kenya. Sustainability is about maintaining or preserving the ecological balance. The role of buildings as an agent of decay cannot be underscored in the race towards sustainability. And the tipping point is Facilities Management.
Facilities Management (FM) is the operation and maintenance of buildings and equipment thereon. The principal priority of FM is to ensure that facilities are safe, functional, and comfortable to occupants. The term “facility” (pl. facilities) refers to something built, installed or established to
serve a purpose. Examples include real estate property, buildings, furniture, technical infrastructure (HVAC), lighting, IT-services and other user-specific equipment and appliances. Thus, FM is crucial for sustainability of a building’s life cycle.
The life cycle of a building entails design phase, construction phase, use phase and end-of-life phase. Maintenance occurs at the use phase. It is concerned with the day-to-day activities necessary for the building, its systems and equipment to perform optimally. It starts with routine tasks such as cleaning and inspection; and then extends to painting, retrofitting, mechanical electrical plumbing (MEP) servicing and repairs, landscaping, among others.
Maintenance is well executed through preventive (predictive) maintenance and corrective (repair) maintenance. Preventive Maintenance consists of a series of time-based maintenance requirements that provide a basis for planning, scheduling and executing scheduled maintenance. Corrective Maintenance, on the other hand, entails repairs necessary to restore an equipment to properly functioning condition.
After wage bill, maintenance is usually the second largest expenditure in many organizations, especially corporates such as banks. Given that it directly and significantly affects the bottom line, it should form an integral organizational policy framework. As a matter of fact, FM is a function of organizational business continuity plan but some executives perceive FM as a trivial unit that is mainly concerned with expensing. Although most of the FM functions have cost implication, they contribute immensely to the sustainability of the building life cycle. By extension, they provide reliable, secure, safe, healthful and energy efficient workplaces.
It’s time organizations take FM seriously not only for the sake of the building sustainability but also for their business continuity. Organizations also need to establish Strategic Facilities Management Plans (SFMP) to guide their FM departments and or outsourced FM service providers. The skills level of FM staff in an organization is also instrumental in the performance of a building.
The health of a building is exhibited by sound environmental conditions, energy efficiency, fire safety, security, regular inspection and maintenance, cleanliness, ventilation, temperature control, lighting levels and waste management. Such a condition is achieved through comprehensive operation and maintenance programme. Property owners who disregard and continuously defer maintenance can attest to the following downsides:
• Increased capital repairs
• Increased unscheduled shutdowns and downtimes
• Shrinked equipment lifespan
• Little or no life cycle cost savings
• Unsafe dysfunctional systems and facilities that deviate from the design intent.
It is important to note that maintenance is not an afterthought or unnecessary cost. Building Maintenance is a necessary cost whose avoidance or continuous deferment results in avoidable but mandatory costs. Holding off maintenance may cause disruptions to business continuity, expensive emergency repairs, health and safety risks, collateral damage, and compliance fines.
