In commercial real estate, replacing HVAC systems can be costly—as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars across large portfolios. Problems arise when there is a misunderstanding between owners and tenants about where the responsibility lies for maintenance projects, especially when it comes to meeting regulatory standards. 

So, how can commercial landlords avoid costly HVAC tenant compliance issues? 

You need to have accurate data from HVAC units—particularly those maintained by tenants via triple net leases. In that vein, it’s important to understand the value of HVAC building management software and its role in mitigating compliance challenges. HVAC building management software provides a digital repository to help you stay on top of what you own.  

Below are three ways HVAC building management software and tenant compliance software can help ensure you’re doing everything you can to mitigate your risk from tenant HVAC compliance challenges. 

1. Digitize Your HVAC Inventory

Having a complete view of your HVAC inventory is critical for effective property management. An HVAC management system provides this visibility and gives you direct insight into what you own. It makes it easy to store information in one place and prevents you from having to hunt for certain HVAC data points. Put simply, you can find what you need, when you need it.  

An HVAC management system simplifies the process of collecting tenant-side HVAC data. When tenants know you have this capability, they are more likely to keep up with their maintenance responsibilities and increase transparency about what’s actually getting done. For example, a fully digitized inventory allows managers to quickly find all occurrences of equipment that may have manufacturer recalls, environmental risks, etc. 

2. Automate Maintenance Reminders and Recording

Triple-net leases don’t fully absolve property owners or operators of all day-to-day administrative work. In many cases, operators still have to look up individual leases and manually send reminders to tenants about what they are responsible for completing. This creates additional headaches, leaves room for error, and means more back-and-forth communication.  

HVAC building management software fixes this problem by giving property owners a way to send automatic notifications to tenants based on their unique lease terms. You can tie individual tenants to specific commercial real estate HVAC units in your system and customize when maintenance reminders go out.  

In addition, you can hold tenants accountable and protect yourself from regulatory risk since you have the records on file. When you oversee tens, hundreds, or even thousands of commercial real estate HVAC units across multiple properties, automated reminders become crucial. These solutions focus your attention on the exceptions rather than trying to keep an eye on every unit at all times.

3. Tap into a Vendor Marketplace

Finding a vendor to service a commercial real estate HVAC unit can be a major compliance roadblock. There is risk of ending up with subpar teams and huge bills as a result of conducting limited vendor research. Consequently, if an HVAC system doesn’t get the service it needs, property owners will end up with costly equipment issues down the road. 

One simple way to solve this problem is to use HVAC building management software that comes with a trusted vendor marketplace. This provides a way to manage RFP and bidding processes. Owners and operators can restrict bids to their own network or even widen the search when they add facilities in new areas. In turn, you get a seamless maintenance process in which tenants remain compliant. 

Use HVAC Building Management Software to Reduce Compliance Risk 

For those looking to abide by HVAC regulations and standards, HVAC building management software and tenant compliance software offers answers for three common challenges:  

• poor HVAC data management; 
• manual communication; and  
• lack of visibility into compliances rates/scores across a portfolio.  

The right solution can address these issues and more – saving you time, money, and energy over the long term. 

When searching for the right HVAC building management software, your next system should integrate with a broader building operations platform. That way you can: 

• manage your HVAC inventory; 
• reduce the regulatory burden; and  
• spend less time communicating with tenants about their lease obligations.  

Learn more about why using the right HVAC building management software can help you avoid compliance challenges at your industrial and retail properties. Download our free guide, “3 Steps to Overcome Tenant HVAC Compliance Challenges.”