In today’s competitive commercial real estate (CRE) market, maintaining a commercial property is not just about fixing what’s broken. Commercial real estate managers are constantly seeking ways to be more efficient, save money, and attract tenants.
In this blog, we’ll explore proven strategies for maintaining properties in the most effective way, via proactive property maintenance.
The importance of proactive property maintenance
Property maintenance in commercial real estate goes beyond cleaning and repair. It’s about sustaining a building’s value, ensuring safety, and keeping tenants satisfied.
Proper property maintenance not only helps in reducing operating costs but also enhances tenant retention. In an industry where every penny counts, understanding the significance of proactive, not reactive, property maintenance is essential.
Proactive maintenance refers to all the tasks and processes your team puts in place to prevent the failure of equipment or machinery. The thought is: While a piece of equipment may not be broken today, it could become a costly problem down the line if it fails due to poor maintenance.
3 strategies for proactive property maintenance
There are several things commercial property teams should be doing in order to ensure building maintenance is proactive instead of reactive.
1. Regular inspections
Regular property inspections are crucial for commercial building checks. They help identify potential problems before they become costly repairs. Whether it’s checking for water leaks, electrical issues, or structural damage, regular inspections can save time and money in the long run.
When you continuously stay on top of inspections, you can grow tenant satisfaction. That’s because you will consistently deliver a clean, comfortable experience for all occupants of your building. And regular inspections can help you maintain high property standards and gain new insight into your building’s health. The result? Increased confidence in your buildings and higher tenant satisfaction lead to more retention, adding value to your building.
2. Preventive maintenance
Implementing preventive maintenance measures leads to long-term cost savings. Instead of waiting for something to break, preventive maintenance ensures that systems and equipment are regularly serviced and maintained. This can include routine HVAC maintenance, plumbing checks, and other scheduled services.
A robust preventive maintenance program can help extend the lifespan of building equipment – up to 10 times longer. It can reduce capital expenditures and maximize an asset’s value. That’s because you can know when equipment is reaching the end of its life to more effectively capital plan. You can also consistently track maintenance completion to avoid costly repairs down the road.
3. Green and sustainable maintenance practices
Embracing green property maintenance is not just good for the environment; it’s also good for your bottom line. Utilizing energy-efficient lighting, proper insulation, and water-saving fixtures are ways to make your commercial property more sustainable.
These practices not only reduce operating costs but also appeal to environmentally conscious tenants. In fact, 40% of real estate professionals have seen increasing demand for sustainability among tenants, according to RICS Economics. An increase in tenant demand for your spaces means an opportunity to charge higher rent, which means a boost to building value.
Leveraging technology for efficient maintenance
In the era of digital transformation, technology plays a pivotal role in property maintenance. Property maintenance technology, such as a building operations platform, helps in real-time monitoring and early detection of issues.
Investing in such technology can streamline maintenance tasks and contribute significantly to efficiency and cost savings. For example, a work order management system can help engineering teams quickly prioritize and assign preventive maintenance tasks, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.
Additionally, commercial property inspection software can help teams simplify how rounds are completed. Such a tool can empower engineers to create work orders during inspections with the click of a button on a mobile device. Inspection software can also help property teams spot potentially costly problems early thanks to an easy-to-use dashboard with visual analytics.
Whether it’s automating routine checks or using data analytics for predictive maintenance, technology can be a game-changer for commercial real estate property managers.
Go from reactive to proactive maintenance
Property maintenance in commercial real estate is an ever-evolving field. By understanding its importance, implementing effective strategies, and leveraging modern technology, property managers can significantly reduce operating costs and keep their buildings in top condition.
The practices outlined in this guide serve as a foundation for achieving excellence in property maintenance. From regular inspections to green initiatives, every action counts in maintaining a commercial property efficiently.
Are you looking for a helping hand to ensure your building maintenance is more proactive rather than reactive? Take the self-guided, interactive tour of commercial real estate’s leading building operations platform, Prism.
