Building Maintenance

What is building maintenance?

Building maintenance is all the upkeep, repair, and other work performed on a building to keep it safe, presentable, and functional for the people who use it.

A building is similar to a giant machine, with parts that will deteriorate and require updates and maintenance over time. In order to keep a building in good condition, it must have a well planned system for inspection, maintenance, and repair.

Table of Contents

Common types of building maintenance
Benefits of building maintenance
How to improve building maintenance and reduce costs
Building maintenance jobs
Certifications and training for building maintenance professionals
The hero of building maintenance

Common types of building maintenance

Building maintenance consists of a wide variety of tasks. Common activities that must be performed regularly include:

• Washing and cleaning different surfaces (bathrooms, floors, windows, handrails, gutters)
• Maintaining and repairing all assets inside the building (HVAC systems, elevators, servers, emergency generators)
• Maintaining and repairing the building itself (doors, carpentry, windows, walls, roof)
• Maintaining property outside and around the building (landscaping, driveways, sidewalks)

Much like other forms of maintenance, building maintenance tasks can also be categorized by priority. 

• Emergency repairs: Tasks that need to be done immediately to remove an imminent safety risk, address physical damage to the building, or repair a malfunction that causes disruption to a utility service.
• High-priority tasks: Tasks that need a short term resolution so the issue does not turn into a safety or security risk.
• Medium-priority tasks: Includes most preventive or routine maintenance tasks done weekly or monthly.
• Low-priority tasks: Includes maintenance work that is not critical to the ongoing health of the building and can be done months down the line whenever resources are available.

Deferred maintenance tasks: These are often low or medium-priority tasks that are moved to a deferred maintenance backlog because of budget, time, or resource constraints

Benefits of building maintenance

Safety

A poorly maintained building is an accident waiting to happen. One example is the collapse of the Champlain Towers in South Florida in 2021.

• The reinforced concrete structural supports were corroded and damaged due to exposure to water.
• When the tower collapsed, 98 people died, 11 were injured and the resulting property damage came close to $1 billion. 

When essential maintenance gets pushed to the backburner, the results can be tragic. With regular building maintenance, you can improve safety at your facility and easily avoid costly or tragic incidents.

Money-saving

Planning a budget for regular upkeep is much more easy to forecast.  It also costs much less than emergency repairs. There are many strategies that can help you plan ahead to keep building maintenance costs down.

• Use a CMMS to track asset lifecycle and get alerts when a machine is approaching the end of its useful life. 
• Schedule preventive maintenance tasks and set up systems for accountability so they don’t get overlooked.
• Increase productivity to save money by automating activities such as PM scheduling and purchasing workflows.
• Check for lapses in energy efficiency, like drafts or leaks. 

Manage assets and parts inventory to measure usage and identify assets that are costing you in energy and maintenance.

Functionality

Like any machine, without regular inspection and repair, a building will deteriorate. When systems within your building fail – whether it is a utility or a part of the building’s infrastructure – it becomes less useable. 

Regular maintenance offers consistent building functionality in the following ways:

• Regular inspections provide visibility to emerging issues, allowing for early intervention.
• Components that receive regular maintenance are less likely to break down and cause outages and disruptions

Compliance

There is a reason building codes exist and are regularly updated. Industry knowledge about best practices for building safety and maintenance evolve over time. Requiring regular maintenance and strict standards help ensure the safety of building occupants. 

Regular building maintenance is essential to ensure compliance with these ever-changing building and safety codes, as well as state and federal regulations. 

Maintaining spaces is important to eliminate safety risks and reduce your liability risk.

How to improve building maintenance and reduce costs

Here are a few simple ways to start saving big money on building maintenance.

Automate maintenance work with a CMMS 

A CMMS can help you automate work order assignments. By syncing those work orders across all your devices or team members, you save valuable time (and therefore, money) that was previously spent on manual communications. 

Using a CMMS with a robust mobile CMMS app, means better organization, communication, accountability, and productivity.

Don’t be afraid to negotiate

It’s important to interview multiple vendors to find the right fit for your business and budget. Don’t be afraid to negotiate prices with both tenants (like CAM charges) and contractors.

If you lack tools to manage or oversee outside contractors, using a CMMS solution can help. Many offer the ability to add outside contractors to your list of users so they can receive work orders through the app, allowing you to track the progress of their work.

Reduce energy costs

Another way to save some money is by leveraging strategies to reduce energy consumption. Here are a few things to consider when you’re looking to become more energy-efficient:

• Appoint an energy director and form an energy team that is responsible for designing and implementing an energy policy
• Implement a building energy management system (BEMS)
• Select for energy efficiency when shopping for new assets and equipment
• Perform routine maintenance to keep assets in peak operating condition
• Use smart and automated building technologies

Building maintenance jobs

Like any other field, there are different roles involved in building maintenance.

Janitor

Janitors keep the building clean by mopping the floors, taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, washing windows, and more. Depending on the situation, companies may benefit from outsourcing janitorial services rather than hiring staff internally.

Maintenance technicians

A maintenance technician’s job is to perform routine maintenance tasks, fix and maintain equipment like HVAC systems, deal with simpler electrical issues such as fixing light bulbs, roofing, and addressing similar needs. In building maintenance, tasks can vary widely, from simple “handyman” fixes to more specialized work.

Facility managers

Facility managers coordinate all maintenance work, deal with administrative tasks, manage renovations, develop a property strategy, enforce EHS standards, and more. 

Facility managers oversee all building maintenance services (tasks that make a space comfortable and functional like pest control) as well as facilities maintenance (tasks that keep building systems running like air conditioning, electrical systems, or plumbing).

Outsourced vendors

Some companies outsource their maintenance work when the scope of work is too big. Think landscaping, snow removal, or specialized jobs for an electrician.

Certifications and training for building maintenance professionals

Ongoing training is important to keep your skills sharp and ensure you’re always in compliance with ever-changing rules and regulations. 

Some standard certifications/training programs are:

• HVAC Certification: The National Association of Home Builders and the Associated Builders and Contractors offer apprenticeships that help maintenance workers earn HVAC certifications.
• Building Systems Maintenance Certification: This covers plumbing, HVAC systems, water treatment, and efficient energy management. BOMI International awards the certification.
• Building Operator Certification: This includes two levels of maintenance training for building operators. This certification covers HVAC, control point management, electrical distribution, and energy management. 

Certified Maintenance and Reliability Technician: This is an entry-level certification for maintenance professionals. The CMRP assessment test covers both predictive/preventative maintenance and corrective maintenance.

Staying up to date in building maintenance

To stay up to date and in compliance with building maintenance requirements, joining a trade organization or subscribing to industry news publications can be invaluable. Here are a few helpful resources. 

• International Facilities Management Association: IFMA is the largest association for facility management professionals.
• Association for Facilities Engineering: AFE is a professional organization that provides resources for all professionals working in the “built environment.”  

Facilities Management Institute: The FMI governs the evolving criteria for the facilities management career track. Its mission is to promote and accelerate the development of the facilities management profession across both public and private sectors.