One of the most difficult parts of building management is planning for maintenance. It is difficult because it is not always obvious what needs to be planned for until something happens. Maintenance can be reactive or planned. It is more difficult to plan than to react, but the cost savings of being able to plan maintenance is worth the effort. Reactive maintenance can require a more speedy response, making it more critical, urgent and stressful.
Preventative maintenance generally saves money in the long term, especially as it can be budgeted for. Reactive maintenance can cause a maintenance budget to run over as it is difficult to predict how much money may be needed to do repairs. In the case of major repairs, sometimes parts of structures need to be replaced in its entirety. This is particularly applicable to historical buildings that used different construction methods and may be more prone to sagging and cracking than modern buildings. Another benefit of planning in maintenance is that it can be done at times that cause the least disruption to the facilities.
What can be done to help with planning in maintenance? Regular surveys can help identify issues before they become crucial. They help with the prioritisation of maintenance as well, as they make bring attention to problems that aren’t obvious.
All areas can benefit from a survey. This can be single buildings or entire property complexes. In addition to built structures, properties and land can benefit from a maintenance survey to gauge issues such as erosion, but some areas are more difficult to access than others. This includes roofs which need to either be done by roof access or aerial survey drone. However the type of survey used will always be appropriate for getting the best data while maintaining health and safety.
A measured building survey can identify the issues that may be hiding in a building and can be used in conjunction with a 3D laser scanning survey to create a model or a drone survey as part of a wider survey. They can be done as part of a short term or longer term maintenance plan.
Another benefit of surveying for a maintenance plan, is that the data collected will contribute to records for the structure and help identify trends in the structure over a longer term. This helps give decisions around planned maintenance more precision.
At the end of the day, building maintenance is a team effort with coordination between building management teams, surveyors and construction contractors. If you’re looking for a quality surveyor that can help plan your maintenance, get in touch. Landform Surveys is looking forward to working with you.
