Owning a commercial property comes with a lot of responsibilities – perhaps even more than owning a domestic property – there are tenants to keep happy (assuming you rent it out), legal obligations to meet, and always things to do; the list will feel endless. But there’s one thing you might be overlooking in amidst all that hustle and bustle – maintenance.

It’s so easy to ignore a small leak, put off servicing equipment, or assume that one flickering light bulb in the hallway doesn’t mean anything’s really wrong, but the reality is that small maintenance issues can snowball into massive (and expensive) problems when they’re not taken care of, and when that happens, your bottom line can take a serious hit.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how neglecting maintenance can drain your finances and more importantly, how to stay ahead of the damage before it wrecks your business. Read on to find out more.

It’s Not A Small Problem

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? Well, although that might be a good way to look at some things, when it comes to property management, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen – so it’s not a good idea to stick by it.

A tiny roof leak might seem harmless at first, but give it time… it can cause water damage, mould growth, and structural problems where the whole building ends up being weak and unstable. Suddenly something that could have been a quick patch up job turns into a full-scale repair that costs thousands. In fact, one of the biggest areas of neglect in commercial buildings is the roof, and a commercial roof inspection can catch hidden leaks, damage, and structural issues before they get too bad and end up costing so much.

A failing HVAC system might limp along for a while, but ignoring regular servicing means you’re looking at higher energy bills, inefficient performance, and eventually, a full replacement – all of which could have been avoided with regular maintenance in the first place.

The lesson here is that preventative maintenance is always cheaper than emergency repairs.

What You Don’t See Will Hurt You

You might think that maintenance is expensive, but have you thought about the hidden costs of ignoring it? Understanding them will give you some idea of what you need to do in your business or with your commercial property, and it really could change everything for the better.

For one thing, you’ll end up with higher energy bills – leaky windows, bad insulation, and an unmaintained HVAC system, for example, can make your building work harder than it should to stay at the right temperature, and that’s going to mean higher energy bills every month.

Something else to think about is lost business and productivity but that’s what you’ll end up with if a neglected issue means you’ve got to shut down for a while – that could be a burst pipe, power failure, unsafe working conditions, and so on. If that’s the case, you’re not just paying for repairs, you’re also losing money from your business at the same time, plus you might even lose employee loyalty and customer trust, depending on what the problem actually is.

You could also end up decreasing the value of your property – that might not feel like such an issue right now when you’re not intending to sell it, but what if you did change your mind later on? Or what if your business got into difficulties and you needed to remortgage your building? Then the value is really going to matter, and you might find it’s worth less than you’d hoped. All that could be changed with regular maintenance to keep things ticking along safely and reliably.

If you rent the building out rather than use it yourself, you might have an issue with tenant turnover or even legal issues. If tenants feel a property isn’t being well looked after, they’ll leave as soon as their lease is up. But on top of that, serious maintenance issues can land you in legal trouble, especially if they violate safety regulations.

And don’t forget – insurance companies love an excuse to deny a claim, and if an issue arises because of ignored maintenance, you might have to foot the bill without any help, and in some cases, that’s going to spell the end of your business.

The Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind Problem

A lot of maintenance issues start where you can’t see them – inside walls, under floors, or up on the roof. And when things do finally become visible, the damage is usually far worse and more expensive than it should have been.

Some of the most commonly overlooked areas include:

• Plumbing (small leaks can often go unnoticed until they cause major water damage)
• Electrical systems (outdated wiring can be a fire hazard and flickering lights or power surges can damage expensive equipment)
• Ventilation and air quality (poor ventilation leads to mould, stale air, and higher humidity, and that’s going to potentially affect your tenant’s (or employees) comfort and health).
• Foundation issues (cracks in walls or uneven flooring can show you’ve got some serious structural problems that can get worse over time).

If that sounds scary, don’t worry – these are things that can, and often do, affect any building, so you’re definitely not going to be the only one who has to deal with them. And the best way to deal with them, of course, is to carry out regular inspections and maintenance checks because that’s what prevents them from turning into something much worse.

Maintenance Will Help Your Budget

Every business will have a budget if it’s going to succeed – how else are you going to know what you can and can’t spend and how good your cash flow is? And taking care of that budget, and sticking to it as much as possible, is what’s going to ensure you can keep going, even though leaner times (which are something else every business will have).

But there are some things that can make your budget much harder to deal with and cause a lot of future issues with money if you’re not careful, and reactive maintenance (ie fixing things because you’ve waited until they’ve broken and then had to rush to make repairs) is one of them. Reactive maintenance always costs more than preventative maintenance (ie regularly inspecting, maintaining, and repairing small issues before they turn into big ones), and if you’ve got higher repair bills, business disruptions, and long-term damage to your property, your budget is really going to come under strain.

When you think about it, preventative maintenance can actually save you money in the long run because it reduces unexpected expenses, keeps your business in great condition, and ensures that if problems to arise, they’re minor and you can manage them more easily – that sounds like a much better option than just hoping nothing will go wrong and getting stressed when they do.

Stay Ahead With A Simple Maintenance Plan

If you want to avoid costly surprises, the best way to do it is to come up with a simple preventative maintenance plan that can help keep your property in the best condition all year round, whatever else is going on.

To start with, make sure you schedule regular inspections for all the various elements in your business that need them, like your roof, HVAC system, plumbing, electrics, and so on. These checks should be carried out at least once a year to be safe, and it’s wise to schedule them in just like you would any kind of important meeting. And in the meantime, if small issues come up, don’t wait to get them fixed – do it right away and you’ll save so much time and money, not to mention stress. True, a dripping tap might not seem like an issue, especially if you’re not in the kitchen or bathroom all the time, but we’ve already discussed how they can become a massive problem, and the same is true for a cracked window or a missing roof tile and so much more.

On top of getting the work done, you’ll want to keep detailed maintenance records to track inspection and repairs, as well as service dates. It’s good to get organised like this, and it’s going to help with future budgeting and planning, and it might be handy for when you some to sell or even your insurance company, so it’s better to have these records than not.

As for the repairs themselves, always invest in the best quality you can. The fact is that paying less can seem like the best thing to do when you want to keep your business running smoothly, but cutting corners on maintenance often leads to more problems down the road, and you’ll probably end up paying more to deal with them than you would have if you’d just chosen a better quality repair in the first place.

As you can see, not carrying out maintenance or checking your commercial building is a problem just waiting to rear its ugly head, but you can cut it off at the pass, and it’s important to take care of your building if you want your business to be a success.