Please find below a summary of our Maintenance Management service. If you require any additional information, or if you have any questions, please contact us
The Maintenance Manager acts on behalf of the client to ensure that the buildings and properties owned or leased by the client are maintained in a condition that allows them to continue to function for the purpose intended, and to ensure that the capital value of each is maintained.
Preventative Maintenance
All buildings require maintenance, as all parts of the building will deteriorate over time. Unless it is controlled by maintenance this can result in the building becoming unsafe, unhealthy and inefficient, which includes a failure to comply with the Building Code, and with a corresponding loss of value.
The amount of maintenance required will vary according to:
Building usage
Building age
Construction
materials used
Construction and
detailing quality
Environmental
conditions
Type of finishes
Previous and
current levels of maintenance
Statutory or
essential services requirements
Asset Value Loss
In New Zealand there are no statutory requirements protecting the loss of asset value caused by building deterioration or damage unless it has an impact on the health and safety of the occupants.
Commercial building owners and managers therefore need access to clear and concise information to help them operate and maintain their buildings. Having this information should help prevent damage to the structure or building systems resulting from a malfunction or failure, as well as preventing danger and dissatisfaction among building users.
Building Users’ Requirements
High levels of
comfort
Security
Clean, healthy,
safe environments
Reliable and
efficient mechanical and electrical systems
Good customer
service
Ability to upgrade
as technology develops, particularly in the telecommunications, computer and
electronic fields
Building Owners' and Managers' Needs
A building which
performs the functions required of it
o One example is ensuring space within the building can be readily leased
Tenant or occupant
complaints eliminated or at least significantly reduced
To maximise the
returns (earnings, appreciation) on the building
To minimise
unexpected expenditure on the building
So What is Maintenance?
Maintenance is the combination of all the technical and administrative actions, including supervisory, intended to keep the different parts of a building (structural element, cladding, plant, machinery or other component) in, or restored to, a state in which it can satisfactorily perform the functions required of it.
Maintenance Benefits
The benefits of having an effective building maintenance programme are to:
Protect the value
and quality of the asset
Prevent the loss of
function (or use) due to failure in any part of the building
Optimise the
serviceable life of building components by anticipating and correcting the
deterioration that will occur as
a result of normal use
Systematically meet
the demands placed on the building by users in a planned, predictable manner
Ensure statutory
building safety provisions are met
Anticipate and plan
for future expenditure on the building
Reduce operating
costs
An example:
An air conditioning system which is effectively serviced and maintained uses about 10% less energy than one which is poorly maintained.
Given that air conditioning consumes one third of the energy used in a building, this saving through good maintenance practices is approximately 6 to 7% of the total energy cost.
The system will also perform better, giving better internal conditions for the building’s users.
Why Maintain Buildings?
Buildings require maintenance because there are a number of factors continually working to degrade or wear out their components.
Eventually, if not maintained, these materials or components will fail because they cannot provide the performance required of them.
The actual time to failure for individual items varies widely because of the different factors acting on each, the quality of the item and their location.
The exterior of the building can be affected by:
Ultra-violet light
inducing chemical changes in materials
Pollution
Dirt
Environments
containing salts or other chemicals or gases
Thermal movement
stressing cladding
Freeze-thaw
Water penetration
Deliberate or
accidental damage
Plants
The interior of the building can be affected by:
Moisture
Damage from
moveable equipment and people
Vandalism
Vibration from
plant and equipment
Normal wear
and tear
Plant and equipment can be affected by:
Normal wear and
tear on moving parts
Excessive wear due
to poor maintenance
Heat generation
causing deterioration
Vibration
Operating loads
Suitability of the
specified equipment for the in-use conditions
Quality
Management systems
(or lack of them) actually in place
Absence of
servicing
The Maintenance Plan
The maintenance plan is the overall plan of action to keep the building at the level set by the owner and to meet the relevant statutory requirements.
It will only become fully operational once all deferred or ignored maintenance has been remedied.
10 Good Reasons for a Maintenance Plan
1. Allows sound decision-making, because the decisions made are based on accurate reporting
2. Safeguards occupant health and safety
3. Reduces the risk of over-investment in an asset
4. Remedies deterioration of the asset
5. Allows expenditure to be planned
6. Optimises the maintenance process
7. Reduces plant and equipment downtime
8. Lowers life-cycle costs and enhances the building image
9. Provides a better service to occupants
10. Reduces emergencies
Designing a Plan to Suit Your Needs
1. Set priorities
2. Maintenance types
Condition-based
Predictive
Cyclical or
time-based
Response-based
3. Undertake inspections
Prepare the Plan
Setting Priorities for Maintenance
Priority 1:
In urgent need of immediate replacement
Priority 2:
Immediate maintenance
Priority 3:
Can be left for up to 6-12 months, but will be required within 12 months
Priority 4:
Can be left for up to 3 years
Priority 5:
Won’t need maintenance work for at least five years
Once priorities have been set, a plan of action needs to be formulated to achieve the goals.
For some buildings, particularly those in poor condition, the Priority 1 and 2 maintenance items will be significant, but these should reduce over time as maintenance is brought under control.
Once deferred maintenance has been accommodated, a maintenance plan looking at the on-going regular future requirements for all components and plant can be formulated.
Maintenance Types
Condition-based maintenance
Maintenance that is carried out according to the need shown up by regular inspection or monitoring of the actual condition of the building elements and services. This refers primarily to building envelope maintenance and systems maintenance.
The initial inspection report provides the basis for developing a complete inventory of the building, which can then be used as the basis for planning and evaluating future maintenance.
Benefit of having a condition-based system include: maintenance is generally foreseen. In some cases detecting a potential failure, particularly with plant and equipment, may not prevent the failure occurring but it may allow the consequences to be reduced or avoided.
Predictive maintenance
A type of condition-based maintenance where a maintenance plan is based on the ability to detect a potential failure and have the maintenance carried out before failure actually occurs. These are equipment monitoring systems.
Doing this allows optimum repair intervals to be set and can avoid costly unscheduled downtime, but it generally requires a higher level of planning than preventative maintenance.
Benefits of planned predictive maintenance are:
Early warning of
failure
Measuring
performance allows the extent of substandard conditions to be evaluated
Equipment can be
monitored continuously or at regular intervals
Equipment does not
need to be shut down to determine condition
Cyclical or time-based maintenance
Systems based on a rigid pattern where the maintenance schedules are pre-set in advance. This has a parallel with the motor vehicle warrant of fitness regime.
The aim of a time-based maintenance plan is to avoid unexpected breakdown or failure, particularly where a component or element is critical (i.e. must not fail) to the functioning of the building.
Time-based maintenance, fixed-time of scheduled maintenance is carried out at predetermined intervals or according to prescribed criteria and intended to reduce the probability of failure or the degradation of the functioning of an item or element. This process is suitable for mechanical services inspections.
Planned maintenance is organised and carried out with forethought, control and use of records to a predetermined plan, such as repainting the exterior of a building at regular intervals.
‘Window’ (window of opportunity) maintenance is carrying out maintenance when the item being maintained is not required for use e.g. maintenance on a heating furnace during the summer, when the heating load is low.
Response-based maintenance
Systems which are generally based on complaints, can lead to a maintenance system which:
Requires no advance
planning
Has a higher risk
of incurring uncontrolled costs
Provide no warning
of problems or failures
Does not optimise
the decision-making process
Requires a
maintenance team to be on stand-by
Increases the risk
of subsequent damage should a failure occur
For plant and
equipment, requires holding stocks of spare parts
May result in lost
production or other costs depending on the failed item
Typical response-based systems are:
Emergency
maintenance such as broken locks
Opportunity
maintenance (similar to window maintenance)
Corrective
maintenance
Unplanned
maintenance
Carrying out the maintenance
There are two main ways building maintenance is carried out. The first is for building owners to employ their own maintenance staff. The second is to contract out maintenance work, either to a company such as ours, which provides an overall comprehensive service for the whole building, or to specialist firms which carry out part of the maintenance. Within each of these there are a range of permutations and combinations. For example, a building owner may wish to employ his own maintenance staff to cover cleaning and the maintenance of the building envelope, while contracting out the maintenance of specialist areas such as air conditioning or ventilation.
Where maintenance is put in the hands of one specialist facilities management company they may, in turn, contract out specific maintenance tasks.
Building owners need to weigh up which method serves them best, taking into account:
The relative costs
of contracting out compared with employing their own maintenance staff. When
considering
employing staff, factors to take into account are the overheads
involved, staffing levels, establishment costs, cost of
materials and spare
parts, staff management and obtaining staff with the wide range of skills
required
The responsiveness
to problems. Permanent staff are usually readily available to deal with
problems that may arise, while contracting out may be less convenient
Management fees
charged by the contracted company
The specialist
skills a maintenance management company offers
How many buildings
are included under the control of the particular owner. Where a number of
buildings are involved
there may be economies of scale in either employing one’s
own staff or contracting out
The complexity of
the buildings
The level of
sophistication of the maintenance management systems currently in use or
envisaged
There are five key steps to carrying out maintenance:
1. Identify the deterioration (condition inspection or monitoring)
2. Determine the actual cause and its impact on the building – in many cases
the cause may require some detailed investigation, as the
underlying problem may
be masked or what is obvious may not be the actual cause
3. Evaluate the repair options
4. Action the repairs
5. Monitor the quality and performance of the work carried out
Following Step 2 judiciously is essential because failing to address the real cause of the problem means that it is likely to re-occur.
If you would like to discuss any of the above, please feel free to contact us