How to care for an empty building? 7 tips to manage it.

In times of COVID-19 and quarantine, many of us working from home, many buildings with low occupancy, we have owners and investors asking, why don't we turn off the systems?

As facility managers, we know that this is not something that should be done, in the end, even a low occupation is an occupation and the systems sometimes depend on each other.

In some buildings only the security personal has access to it, but how to explain that there was a flood because a pump did not work, or when there was a power supply shortage the cold stock lost temperature because the generators were not maintained, or the air conditioning system is contaminated due to lack of cleaning.

No Facility Manager would be proud of that, so the systems must be maintained, otherwise, it will be deteriorated, and you can be sure that no client or investor wants to lose asset, right?

So, here are some tips that will guarantee the integrity of the facilities during the low occupancy period, and a quick reopening.

KEEP BUILDING SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

Repeat this mantra and you will be very grateful at the moment of re opening, when your building systems are in order and you can dedicate your energy to people′s return to the building.

Yes, you have every reason to keep the HVAC Maintenance, Operation and Control Plan, without this, your system may be contaminated and with problems on the returning.

Elevator′s must have maintenance services done, even if they are used only by few employees, they will still be operative, if some units are shut off, they should still been maintained periodically and be on a rotation.

The same applies to generators, or they may not work if the security systems need it, for example, or if the power ends with your guard inside the elevator, what a horror!!!!

The electrical systems, I believe, do not require any comment, since the malfunction of any item with the empty building, can become a bigger problem, such as a fire or lightings off, or countless other unpleasant situations.

So, before deactivating one system, calculate the risks and impact on other systems, take into the account the effort and costs requirement to get them backt into operation. Shutdown can lead to degradation and preventive maintenance, on the other hand, brings reliability for operation and some rest to you.

If you don't plan to shut down the systems, so maintenance is mandatory, it is a deal!

WATER MUST FLOW

 Standing water does not stay healthy, water treatment or chlorination, physical-chemical analysis and of course, the hydraulic system as a whole must be in operation, it is neither expensive nor complex, some weekly routines of your team triggering flushes, taps , booster pumps, pressurizing hydraulic systems, will be enough to ensure that everything is working.

The cleaning of reservoirs and water analisys (in Brazil we must do it), guarantee the non-contamination and the health of other systems or people who will use this resource, you know that water in a building is like the blood in our body.

For those who have swimming pools, maintaining the treatment is part of security and the economy, starting from scratch can be much more costly; the other part is to critically observe if there is a possibility of an accident with improper access, an accidental fall of a person into the pool can turn into something dangerous if we consider that there may be no one to help.

SECURITY SYSTEMS IN FULL OPERATION.

In this case, we are talking about Images and Access Systems, but we are also talking about fire detection and alarm systems that currently are worthing gold. Why? It will warn in case of high temperatures and smoke, in other words: in case of fire, and trigger other systems to act, such as sprinklers, or even for the guards to call for help.

Good maintenance and continuous and recorded tests will ensure that your company receives insurance money, in case all prevention does not work or if you have fire. These records will be requested and you will need to demonstrate that your system was in perfect working condition to receive. Look at your insurance policy/contract and tell me !!

SAVE MONEY ! MANAGE YOUR CONSUMPTIONS

Doing preventive maintenance, pump testing and others, does not under any circumstances mean wasting resources, or not worrying about money, quite the contrary!

Maintenance and testing will save money spent on corrective maintenance, but there are some hidden treasures in this times, which are the utilities′ bills (water, energy and gas). Keep a strict control of the water, energy and gas bills, after all, they are our biggest bills, right? All services and tests, all the functioning of vital systems means nothing in terms of consumption of these resources compared to the consumption of the building in operation. If there are diferences in energy billing hours in a day, use the cheapest times, observe and repair leaks, meet the building's baseline demand and propose changes if necessary, you can even renegotiate contracts, but keep an eye on consumption. Invest energy and supervision and your efforts will be rewarded. These accounts correspond to one of the largest slices of operating costs, and now with low occupancy we can tighten that belt a lot.

COMPLIANCE DOES NOT TAKE VACATION RENEWAL OF LEGAL DOCUMENTATION IS IMPORTANT ALWAYS

During this quarantine period, some agencies have extended legal documentation expirations, the S?o Paulo State Fire Department is an example, it extended until June all documents that woul expires in April and May 2020, but still not valid for all government agencies, keep following, after all in times like this, losing a new contract due to lack of documentation can be very expensive. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY You have heard this a lot and I will not be original in the statement: Think outside the box !!! Enjoy the moment creatively. Review your list of to-do items, do you remember that there are many services in the building and facilities that you always wanted to do and couldn't because it was never impossible to stop? It can be as simple as changing the floor, changing the tank liner, cleaning of carpets; or something more strategic like those tests on the remote use of automation systems or a large integrated test of fire alarm systems or even the implementation of an automated Service Order control system ... Wow! I am investing in this last example right now. Identify which members of your team do the best work in your home office, there are projects that can be much faster in development now.

THE EXPECTED RESTART OF ACTIVITIES

Even though it seems distant, the restart will come, and if the reopening of shopping malls in China led to more people shopping than Blackfriday, imagine what the search for reliable service companies will look like in the restart. Who knows, some new routines will be implemented, those you discovered and found worthwhile in the item above. When everyone is returning to the building, inoperative systems will bring the occupants' mind to the following question, why did they wait until everyone returned to do such a job? And believe me, justifying that there was an economy, it will not make any sense, after all, if the departure showed who reacts quickly, the return will show where things were well taken care of.

Good luck for all of us !!!