Take a look at these Top 5 Challenges facing commercial property owners today:
- Maintaining property value (buildings are aging and need certain maintenance, improvements and renovations; today, commercial real estate values are off 30% to 40% from the market peak of 2007)
- Heavy competition for renters (rents are down, many businesses are moving and competition for every tenant is at an all-time high)
- Tenant retention (tenants are demanding more services – they want to make sure that their furniture, fixtures & equipment are in peak operating order, so they insist on clean conditions; they want their employees to be more productive, so they are insisting on healthy indoor conditions, safety and sanitation)
- Premises liability (lawsuits are also on the rise – more people are suing for damages sustained on commercial property premises from lack of maintenance, unclean conditions, Sick Building Syndrome and mold/mildew issues in their businesses and offices)
- Building codes and regulatory obligations (government regulations are tighter than ever, with building owners responsible for more codes and laws affecting conservation, health, safety issues and building maintenance)
All of these challenges are creating serious hurdles for commercial property owners and managers. The things you can control become more important as you strive to increase revenues, maintain property values and decrease costs.
These challenges point out how important building services, particularly cleaning and janitorial services, are to the continued viability of your property and business. Let’s take a closer look at each of the 5 challenges to see what you’ll miss out on if you fail to make building services a priority.
- The value of your property. U.S. commercial property prices tumbled at the end of 2010 to the lowest level in eight years, pulled down by declining values for distressed real estate, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Do you have any control over value? Clean, healthy buildings are much easier & less costly to maintain and help to ensure your property values remain high.
- Competition for renters. What do office, manufacturing and other tenants expect from their office environments? They want facilities that let them promote themselves as well-organized businesses that are in tune with their customers’ needs – an almost impossible task if the offices they work out of are run down and a mess. They also want to present a professional image to their clients and if they can’t do that in their current offices, they’ll go elsewhere. It is clear that a well-maintained and well-kept building helps attract new tenants.
- Tenant Retention. It’s almost impossible to keep good tenants if they don’t get the clean and sanitary conditions they are looking for – there are just too many rental choices out there (and today, there are a lot of choices, many of which may be cheaper than the facilities you offer). One of the things that tenants are so keen about is that they often invest hundreds of thousands in technology such as computers, fax machines, printers and other office related equipment; these devices must be maintained in a nearly dust-free environment to operate optimally. Once dirt creeps in, they start to lose efficiency and break down. In addition, your business tenants have invested considerably in their employees (recruiting, training, salaries, etc.) and they need them to be productive. Lost productivity costs businesses over $60 billion per year! Clean facilities that are free of contaminates provide a healthy employee and customer atmosphere, which increases productivity for the tenant company and encourages them to stay put. Healthy, clean buildings reduce the spread of viruses and reduce the amount of sick time taken by employees. Surveys show that a clean, healthy building will increase employee morale and reduce turnover, benefits your tenants will eventually attribute to you because you know how important a clean environment is to the health of their business.
- Liability for an unsafe building. As the owner of a commercial property, you can be liable for damages or injuries caused by unsafe conditions on your premises. An unsanitary environment can quickly become a health hazard, leading to legal repercussions. Facilities focused on safety and health enjoy diminished liability claims, among other related cost-savings including lower liability insurance premiums.
- Building Codes and Regulatory Obligations. As a building owner, you are forced to deal with certain building codes and other government regulatory obligations. Failure to abide by these codes will result in fines, penalties and even criminal prosecutions. If you don’t have a good janitorial service, you may find yourself being drawn into a lawsuit, and even worse, you’ll be fined and penalized by the appropriate State and Federal agencies. In addition, many businesses and institutions have their own regulations and rules that your janitorial service needs to know and follow. Using a commercial janitorial service that knows and follows the state, federal and industry regulations will go a long way to prevent problems in the future.
A great commercial janitorial service, like Windsor Building Services, can solve some of the most challenging issues faced by building owners today but they are often overlooked or undervalued. Just remember that your janitorial service provider can mean the difference between having a fully rented property that increases in value and an empty building that is worth next to nothing. Don’t make the mistake of trying to save a little money on expert cleaning services only to lose more money once they are gone.
If you like this info, you’ll really like this “30 Success Strategies for Building Owners & Managers: How to get through these tough economic times”.
About the Author: Mary Robinson is president of Windsor Building Services. She has been on the leading edge of commercial cleaning for more than 20 years. Windsor provides the framework for achieving the highest level of commercial cleaning services that allow property managers and building owners to retain tenants and attract new businesses. With a specialization in medical office buildings, Windsor cleans over 2,000,000 square feet of MOBs every night.
Final construction cleaning projects differ from standard building cleaning jobs in a number of important ways and it’s essential that you hire a well-trained and knowledgeable team to handle the job. Commercial building owners won’t take delivery on a job unless it’s perfect so you’ll need a cleaning crew that’s experienced and trustworthy because in a way they’re putting the final “shine” on the work you’ve done over so many months or perhaps even years.
cleaning a brand new building is not the same as cleaning any other building, so it’s important to hire a team that knows the difference between the two jobs. Newly constructed buildings are substantially dirtier than a building that’s had regular cleaning, and hardware [such as toilets and sinks] is “new” and has labels & tags that must be safely and completely removed. New windows, for example, demonstrate how totally new and clean hardware can become especially dirty through the installation process. A knowledgeable cleaning crew will know how and what to clean to make your new or remodeled facility impeccable.
virulent infectious diseases throughout the world such as the H1N1 Virus, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the Norwalk Virus and MRSA (
chemical injection technologies, pressure washing, squeegees and “no touch” cleaning systems.
