Servi-Tek Blog Mechanical Maintenance on Your Building

Just as you've been hiding away from the El Nino wet weather, so too has much of your maintenance equipment and plant infrastructure --- and this might include your HVAC system and air conditioning. As the weather begins to heat up and before you use any of your seasonal equipment, make sure you conduct a thorough inspection to make sure everything is in working order and nothing needs to be repaired.From breaking belts to power pump failures, facilities managers can face a variety of maintenance issues in the office buildings if their systems aren't regularly maintained. Here are five tips to help you better manage, maintain and prevent mechanical issues in office buildings:Have Regular Equipment Inspections - Regular, consistent inspections of all mechanical equipment allow for a more efficient operation and can uncover issues before they become catastrophic or impact normal operations.Doing preventative maintenance to stay ahead of issues rather than reacting to them is of the utmost importance. Many experts recommend doing a walk-through daily or weekly to listen and look for anything malfunctioning, like a loud motor or a leaky pipe. "If something goes down, I'll do a pre-evaluation and try to identify the problem.Facility Maintenance Checklist - Facilities managers should consider creating a checklist, listing every piece of equipment, as well as what needs to be done to each. The checklist should be updated as new equipment is added to the building and old equipment is retired or at least two to four times a year.Benchmark Costs - To help benchmark costs, facilities managers should refer to surveys from associations, like the Building Owners and Managers Association's (BOMA) annual Experience Exchange Report, to measure where they stand in their industry. The data is presented as cost per square foot in utilities and repair costs.Create Contracts - Many facilities managers must take on an administrative role, which means they aren't directly servicing the mechanical systems, but engaging contract workers to do the job instead. That means it's important to clearly articulate to contractors their duties.Make sure to outline all preventative maintenance within the contract, including how often walk-throughs should occur, what to inspect for each machine and the steps to take when there's a problem. Some facility managers create detailed information about the replacement schedule for filters, belts and motors, and include that in the maintenance contract. The contract also includes a listing of every piece of equipment the contractor has to inspect.Track and Record All Maintenance Repairs - Keeping a record of all maintenance and repairs is often as important as the repairs themselves. On a spreadsheet, facility managers often track the equipment name, its ID number, its location and the tasks that need to be done. Davidson says your records will reveal any patterns and prevent catastrophic problems. If you are continually replacing a starter contact in a motor or a belt on one of your air handlers it could be symptomatic of a larger problem.Call us today at (866) 454-6185. We serve the areas of Las Vegas, San Diego, Inland Empire, Phoenix and Honolulu.Original post blogged on b2evolution.