18 Sep 3 ways a maintenance consultant offers value for your facility
Why you should entrust your commercial roof maintenance to a consultant, not a salesperson
After the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, many facilities maintenance professionals began (understandably) to look for greater budgetary efficiency and security for their ongoing building maintenance and repairs.
Many clients seek specific answers to their most pressing maintenance and budgetary concerns, such as, “How much do you think x will cost us over the next three years?” or “What kind of building maintenance will be required in 12 months’ time?”.
To answer these (and many other) questions, facilities managers require a consultant with the requisite knowledge and experience to provide them with long-term, reliable recommendations.
Here are the three reasons why opting for a specialist facilities maintenance consultant can provide you with a better ROI than simply talking to a salesperson.
1) Looking ahead to safeguard your maintenance budget
Budget constraints upon facilities maintenance teams are now much more apparent. Many facilities managers understandably seek to ensure their allocated spend stretches as far as possible.
With such an emphasis upon economy and sustainability, facility management teams are now required to forecast spending with a greater degree of accuracy and accountability. It’s not unusual for R&BS to receive requests for one, three or five-year budget plans, particularly in relation to large and complex structures.
The importance of early diagnosis and rectification of roofing problems
It’s a fact that many facilities issues make themselves known in the subtlest of ways, before they escalate to become a significant concern. One example of such ongoing deterioration is hidden corrosion, which may occur over a period of four or more years before making its presence known via water ingress problems.
Yet the most cost-effective time to address such issues is within the initial stages of deterioration – when they’re usually only detectable by a trained professional or consultant.
It’s impossible for a salesperson, who usually lacks technical roof maintenance experience, to provide an accurate estimate of expenditure during these initial stages.
On the other hand, a facilities maintenance consultant is a far more credible source of information and solutions. Their technical expertise allows a consultant to assess these minor issues in the context of ongoing deterioration, and make recommendations with a high degree of confidence.
2) Being aware of disclaimers and obligations
Many roof and building condition reports are generic and include broad disclaimers. This is due to limited assessments and, on occasion, a lack of technical knowledge from the report’s author.
For this reason, you should insist on specificity in supplied condition reports. A consultant should be able to outline the current condition of your facility, with reference to specific points of interest and concern, and suggest proactive maintenance strategies tailored to your needs.
After you receive a report or proposal, it’s vitally important that you check any disclaimers associated with the document. If the disclaimers seem excessively lengthy, it’s a sign that you should review them in detail to differentiate between what is legally required content, and what is content that’s unique to the author.
R&BS includes only those disclaimers required by law – we don’t hide behind excessive ‘legalese’ disclaimers.
3) Investing in efficient facility maintenance
In an age of large-scale, high-density urban landscapes, facilities maintenance must be both reliable and cost effective.
It’s important to note that consultants should be retained first and foremost to provide inspection and reporting services, with no obligation upon you as the client to award remediation contracts arising from the report to that initial consultant.
R&BS often provides reporting services on the understanding that our contribution will lie solely in scoping the maintenance works required. This may be for a variety of reasons, from client procurement requirements to budgetary limitations.
Finding a consultant to act on your behalf, as opposed to a salesperson seeking to meet targets, is a key factor in creating long-term, financially beneficial supplier relationships.
Talk to R&BS for expert facility maintenance consultancy services
Since 2010 the expert R&BS consultancy team have provided roof condition reports, budget forecasting services, and other consultancy services to allow a strategic approach to facilities maintenance.
We’re investing heavily in further refining our consultancy offerings to improve upon our strong grounding in the industry. We look forward to putting nearly a century of knowledge to good use on your behalf.
For a complimentary, no-obligation 30 minute consultation with our experienced roof maintenance consultants, call R&BS now on 1800 550 037 or fill out the contact form below for a fast response.