Facility Management & Maintenance: 5 Reasons to Partner with your Commercial General Contractor

One of the things we’ve been most proud of at Englewood Construction over the last several years is the growth of our Facilities Management Group. This division started as a way for us to extend our relationship with clients to include planned, preventative and emergency commercial facility maintenance; while it certainly wasn’t typical, then or now, for a national construction firm to also be a facility maintenance provider, we saw a lot of benefits to a general contractor offering these services.

It turns out we were right – and a lot of clients agree – because today our facilities management team is busier than ever. Much of their business comes from clients who’ve worked with Englewood on a construction project and then decided to tap us for their facility maintenance needs, too. On the flip side, we’ve also had clients who initially hired us for facility management services, and ultimately ended up bringing us on board for a construction or remodel project. The common theme is the advantages all of these clients have realized from having the same partner for both these functions.

Here are 5 reasons why you should partner with your Commercial General Contractor for facility management and maintenance:

1. Insider Knowledge

When the commercial contractor that built or remodeled a facility also manages its maintenance, they are already intimately familiar with the building. That includes having easy access to the most recent drawings and plans associated with the space, as well as information on the subcontractors and manufacturers for different building systems. Having that insider knowledge is incredibly valuable not only in troubleshooting issues, but also planning for building maintenance needs based on the age and quality of systems and any unique elements that might have special upkeep requirements.

Similarly, a firm that has handled the maintenance of a building can bring great insights to the table when planning for a commercial renovation or remodel. That includes not only identifying mechanicals that are ready for an update – or, that are in good condition and can be repurposed – but also sharing insights on the property’s problem areas that may need to be addressed in a renovation.

2. Problem-Solving Know-How

Some issues that come up in commercial facility management initially look like a small maintenance project, but actually need more of a construction touch. That’s definitely the case when a maintenance job is more complex than originally thought or requires a contractor’s approach to analyzing a problem and figuring out the fix. For example, if a client has an ongoing issue with flooring tiles that keep popping, rather than just continuing to replace them, we can step in to investigate what’s causing the tile to fail in the first place – whether it’s a bad install or a problem below the flooring. And in terms of equipment or systems nearing their life expectancy, such as an aging HVAC roof unit that has required multiple service calls, we can help the client decide whether to repair or replace by providing them construction costs to replace the unit and comparing that with what they’re spending on repeated maintenance.

3. Budget and Planning Efficiencies

As we noted in a recent post on senior community renovation projects, our clients can definitely benefit from taking a big picture approach when evaluating facility maintenance work they need to do as well as capital improvement projects they want to undertake. With a partner on hand that can help plan for maintenance line items as well as renovation projects, clients can better prioritize projects and maximize their overall budget. Plus, a firm like Englewood can advise on maintenance and construction projects that it just makes sense to do at the same time, and manage them both.

4. The Ease of One Phone Call

Many of our clients are realizing that having one trusted partner as a single point of contact for all construction and facility services pays off big time in both efficiency as well as peace of mind. Often, when a firm turns to us for both commercial construction services and facility management, it is part of a conscious effort to streamline the number of partners and vendors they work with, and also create an easy resource for their team to go to with any construction or facility-related need or question.

That single point of contact can be especially valuable in an emergency maintenance scenario. Whether the situation is a failed HVAC system, a burst pipe, or facade damage from a major storm, there’s no need for the client to wonder whether their commercial contractor or their maintenance provider is better suited to deal with it; there’s just one firm to call.

5. Comfort with Existing Relationships

Perhaps the biggest benefit of choosing the same firm for commercial construction and facility maintenance services is that it builds on an already proven partnership. Our clients that use us for both construction and facility management are already confident in the quality of our work, know we can deliver on their brand standards, and are comfortable with our team. That level of trust and respect is something we strive to create with all our clients, and it is especially rewarding when it allows us to grow the relationship and expand on the work we do together.