Preventative store maintenance means protecting your stores against failure.
Reading this article will take you 3 minutes and it can save your business from a serious financial failure. A little bit dramatic? Maybe, but better to be safe than sorry. Why?
Let’s start with the question of whether only death and taxes are certain. We know that it is not, because this list should be supplemented with the obligatory inspections in the store. The question is, which are on the ‘MUST HAVE’ list? And which are worth making additionally as an investment in a professional image and peace of mind.
STORE INSPECTIONS PROVIDED BY THE LAW
These are what must be done in your stores.
Each and every country construction law requires property owners or managers to perform mandatory inspections of installations of various kind, one of these is electrical installations. In Poland, for example, this must be done at least every 5 years. The legislator decided that such a period is acceptable to eliminate the risk of fire. And the possibility of dangerous electrical failures and flooding.
Let’s use a littel analogy here. As most of us drive a car we don’t change our tires on the car when they are almost bold we tend to change before for peace of mind. This can come to the point of inspections where with electrical in Poland is 5 years. You might want that piece of mind and have a check in 2.5 years.
Pursuant to Art. 61 point 1 of the Polish Construction Law (and the requirements are similar in other European countries) the owner or manager of the building is obliged to use it in a proper technical condition. It goes, among others, about meeting the basic requirements for fire safety, protection against noise and energy savings. This is directly related to “taking action” in the field of inspections and ongoing maintenance.
Knowing the ownership of inspection can come to you from different directions: landlord, tenant, and local authorities. To understand where the responsibility is, its key to get this information when you build your unit. Most of the inspections will need to be shown to the local authorities before to get permission to open. These are the types of documents which can be used for future inspections.
MANDATORY INSPECTIONS IN YOUR STORES
Useful checklist of revisions.
Periodic store inspections enforced by the law:
- fire inspections (including fire extinguishers, hydrants, emergency, emergency, fire alarm, sprinkler systems, smoke extraction systems)
- electrical inspections (including inspections of the electrical installation *high tension along with electrical measurements, checking the correct operation of electrical devices *low tension such as doors or automatic roller shutters)
- air conditioning inspections (HVAC): gas leak tests
- inspections of heating installations (including, for example, gas boilers or solid fuel boilers in the case of free-standing store). Depending on your current location in those cold months of the year your, store might be dependent on individual heating requirements. Using different fuels like gas would need to make sure there are not leaks. And you need to test and make sure that there is enough ventilation in your stores.
- periodic inspections of elevators and escalators
PREVENTATIVE STORE MAINTENANCE INSPECTIONS THAT ARE WORTH DOING
An investment in peace of mind and a professional image
It’s worth adding the below to the list of inspections in your stores:
- Window cleaning inspection every 3 months. Windows are the showpiece of each store and are responsible for the effect of the first impression. Crystal-clear glass pane provides an important sales boost. In turn, dirt and smudges act as anti-advertising, which discourages at first sight.
Depending on your stores’ location in Europe (southern on northern), their exposure to dust and dirt might differ dramatically. Also, in stores facing outside of a retail park you might need to clean the windows more often. Stores located inside a shopping mall tend to have cleaner windows for a bit longer. The bottom line is you need to be checking the windows cleanliness on a regular basis. Especially during the sale and promotion season.
- Replacement of water filters. ”Everything flows” as good old Heraclitus of Ephesus said, referring to time. From a business point of view, time is money, and clean water means the safety of employees and customers.
- Air conditioning inspections with filter replacement. Efficient air conditioning allows you to maintain the right atmosphere, which is conducive to shopping and protects the health of everyone who exceeds the threshold of our store. Changing your filters in your units helps them work more and more efficient.
PERIODIC PREVENTATIVE STORE MAINTENANCE UNDER CONTROL
Benefiting your stores
Periodic in-store inspections are commissioned to experienced specialists who control the dates and scope of work on an ongoing basis. And generate concrete benefits for you:
- secure your stores. In the event of, for example, a fire, the insurer will first apply for documentation on periodic inspections. Get that peace of mind knowing that your FM partner can support you with the documents needed at a first touch.
- allow you to act in accordance with the law. And thus protect against the imposition of possible penalties, downtime, and even temporary closure of the store.
- ensure that all inspections have been properly carried out by professionals with the legally required qualifications
- save time associated with organizing inspections themselves and searching for responsible technicians
- guarantee peace of mind. Because efficient installations and devices will significantly reduce the risk of possible accidents, cost-intensive breakdowns and unpleasant disasters
- strengthen the good image of the store, where everything is always working, and the staff and customers feel safe and comfortable.
- peace of mind, knowing you can open your doors daily as you have that protection behind you like a big brother or sister.
While you are looking for a preventative store maintenance supplier, it’s worth considering choosing full maintenance package. This service combines periodic inspections (mandatory and / or additional) with a comprehensive repair of failures and a package of maintenance works. And provides the maximum level of protection of a technical condition of your stores.
At CAPS we can put together a tailor-made maintenance offer for you to keep your costs optimised. And give you that peace of mind for safety.
