How to Manage HVAC Repair Costs in 2017

As a commercial facility manager, your main responsibility is to see that all the mechanical systems in your building are well cared for and functioning properly so that tenants and employees stay safe, happy, and productive. While you may not be directly responsible for creating or approving budgets, it’s safe to say the building owner is at least reasonably concerned about keeping costs under control. So you need to be concerned about budgeting too.

In fact, effectively managing a commercial facility is much like running the entire business: you need to be well aware of income and cash flow, control expenses through efficiency and smart choices, and boost profit margin wherever possible without sacrificing quality.  

In the case of the building’s HVAC system, there are several ways to accomplish these budget-friendly goals:

• Make sure the equipment lasts as long as possible while maintaining performance
• Encourage efficient energy usage on every front
• Approach upgrades, repairs and replacements in a proactive, strategic fashion
• Strive to maintain an optimal level of comfort so everyone in the building can stay productive

No doubt you already realize that doing all that takes more than one or two members of your maintenance staff occasionally walking down to the boiler room or up to the roof with a clipboard in hand to check items off a list. Rather, the increasingly complex building systems you rely on daily to keep your facility’s environment safe and comfortable require the skills and knowledge of an experienced professional technician if you’re going to get the most value from them.

Planned maintenance for commercial HVAC is the key

It’s rare in this world for a complex problem to have a simple and straightforward solution, but in this case, that’s exactly what’s available.

To manage HVAC repair and service costs in 2017, your very best option is to take advantage of a planned maintenance program from Tolin Mechanical.

Essentially, a planned maintenance program is a proactive schedule of inspections, tests, and necessary adjustments to optimize the system’s usage throughout the year. An experienced technician will visit your facility regularly to:

• Visually inspect various components of the HVAC system
• Perform routine maintenance tasks such as filter replacement and cleaning
• Review all system analytics (if available) and optimize the system for energy efficiency, either via building automation, or manually as needed
• Make note of any components nearing the end of their effective lifespan so they can be proactively replaced or upgraded prior to an emergency repair being needed
• Apprise you of the current system status and any potential areas of concern so you can budget accordingly

As you can imagine, this kind of proactive approach to HVAC system repair and maintenance makes it far easier to assist the building owner in scheduling capital expenditures as the budget allows and getting the most value out of every dollar spent.

And, it frees up your maintenance staff to work on other projects where they can add greater value in their own areas of expertise.

To explore a planned maintenance program for your commercial facility, contact Tolin Mechanical today.