How to Prevent Claims by Maintaining Your Commercial Property

Insurance claims and property damage can lead to costly consequences for commercial businesses. It is important to make sure you know how to handle these situations when they arise, but it’s even better to do everything you can to prevent them from happening in the first place. The chances of an accident occurring decrease when your commercial property is in good condition.

Three Types of Maintenance Actions

You can easily break down property maintenance into hundreds of individual tasks and categories. This can be overwhelming, because it becomes tough to know where to begin. To help you make more focused decisions, separate your tasks into these three types:

Repair. Fixing any damage that arises on your property is the most obvious action you can take to prevent accidents. Some malfunctions may be more important than others to fix, but it’s critical to make the proper repairs as soon as time and the budget allow. If you must prioritize, tend to any parking lot, escalator, elevator, and regular facility repairs to prevent accidents.
Maintain. Regular, routine maintenance helps keep your commercial facility in top shape, and it’s necessary to prevent malfunctions and damage in the first place. Keeping a facility in working shape doesn’t just lower the risk of accidents, it also keeps business flowing smoothly.
Safety. Other efforts may seem more important or worthy of investment, but you should never let safety fall to the wayside. Building inspections exist for a reason, and you need uphold any relevant safety standards to your property, so everyone who enters is safe.

All these types of maintenance are necessary to keeping your facility safe and your property in good condition.

Key Maintenance Areas

Besides breaking your maintenance into three large types, you can also break it down into three focused areas. A well-maintained commercial building is good for business and helps prevent accidents. Consider focusing your efforts on these locations:

Exterior. The surrounding parts of the building may still be part of your property. Keep up on parking lot, sidewalk, and other potential entryway hazards.
Restrooms. A clean restroom is a sign of a clean business, so that’s one reason to maintain your lavatories. Improperly functioning equipment can easily lead to leaks, which create a significant risk for falls and other accidents and damage.
Interior. Focus on keeping all equipment in proper working order to keep both visitors and employees safe. Routinely check floors, stairs, and other walkways to make sure there aren’t any tripping hazards.

When you work to maintain your commercial property, you’re creating a safe environment for everyone that enters – and preventing any potential accidents.