Property Management

October 2021 — Property Management Quarterly — Page 17 www.crej.com Maintenance A s the fourth quarter approaches and facility managers begin preparing for the upcoming budget season, the item that most often gets missed in budgeting is façade maintenance and repair. The facade of a building has a useful life, and when it comes to the end of that time period, it can be a big expense to take on projects like recaulking or refreshing all four elevations of a building and sealing windows. Educating property own- ers about the importance of façade maintenance is probably what gets missed the most during budget sea- son. Most building owners already will have budgets in place for HVAC, elevator, and roof maintenance and repairs but rarely capital budgets for their buildings’ facades. Inform- ing property owners about the importance of façade maintenance and creating an anticipatory capital budget can keep ownership aware of the big picture for upcoming repairs and replacements. It is important to look back at previous years’ budgets, whether or not you’re a seasoned manager to the building. Looking at past bud- gets and actual spending from pre- vious years is useful to determining how much you should put in your budget for the following year. Facility managers do not want to be faced with a huge variance in spending versus budget. Unfore- seen situations like weather activity can’t be predicted, but being able to look at historical spending on a building’s roof, for example, is an important factor to consider when compiling a bud- get. Property man- agers usually are tasked with giving very detailed bud- get numbers to the building owners, but they often are lacking an impor- tant explanation or summary as to why a repair needs to be done. Facility managers should make sure explanations for exterior main- tenance and repairs are clear; ask for a sit-down meeting with owner- ship so they understand the pros and cons of not placing a particular exterior project in the coming year’s plans. It is important to explain to the owner the consequences of defer- ring maintenance on a building’s exterior. When you buy a car and defer maintenance, like not chang- ing the oil or rotating the tires, the car will age prematurely and be more costly to repair down the road. The same analogy goes for building maintenance. Many times, a building’s budget won’t allow for a full expenditure, so a temporary solution may have to do until the budget can cover the full repair or replacement cost. Structure facades can be made from any number of materials, including brick, terra cotta, gran- ite, marble, sandstone, limestone, brownstone, concrete masonry units, glass curtain wall systems, precast concrete and more. Like- wise, they can all deteriorate for any number of reasons, including lack of maintenance, movement, air pollution, improper workmanship, weathering and moisture. Ongoing maintenance always is recommended to minimize exterior damage, no matter what the build- ing material. Problems with build- ing facades can include cracking, efflorescence, spalling and joint sealant failure. Proper façade main- tenance will reduce the likelihood of unexpected repairs and costs, plus helping maintain the proper- ty’s value and protect property and tenant spaces from leaks and water damage. Here are some additional budget- ing tips for façade maintenance: n Collect data all year long. Keep a running list or folder of façade maintenance information through- out the year. Anything that comes up during the year that wasn’t in the budget for 2021 goes into a fold- er for consideration for 2022. n Get contractor assessments. Reach out to façade specialty contractors when starting the budgeting pro- cess and ask them to do an assess- ment of your building’s exterior components, parking garage and other areas. n Set priorities. Contractor reports can help a building manager decide what needs immediate attention in the next budget and what projects are forecast for the next five years and can be included in future capi- tal budgets. n Start with income. Begin the bud- get process with the income that will come in from the property’s tenants. Add fixed expenses such as taxes, janitorial, regular mainte- nance contracts, and then add the fixes needed for the year. This will provide a clear picture of cash flow for the building so managers and owners can decide how much will go back into the building’s mainte- nance projects and capital improve- ments. n Create a separate capital budget. If projects exceed cash flow expecta- tions, put them into a capital bud- Budget secrets revealed: Tips for façade care John Meyer Branch manager, Denver branch, Western Specialty Contractors Please see Meyer, Page 25 Informing property owners about the importance of façade maintenance and creating an anticipatory capital budget can keep ownership aware of the big picture for upcoming repairs and replacements.