For organizations that have put off repairs and maintenance due to tight budgets, questions arise as to the best way to catch up. If they need to invest money in a facility that requires a lot of work, where to start? When finally able to move on with major renovations, what’s the best approach? Where are the pain points, and what are the remedies?
Before investing in an existing facility, it’s important to evaluate “the four Rs”:
- Repair the facility, perhaps fix the roof or replace some equipment;
- Renovate it with new paint or carpets or improve efficiency;
- Reposition it for different uses; or
- Replace it with a new facility.
Questions in each area are usually posed to architects, developers, or contractors, who may let their preferences interfere with the best answers. Therefore, it’s best to find someone who can provide an independent analysis of the building, an evaluation of its condition, and justify any conclusions drawn.
Prioritizing Repairs and Maintenance
Determining what repairs and maintenance must be done first and what can be put off until later is always a matter of planning and of triage—prioritizing—and managing those decisions. It’s a mistake to react moment by moment. Assess the facility building by building, find out what’s wrong, what needs to be fixed.
First and foremost are life-safety code compliance issues, which must always be handled immediately. If a life-safety problem is not fixed, someone may be hurt or killed which may result in a costly lawsuit. The physical plant, the building itself, must be sturdy and safe enough for the residents to live in; the backup power generation system must work; and the dining program must provide quality food. Life safety items are not negotiable.
Aesthetic issues, however, usually are negotiable. For example, should you replace the worn carpet in the dining room and hallways, or should you paint the exterior of the building? Will older, worn carpeting in the public areas affect the community’s marketability? Will not painting now create additional damage? Will deferring some projects make them more expensive in the future?
Effectively managing costs requires a long, broad view and requires research.
Ideas to consider:
- solutions that lower operating costs
- government programs, grants, or other incentives
- alternative financing availability for items needing replacement
- leasing rather than purchasing office equipment or a new vehicle.
- determine if residents are willing to be assessed for some of the repairs in order to get them done more quickly.
Investing in Building Repairs and Renovations
Older buildings can become significantly inefficient without renovations to the infrastructure. Lighting, electricity, and large holes in walls will all need to be addressed, but if you’re going to invest in a facility that needs a lot of work from top to bottom and money is tight, start with projects that don’t cost a lot and that pay back quickly.
Look for efficient lighting programs and high-efficiency HVAC systems as important upgrades to consider. The best—or most appropriate—solutions are always the ones that best fit the needs and the budget of the individual provider. But if a provider has the ability to spend a little extra money for higher quality products that require less maintenance and last longer, that can also produce significantly lower operational costs over time.
From an interior design perspective, for example, the selection of finishes such as decorative wall coverings, flooring materials, and furniture fabrics must be commercial/health-care grade, moisture-resistant, and durable enough to sustain the heavy cleaning and scrubbing required by the facility’s
maintenance program. These products may cost a little more upfront but won’t have to be replaced for at least five years.
To meet overall goals, some providers will unlock capital dollars to support a renovation or construction; other providers just don’t have the capital to move around and must, instead, rely on makeshift repairs or temporary solutions. Many options may be considered; however, the discussions on how to meet the community’s long-term needs with limited resources should always involve the community’s overall mission and goals.
“Green” and “Sustainable”
“Green” and “sustainable” have now become a given for commercial products, as society has agreed on this direction. And unlike in the past, where less-efficient products or processes with “green” in their names cost more, that’s changed. Now, “green” chemicals and “green” cleaning solutions are competitively priced and just as effective as good-old ammonia, but they don’t put at risk the health of residents and staff.
Labor is also a major contributor to environmental efficiency. Consider implementing a floor-care program, for example, that maximizes labor hours by providing more efficient equipment and “green” products that clean better and quicker, perhaps using less water or chemicals, so the task is completed in a shorter amount of time. That’s environmentally sound and cost-efficient.
The U.S. Green Building Council has a LEED program to help owners and operators measure operations, improvements, and maintenance on existing buildings. Administering the LEED EBOM (Existing Building Operations Maintenance) pre-screening questionnaire to each building on a campus determines whether the building qualifies for certification; and if not, it identifies the inefficient operations and maintenance areas that need to be improved.
The pre-screening questions cover fundamental efficiency improvements that should be made regardless of whether the building owner is seeking certification, or operating a facility more than 10 years old where there’s a strong probability that certain systems are reaching the end of their economic life.
There is a cost associated with becoming LEED-certified—not so much because of the material specifications used in creating the project but in the fees to generate the certification. And while being certified is certainly a worthy achievement, it is more prevalent in the commercial realm simply because of the associated costs.
Going through the actual certification process may or may not be cost-justifiable; but if a nearby competitor is promoting a LEED-certified building, that might tip the balance. In any event, any senior living facility that truly complies with accepted “green” and “sustainable” standards may promote its environmentally sound practices of buying environmentally safe products, using recycled materials, recycling waste materials, and so forth.
Networking with Peers
The benefit of networking with peers, which is always a good idea, is their first-hand experience (good or bad). Facility management professionals who are AHSE members, for example, can sign up for its facility management online forum and ask or respond to questions and share information related to maintaining, renovating, and constructing senior living facilities.
Whatever the topic, though, finding innovative plant management and maintenance products can be as simple as using Googling it. Researching online can also uncover rebate, incentive, and grant programs offered by federal, state, or local government or by local utilities for certain changes, improvements, or upgrades.
zumBrunnen has 35 years of experience in helping facility owners and operators plan for the future with a thorough Capital Reserve Audit that leads to a thoughtful forecast of capital needs. As we say, We Solve Problems By Preventing Them.
