Maintenance tasks required during lock down

The current lock down caused many companies to abruptly close their doors and others to reduce their staff numbers drastically to enable them to follow Government guidelines, with regard to social distancing. This in turn has meant that some businesses have either slowed their property maintenance schedules down, while others have stopped maintaining their buildings completely.

Even if your properties are currently not staffed or empty, there are still some statutory compliance maintenance tasks that are required to be completed. You may even be considering re-opening some of your buildings now or in the near future, this blog provides a brief guideline of the maintenance tasks you should be considering during this time.

Fire Safety

Unoccupied buildings are at risk of arson attacks, therefore you may need to consider additional security measures. If your building has had a change of use, you may need to review you fire risk assessment to identify if any amendments need to be made to accommodate any changes that have been made by lock down.

If you have, or are about to have, people working in your building, then planned preventative maintenance checks are required to ensure your fire safety systems are compliant and your fire safety log is up to date.

You must ensure that your emergency lights are still operational. These may have been inadvertently switched off when your building was shut down, or they may have developed potential failures.

Electrical Safety

To support your fire safety measures, it is essential that you are up to date with your electrical planned preventative maintenance also, as electrical faults are one of the main causes of fire. Regardless of the number of people working in your building, you must ensure that all electrical systems, such as buildings wiring or portable electrical equipment, is compliant.

Air Safety

If you have air conditioning systems using F-Gases then it is still a legal requirement to have the F-gas planned maintenance completed.

REHVA (Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning Associations) has provided detailed guidance on how to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection through air circulation, these documents can be found here.

The introduction of fresh air constantly into your building is important. Even if your building is closed and empty, it is recommended to keep the ventilation on and continuous but at a reduced speed.

Exhaust ventilation systems for toilets should be kept on 24/7 and avoid opening windows to allow air to be removed via the exhaust system.

If your building has no mechanical ventilation systems then open the windows to provide a flow of fresh air.

Gas Safety

Your gas appliances still need to be maintained and this includes the annual gas safety check, unless the appliance has been mothballed. It is a legal duty to continue to repair and maintain gas pipework, flues and appliances and comply with Gas Safety Regulations.

Water Safety

Whether your building has a reduced occupancy or is closed, the water outlets may well be reduced in use and this could lead to stagnant water in the pipes, tanks and systems. This could lead to an increase in the risk of possibly dangerous levels of legionella bacteria.

Even it the building is closed, you must still ensure that your water systems are safe and comply with the regulations as detailed by HSE Approved Code Practice; Legionnaires’ disease.

If you are preparing to re-open your premises it is essential that a series of tests are conducted to reduce the levels of bacteria that may have built up during lock down, such as flushing and chlorination of water systems.

Risk Assessments and Method Statements

If you are about to re-open all or some of your premises then ensure that your Health & Safety Officer provides full, detailed RAMS, based on the new ways of working with regard to COVID-19 and social distancing. All staff need to be made aware of these and training and/or support provided on how to safely return to work.

If you are unable to ensure that some of your systems or equipment can be fully maintained then it would be prudent to involve your insurance company to ensure your insurance cover continues during these difficult times.

Do you require help or advice during this time?

If you require any help or advice on how to bring your property portfolio to what is statutorily required, please get in touch. We provide a range of building and statutory compliance maintenance services, ensuring our clients can provide safe and compliant buildings for their staff and customers.