A Facility Management Podcast for Creating Better, More Efficient Spaces

The FirstCall Facility Focus Forum Podcast is a dedicated platform for facility leaders, property owners, commercial service vendors, and other industry professionals to explore the evolving landscape of facility management. Hosted by industry experts, each episode dives into the practical challenges and emerging opportunities in operations, safety, compliance, sustainability, innovation, and more.

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Episode 1: Welcome to the FirstCall Facility Focus Forum Podcast + Andre Ramsey

In our inaugural episode, CLS Facility Services VP Rob Vaughan sits down with FirstCall Safety Manager Andre Ramsey to break down what…

Episode 2: Maximizing HVAC Controls & Building Automation Projects

In our inaugural episode, CLS Facility Services VP Rob Vaughan sits down with FirstCall Safety Manager Andre Ramsey to break down what…

Podcasts with video embeds

Episode 1: Welcome to the FirstCall Facility Focus Forum Podcast + Andre Ramsey

In our inaugural episode, CLS Facility Services VP Rob Vaughan sits down with FirstCall Safety Manager Andre Ramsey to break down what…

Episode 2: Maximizing HVAC Controls & Building Automation Projects

In our inaugural episode, CLS Facility Services VP Rob Vaughan sits down with FirstCall Safety Manager Andre Ramsey to break down what…

Plumbing rarely gets the same proactive attention as HVAC or lighting. There’s no seasonal trigger that prompts a filter change, no energy bill that signals a system is underperforming, no visible indicator that a water heater is approaching the end of its useful life. Plumbing tends to get addressed when something goes wrong, and by then the cost of that neglect is already compounding.

For multi-site organizations, that reactive posture is particularly expensive. A single plumbing failure at one location is an inconvenience. The same failure pattern playing out across dozens of locations — because no one was tracking asset age, maintenance history, or wear indicators — is a budget problem. With the U.S. projected to face a shortage of 550,000 plumbers by 2027, emergency response times will only lengthen, making the case for prevention stronger than ever.

A commercial plumbing preventative maintenance program doesn’t just reduce repair costs; it changes the fundamental posture of how plumbing is managed across an entire portfolio. Here’s what a well-built one actually looks like.

For a deeper look at managing plumbing costs across multiple locations, download our free guide: Stop the Leak: Managing Plumbing Costs with a Facility Management Aggregator.

What Commercial Plumbing Preventative Maintenance Actually Covers

One reason plumbing PM programs often stay superficial is that the asset scope is broader than most facility managers initially account for. An effective program addresses all of the following on defined inspection and service schedules.

Pipes, supply lines, and fittings are the foundation. Inspections check for early signs of corrosion, leaks, pressure irregularities, and joint wear, particularly in older facilities where infrastructure may not have been assessed in years. Catching a failing joint during a scheduled inspection is a fundamentally different cost than discovering it after it has caused water damage.

Faucets, toilets, and drains see the highest daily utilization at most commercial locations and wear accordingly. PM cycles should include flow testing, seal and gasket inspection, drain clearing, and hardware assessment, with replacement thresholds defined so aging fixtures are swapped proactively rather than reactively.

Water heaters are among the highest-stakes plumbing assets at any commercial location. A failed water heater at a fitness center, restaurant, or healthcare facility doesn’t just create an inconvenience; it can shut down operations entirely. PM schedules should include sediment flushing, anode rod inspection, thermostat calibration, and pressure relief valve testing, with age and performance data tracked to inform CapEx replacement planning before failure occurs.

Backflow prevention devices require scheduled testing in most jurisdictions, and that compliance requirement alone makes them a non-negotiable component of any commercial plumbing maintenance program. Beyond regulatory compliance, properly functioning backflow preventers protect water quality across the facility.

Sump pumps and water pumps operate largely out of sight and are easy to overlook until they fail — typically during the worst possible conditions. PM cycles should verify operation, test float switches, clear intake screens, and assess motor performance before seasonal demand increases.

The Multi-Site Complexity Layer

Running a commercial plumbing preventative maintenance program across one location is manageable. Running one consistently across 50, 100, or 200+ locations is a fundamentally different operational challenge, and where most internal programs begin to break down.

The first complication is asset variability. Facilities in a large portfolio were built at different times, by different contractors, with different plumbing infrastructure. Some locations may have relatively new systems; others may be operating with aging pipes and fixtures that were never fully documented. Without a comprehensive asset list that captures model, age, service history, and condition by location, it’s nearly impossible to prioritize PM resources intelligently across the portfolio.

The second is code and regulatory variation. Local requirements for backflow testing frequency, water heater standards, and plumbing inspection protocols differ across cities and states. A PM program that applies identical standards everywhere without accounting for jurisdiction-specific requirements creates compliance gaps, which become visible only during an audit or inspection.

The third is scheduling complexity. Commercial plumbing maintenance has to happen around business operations, which means coordinating access, minimizing disruption, and sequencing work across locations without creating bottlenecks. Managed internally across a large footprint, that coordination becomes a significant administrative burden. Managed through a national facility management partner with established vendor relationships in every market, it becomes a repeatable, documented process.

The Metrics That Tell You Your Program Is Working

A commercial plumbing preventative maintenance program should be measurable — and if it isn’t producing clear data, it isn’t being managed effectively. Three metrics are particularly telling for multi-site operators.

The first is the ratio of emergency to planned work orders. In a reactive environment, the majority of plumbing work orders are emergency-driven. A functioning PM program shifts that ratio meaningfully over time. Fewer emergency calls mean the program is catching issues before they become failures. Tracking this ratio by location also identifies sites where the program may need more intensive attention.

The second is the first-trip resolution rate. When technicians arrive at a site with full asset history, prior service documentation, and a clear scope of work, they resolve issues faster and more completely. A strong work order management system makes this data available and comparable across all locations, which is also how facility managers demonstrate program value to operations executives and CFOs.

The third is asset lifespan data. Plumbing assets that receive consistent preventive maintenance last longer, and organizations that track this can quantify the lifecycle extension as a direct cost avoidance figure. That data becomes the foundation for more accurate annual budget planning and informs proactive CapEx decisions when replacement cycles approach.

Put a Stronger Plumbing PM Program in Place with CLS

CLS Facility Services has supported commercial plumbing maintenance programs for multi-site organizations for more than 40 years. Our approach covers the full asset scope — from pipes and water heaters to backflow devices and sump pumps — applied consistently across every location in your portfolio through our nationwide network of vetted contractors. Through our client asset management portal, you have real-time visibility into PM schedules, work order history, and the metrics that demonstrate your program is working.

Connect with us today to learn more about building a stronger plumbing maintenance program across your locations.

For an organization managing a handful of locations, a local plumbing vendor relationship works well enough. The vendor knows the area, builds familiarity with the sites, and can respond when something goes wrong. But organizations with 50, 100, or 200+ locations quickly discover that what works at a small scale breaks down entirely at a large one. Geographic gaps appear. Service quality becomes inconsistent from one market to the next. Emergency response times vary wildly. And the administrative burden of managing separate vendors across dozens of regions becomes a full-time job in itself.

This challenge is compounded by the state of the skilled trades workforce. Bloomberg has reported that the U.S. is projected to face a shortage of 550,000 plumbers by 2027 — meaning qualified service providers are increasingly difficult to find in any market, let alone across all of them simultaneously. For multi-site organizations, this makes a reliable national plumbing network not just convenient but essential.

This is the inflection point where multi-site organizations begin searching for national commercial plumbing companies. They need partners capable of delivering consistent, reliable plumbing maintenance and emergency response across an entire footprint. But not all national providers are built the same, and geographic coverage alone doesn’t make a company a true national partner. Today, CLS Facility Services walks you through what to look for.

For a deeper look at managing plumbing costs across multiple locations, download our free guide: Stop the Leak: Managing Plumbing Costs with a Facility Management Aggregator.

Where Local and Regional Vendors Fall Short at Scale

Local and regional plumbing vendors aren’t necessarily the problem. They’re often excellent within their service area. The problem is that multi-site organizations can’t realistically build and manage a reliable vendor relationship in every market where their facilities are located. The result is a patchwork approach that creates several predictable failure points.

Coverage gaps are the most obvious issue. Vendors that serve major metropolitan areas may not extend to suburban or rural locations, leaving some facilities underserved or unserved entirely. When a plumbing emergency strikes at a smaller location, facility managers are left scrambling to find a vendor they’ve never worked with before, which is exactly the wrong time to be onboarding a new service relationship.

Inconsistent service quality is a more subtle challenge. Without a standardized scope of work applied across all locations, different vendors approach the same maintenance tasks differently. Some provide detailed quotes and thorough documentation. Others don’t. Some prioritize first-trip resolution. Others don’t track that metric at all. Over time, these inconsistencies translate into unpredictable costs, incomplete records, and locations that receive meaningfully different levels of service.

Finally, there’s the administrative burden. Managing separate vendor relationships, each with different billing processes, communication standards, work order systems, and contacts, consumes significant time that facility teams could be directing toward more strategic priorities. And unlike HVAC or lighting, plumbing generates a high proportion of emergency work orders where vendor coordination has to happen fast.

What National Commercial Plumbing Companies Should Actually Deliver

A national plumbing partner should do more than cover the map. The following are the capabilities that separate a complete national program from a vendor with a large service area.

True geographic coverage across all locations, not just major markets. Every facility in your portfolio — including smaller or more remote locations — should receive the same quality of service as your flagship sites. A national partner should be able to confirm coverage before you sign on, not discover gaps after an emergency.

A standardized scope of work is applied uniformly. From planned commercial plumbing maintenance to emergency response, every location should be serviced according to the same standards. This includes detailed quoting practices, consistent documentation, and work execution that accounts for any location-specific codes or requirements. These are particularly important given that local regulations can vary significantly from city to city and state to state.

Single-source accountability and communication. Facility managers should have one point of contact for all plumbing needs across all locations. A dedicated account manager who understands the portfolio, knows the history of specific sites, and can be reached immediately when an emergency arises eliminates the coordination overhead of managing multiple vendor relationships. It’s also one of the core tenets of the aggregator model in facility management.

First-trip resolution as a tracked metric. The percentage of plumbing repairs resolved on the first visit is one of the most telling indicators of a vendor network’s competence. A qualified technician arriving with the right information, materials, and diagnostic capability should be able to resolve most issues without a return visit. This reduces operational disruption and the cost of multiple service calls.

Comprehensive backflow testing program management. Backflow testing is a regulatory requirement across most jurisdictions, and managing it location by location with separate local providers is unnecessarily complex. A national plumbing partner should manage a centralized backflow testing program that ensures compliance across the entire footprint, with documentation accessible for every location.

Why the Aggregator Advantage Matters for National Plumbing

There’s an important distinction within national commercial plumbing companies worth understanding: the difference between self-performing organizations and aggregators. Self-performing companies employ their own technicians and are limited to wherever those technicians are located. Aggregators, by contrast, manage a nationwide network of vetted local plumbing contractors, which allows them to deploy the right vendor in the right market while maintaining consistent program standards across the board.

The aggregator model offers a meaningful advantage for multi-site organizations. Local contractors bring market-specific expertise, familiarity with regional codes, and faster response capabilities in their area. The aggregator provides the program-level consistency, oversight, documentation standards, and single point of contact that a self-performing national company offers, without the geographic constraints. It’s also worth noting that pre-built, long-tenured vendor relationships are critical here; during a plumbing emergency isn’t the time to be vetting a new contractor.

Technology plays a central role in making this model work. The best aggregators give clients real-time visibility into work orders, response times, repair history, and spending across all locations through a centralized asset management portal. Rather than chasing updates from multiple vendors, facility managers have the data they need in one place, supporting more accurate budget planning and proactive CapEx decisions when aging plumbing infrastructure needs to be addressed.

Partner with CLS for National Plumbing Coverage

CLS Facility Services has built and managed national commercial plumbing programs for more than 40 years, supporting multi-site organizations across retail, financial services, healthcare, and beyond. Our nationwide network of vetted plumbing contractors delivers consistent service standards, transparent communication, and reliable emergency response.

Through our client asset management portal, you gain real-time visibility into work orders, first-trip resolution rates, and spending across your entire footprint.

Connect with us today to learn more about our national plumbing capabilities.

Every great team has a member who wears many hats and always gets the job done. At CLS Facility Services, that excellence is epitomized by Kathy Malkus, our illustrious Director of Finance.

Celebrating her 30th year with CLS in 2026, Kathy is an accounting guru whose tremendous work ethic, kindness, and industry knowledge support our CLS family each and every day.

Kathy joined the CLS team in 1996 in the role of Accounting Manager and was promoted to Controller in 2018 and then to Director of Finance in 2024. She helps to lead a terrific team, and her Excel wizardry may challenge Bill Gates himself.

She supports CLS’ goals in providing clients with terrific reporting and analyzing key trends in facility maintenance, while helping build HVAC asset management for all of our clients.

Kathy works closely with our FirstCall team to utilize industry-leading reporting and new technologies to ensure that CLS is a leader in accounting strategies, CapEx reporting, and finance best practices that foster success.

In her free time, Kathy is a world-class bowler, an amazing mom to two boys, and a passionate dog mom. Her superb memory creates great storytelling, an ability to remember four-digit CLS client codes from 1990 and beyond, and critical thinking skills that help our team to thrive and make key adjustments in our ever-changing facility management industry.

CLS is so fortunate to call Kathy an integral member of our team, and her leadership is appreciated by staff, clients, and the entire CLS family.

Thank you for all that you do, Kathy!

Ensuring 24/7 Reliability in Data Center HVAC, Lighting, Electrical, and More

Modern data centers demand precise, proactive maintenance to support ever-growing AI and IT loads and energy demands. That demand is only going to continue increasing as well. Electrical systems, HVAC and cooling equipment, lighting, and numerous other asset types must be kept operational to meet that demand and ensure scalability. A strong data center facility management partner is critical to meeting these goals.

CLS Facility Services partners with hyperscalers, co-location providers, enterprise operators, managed service providers (MSPs), edge/wholesale operators, and more — providing them with the facility asset maintenance services needed to maximize uptime, ensure uninterrupted reliability, and strategically coordinate facility management goals.

Connect with us to learn how we can support your asset maintenance goals.

How CLS Empowers Data Center Facility Management

Data Center HVAC Expertise

We coordinate specialized HVAC vendors experienced with data centers, helping to ensure precise temperature and humidity control while reducing the risk of downtime.

Reliable Electrical Infrastructure

From switchgear and panels to power distribution, we manage vetted electrical partners who understand the redundancy and reliability demands of data center operations.

One Point of Accountability

Working with CLS means centralized oversight with managed local execution, ensuring consistent service standards and fast response across all locations and markets.

Proactive Asset Maintenance

A preventative maintenance approach helps build more consistent data center facility management operations, reduce emergencies, extend life spans, and stabilize costs.

Scalable National Coverage

We support nationwide data center portfolios, including hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, and edge environments. Multiple locations are what we do better than anyone else.

Simplified Multi-Trade Management

We consolidate HVAC, electrical, lighting, plumbing, and building service vendors under one coordinated maintenance program — reducing the burden on your team.

Experience Our Impact

Explore a variety of facility asset maintenance case studies across multiple focuses, from LED retrofitting and electrical maintenance to HVAC/R and more.

Data Center Facility Management Excellence Starts Here

Reach out today to learn how we can build a proactive program that simplifies your workload while keeping your critical infrastructure operational.

Explore More Insights Into Facility Asset Management

What National Commercial Plumbing Companies Should Deliver for Multi-Site Organizations

Not all national commercial plumbing companies are built the same. Learn what multi-site organizations should demand from a true national plumbing partner.

Data-Driven Maintenance Management for Healthcare Facilities: From Reactive to Strategic

Data-driven maintenance management for healthcare facilities helps build asset histories, manage major systems, and maximize equipment investments.

How Managed Facility Services for Medical Offices Improves Operations

Discover how managed facility services for medical offices streamline operations through vendor consolidation, asset management, ESG initiatives, and more.

Building Automation in Facility Management

Automated Solutions for Modern Building Infrastructure

Managing an extensive portfolio of locations requires more than just reactive repairs. It requires a centralized control center for your sites.

At CLS Facility Services, we provide expert facility management building automation solutions that allow you to monitor, control, and optimize your entire footprint.

By integrating cutting-edge technology with decades of maintenance expertise, we help you reduce operational costs, extend asset lifespans, and ensure consistent comfort.

Precision Control Across Every Asset

HVAC Controls

Optimize indoor air quality and temperature consistency with automated scheduling and remote adjustments that protect assets and bottom lines.

Lighting Controls

Reduce energy overhead through smart sensors, dimming protocols, and automated after-hours settings tailored to location-specific traffic patterns.

Signage Controls

Ensure your brand remains visible and compliant with automated signage solutions that adjust for seasonal and lighting trends.

Emergency HVAC repairs share a predictable pattern: they happen at the worst possible time, cost significantly more than planned maintenance, and create operational disruptions that extend far beyond the immediate repair. For organizations managing multiple locations, this reactive approach compounds inefficiency. Each facility operates independently, maintenance happens only after failures, and budgeting becomes nearly impossible when expenses arrive as unpredictable emergencies.

Commercial HVAC preventive maintenance breaks this pattern through systematic service that keeps equipment running reliably while avoiding the chaos of emergency breakdowns. The proactive approach identifies components approaching failure, schedules replacements during optimal windows, and creates comprehensive visibility across entire facility portfolios. For multi-location organizations, preventive maintenance turns facility management from crisis response into strategic asset protection. Take a closer look at HVAC preventive maintenance with CLS Facility Services.

What Commercial HVAC Preventive Maintenance Actually Is

At its core, commercial HVAC preventive maintenance is scheduled, systematic inspection and servicing of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment before problems occur. Rather than waiting for components to fail, preventive maintenance identifies wear patterns, addresses minor issues, and optimizes system performance through regular attention.

This proactive approach contrasts sharply with reactive maintenance, where facility teams only respond after equipment breaks down. Research consistently demonstrates the value of preventive approaches. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a well-maintained HVAC system can reduce energy consumption by 15-20% compared to neglected equipment. Beyond energy savings, preventive maintenance extends equipment lifespan, reduces emergency repair frequency, and minimizes the operational disruptions that impact customer experience and revenue.

The Core Components of Effective Preventive Maintenance

We’ve explored the detailed mechanics of HVAC preventive maintenance in another entry on our blog. Understanding the fundamental categories helps facility managers appreciate why systematic approaches outperform reactive strategies.

Commercial HVAC preventive maintenance encompasses several critical activities. Regular inspections assess overall system condition, identifying components showing wear before they fail catastrophically. Cleaning activities remove debris and buildup that restrict airflow and reduce efficiency. Component adjustments ensure systems operate at manufacturer specifications. Proactive replacements address parts approaching end-of-life during scheduled maintenance windows rather than during emergency breakdowns. When facility managers think about getting proactive with commercial HVAC asset management, they’re implementing these systematic practices consistently across their entire facility portfolio.

Why Multi-Location Organizations Benefit Most

Organizations managing multiple facilities face challenges that make commercial HVAC preventive maintenance particularly valuable. Without systematic preventive maintenance, multi-location operators often discover they’re managing HVAC on a location-by-location basis. Each facility follows different practices, working with different vendors, and maintaining different standards. This fragmentation creates inefficiency and inconsistent service quality, and makes strategic planning nearly impossible.

A preventive maintenance program provides the framework for consistent execution across all locations. Standardized service schedules ensure every facility receives appropriate attention. Centralized documentation creates visibility into equipment performance trends. Coordinated vendor relationships ensure consistent service quality regardless of geographic location.

Real-world results: A national retailer’s preventive maintenance program avoided $125,000 in emergency repair costs through proactive asset management.

The Financial Case Beyond Emergency Avoidance

While avoiding emergency repairs represents an obvious financial benefit, commercial HVAC preventive maintenance delivers value through multiple channels.

• Energy efficiency improvements reduce monthly utility costs across every facility in your portfolio. For multi-location organizations, a 15% reduction in HVAC energy consumption across 100 locations creates substantial annual savings.
• Extended equipment lifespan defers capital expenditures by years, allowing organizations to spread replacement costs over longer timeframes while reducing the likelihood of budget-disrupting emergency replacements.
• Reduced downtime protects revenue and customer experience; when HVAC systems fail during business hours, the impact extends beyond repair costs to include lost sales and damaged customer relationships.

Improve Your HVAC Management Approach

CLS Facility Services has been supporting organizations with HVAC preventive maintenance programs for more than 50 years. Our systematic approach ensures consistent service delivery across all your locations while providing the visibility and documentation that enables strategic facility management.

Connect with us today to learn how commercial HVAC preventive maintenance can transform your facility operations.

Preventive commercial HVAC maintenance sounds straightforward in theory. What’s complicated about scheduling regular service to avoid breakdowns? But what actually happens during those maintenance visits? What separates an in-depth preventive maintenance program from a cursory inspection that provides false confidence while missing critical issues?

Understanding the specific activities involved in preventive commercial HVAC maintenance helps facility managers evaluate service providers, set appropriate expectations, and appreciate why systematic maintenance delivers measurable returns. These activities aren’t arbitrary; each addresses specific failure modes, efficiency losses, or performance degradation patterns that research and decades of field experience have identified as critical.

Activities That Maximize Energy Efficiency

Energy consumption represents one of the largest ongoing costs associated with commercial HVAC systems. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, HVAC accounts for approximately 40% of energy use in commercial buildings. Preventive commercial HVAC maintenance addresses multiple efficiency factors through systematic attention.

Filter replacement and cleaning represent the most fundamental efficiency maintenance activity. Dirty filters restrict airflow, forcing systems to work harder while delivering less cooling or heating capacity. Depending on the environment, filters may require monthly replacement in high-traffic facilities or quarterly changes in cleaner environments.

Coil cleaning addresses both evaporator coils inside air handlers and condenser coils in outdoor units. Dust, debris, and biological growth on coils act as insulation, preventing efficient heat transfer. Professional cleaning restores heat transfer efficiency, often reducing energy consumption by 10-15% according to ASHRAE research.

Refrigerant level verification ensures systems maintain manufacturer specifications. Low refrigerant reduces cooling capacity while increasing compressor workload and energy consumption. Technicians check pressures, temperatures, and subcooling to verify proper charge, adding refrigerant when needed and investigating leaks that may indicate deeper problems.

Activities That Extend Equipment Lifespan

HVAC equipment represents substantial capital investments that organizations naturally want to protect. Strategic preventive commercial HVAC maintenance directly impacts equipment longevity by addressing wear patterns before they cause catastrophic failures.

Belt inspection and adjustment prevent unexpected failures while optimizing power transmission efficiency. Technicians check belt tension, alignment, and condition, looking for cracking, fraying, or glazing that indicates approaching failure. Proper tension ensures efficient power transfer without excessive strain that accelerates wear on both belts and bearings.

Electrical connection inspection identifies loose terminals, corrosion, and degraded wiring that create resistance, generate heat, and ultimately lead to component failure. Technicians tighten connections, clean terminals, and measure voltage and amperage to verify systems draw appropriate power. These checks prevent failures that can damage expensive compressors, motors, and control boards.

Lubrication of motors and bearings reduces friction that generates heat and accelerates wear. While many modern components use sealed bearings requiring no maintenance, older equipment still requires periodic lubrication following manufacturer specifications. Moving parts inspection examines dampers, actuators, and mechanical linkages for proper operation, preventing issues before they cause occupant complaints or equipment damage.

Activities That Ensure Safety and Compliance

Commercial HVAC systems involve electrical power, combustible fuels in heating equipment, and refrigerants that require proper handling. Preventive commercial HVAC maintenance includes safety-focused activities that protect occupants, equipment, and organizations from hazards.

Gas pressure and combustion analysis for heating equipment verifies burners operate efficiently without producing dangerous carbon monoxide or other combustion byproducts. Technicians measure gas pressure, check ignition systems, and analyze exhaust gases to ensure proper combustion.

Electrical safety checks measure voltage, verify proper grounding, and inspect safety controls that prevent equipment operation under dangerous conditions. Technicians test high-pressure cutouts, low-pressure switches, and other safety devices to ensure they’ll function properly if needed.

Refrigerant leak detection protects both the environment and system performance. Technicians use electronic leak detectors and visual inspection to identify leaks requiring repair, preventing gradual refrigerant loss that degrades performance. Control system verification ensures that thermostats, sensors, and building automation systems accurately measure conditions and properly command equipment operation. As systems increasingly incorporate sophisticated HVAC control systems, verification becomes critical for maintaining efficient operation.

Activities That Maintain Comfort and Performance

Beyond efficiency and longevity, preventive commercial HVAC maintenance ensures systems deliver consistent comfort that supports productive work environments and positive customer experiences.

Airflow measurement and balancing verify systems deliver airflow to all spaces. Over time, damper positions drift, ductwork develops leaks, and modifications to spaces alter airflow patterns. Technicians measure airflow at key points, adjust dampers, and verify that all zones receive appropriate conditioning.

Thermostat calibration ensures temperature sensors accurately reflect actual conditions and properly control equipment. Drift in sensor calibration can cause overcooling or overheating that wastes energy while frustrating occupants.

Condensate drain maintenance prevents water damage and biological growth. Air conditioning generates condensation that must drain properly to prevent overflow. Technicians clean drain pans, flush drain lines, and verify proper drainage slope to prevent water damage and mold growth that affects indoor air quality.

The Systematic Approach That Delivers Results

These activities don’t exist in isolation or apart from one another. Effective preventive commercial HVAC maintenance coordinates them through systematic scheduling based on equipment type, operating conditions, and manufacturer recommendations. Organizations managing multiple locations benefit from standardized preventive maintenance programs that ensure consistent execution across their entire facility portfolio.

The encompassing nature of preventive maintenance explains why organizations increasingly recognize it as strategic facility management rather than a simple operational expense. As one component of proactive commercial HVAC asset management, preventive maintenance creates the visibility and documentation needed for informed capital planning and replacement decisions.

Partner with Preventive Maintenance Experts

CLS Facility Services has been delivering comprehensive preventive commercial HVAC maintenance for more than 50 years. Our systematic approach ensures all critical activities receive appropriate attention across every location in your facility portfolio.

Connect with us today to learn how our preventive maintenance programs protect your HVAC investment.

Every healthcare facility manager has faced these questions: Why does one location consistently cost more to maintain than comparable sites? Which equipment replacements should take priority in next year’s capital budget? Are emergency service calls trending upward at certain facilities, and if so, what’s driving the pattern? How much could be saved by properly tracking and claiming warranty coverage on recent HVAC installations?

These aren’t rhetorical questions — they’re fundamental to strategic maintenance management for healthcare facilities. Yet without comprehensive data systems and systematic processes, even experienced facility managers resort to educated guesses rather than informed decisions.

This gap between available data and actionable insights represents one of the most significant obstacles to operational excellence in healthcare facility management. While many medical offices have transitioned from fragmented vendor relationships to consolidated facility services partnerships, the next evolution involves leveraging systematic data collection and analysis to transform maintenance from a reactive cost center into a strategic operational advantage.

Effective maintenance management for healthcare facilities requires more than simply tracking work orders; it demands comprehensive asset histories, systematic oversight of everything from major equipment to specialized healthcare systems, reliable emergency response infrastructure, and proactive warranty management that maximizes equipment investments. CLS Facility Services is here to walk you through it all.

Building Comprehensive Asset Histories

The foundation of strategic maintenance management lies in detailed asset histories that provide visibility into maintenance spending and equipment performance over time. Many healthcare facilities can tell you what they spent on maintenance last quarter, but they struggle to answer more strategic questions: Which HVAC units consistently require the most service? Are certain locations experiencing higher failure rates? How does preventive maintenance investment correlate with emergency repair costs?

Comprehensive asset histories document every interaction with each piece of equipment, creating a longitudinal record that reveals patterns invisible in isolated work orders. When a facility manager can review three years of maintenance data for a specific HVAC unit, they gain insights that inform replacement timing, identify recurring issues that suggest systemic problems, and justify capital expenditure requests with concrete performance trends.

Managing Assets From Major Systems to Critical Details

Effective maintenance management for healthcare facilities must address the full spectrum of building systems, from the largest capital investments to specialized equipment that requires healthcare-specific expertise. Major systems like HVAC equipment, exterior signage, and complete lighting installations represent significant capital expenditures that demand careful tracking and proactive replacement planning. These core facility management concerns apply across industries, though healthcare facilities face additional complexity from regulatory requirements and patient safety considerations.

Beyond these major assets, healthcare facilities require meticulous management of specialized systems that directly impact patient care and regulatory compliance, including fire and life safety equipment, plumbing systems, specialized medical equipment, and emergency and/or backup systems. The challenge for facility managers lies in maintaining consistent oversight across this diverse asset portfolio while ensuring that healthcare-specific requirements receive appropriate attention.

Establishing Reliable Emergency Response Infrastructure

Healthcare facilities cannot afford extended equipment downtime, making robust emergency response infrastructure essential for effective maintenance management. Unlike retail or office environments, where equipment failures create inconvenience, medical facilities face more serious consequences — cancelled appointments, disrupted patient care, and potential regulatory compliance issues. A comprehensive emergency response framework addresses three critical components: guaranteed availability, clear escalation paths, and documented response protocols.

24/7 availability represents the baseline requirement, but effective emergency response goes deeper. Facility managers need to know exactly who to contact for different emergency types, understand guaranteed response timeframes, and have confidence that service providers understand healthcare facility priorities. The best maintenance management systems include pre-established emergency protocols that eliminate confusion during critical situations: facility staff know the single phone number to call, understand what information the service provider needs, and receive proactive communication about response timing and resolution steps.

Strategic Warranty Management Maximizes Equipment Investment

Warranty management represents one of the most overlooked aspects of maintenance management, yet proper tracking can deliver significant cost savings while extending equipment lifecycles. This proves particularly important for major capital investments like HVAC systems and lighting installations, where warranties can cover substantial repair costs if properly documented and claimed.

Many healthcare facilities struggle with warranty management because the information lives in disconnected systems — purchase orders in accounting, installation documentation with contractors, and warranty certificates in filing cabinets. Strategic warranty management consolidates this information into a centralized system that tracks coverage periods, documents required maintenance activities, and alerts facility managers when warranty-qualifying service is needed.

Real-World Impact of Improving Maintenance Management Operations

A veterinary healthcare organization with more than 180 locations across 27 states exemplifies the transformation that comprehensive maintenance management enables. Before implementing systematic maintenance management with CLS, the organization lacked visibility into asset performance across its network and struggled to make informed decisions about equipment replacement timing. After establishing detailed asset histories and systematic tracking across all building systems, the organization gained the insights needed to transition from reactive repairs to proactive planning.

This systematic and proactive approach to maintenance management delivered measurable operational improvements. Maintenance cycles were completed within predictable timeframes, reducing disruption to clinical operations. Centralized visibility into asset performance across all locations enabled the organization to identify patterns and optimize resource allocation. The documentation supported better budgeting and more effective communication with leadership about facility needs. Most importantly, the organization maintained its facilities team size despite significant growth because systematic maintenance management improved operational efficiency.

Partner with CLS for Data-Driven Maintenance Management

CLS Facility Services brings more than 50 years of experience to maintenance management for healthcare facilities, with knowledge of both the operational requirements and the data systems that enable strategic decision-making. Our approach addresses all critical building systems through a single partnership while providing the technology platform and systematic processes that transform maintenance from reactive problem-solving into strategic asset management. The combination of healthcare expertise, nationwide coverage, and robust data management capabilities positions facility managers to make informed decisions that optimize both operational costs and equipment performance.

Connect with CLS today to learn how data-driven maintenance management can transform your healthcare facility operations.

Managed facility services for medical offices are more of a requirement than a luxury. For example, consider this scenario: It’s Tuesday morning, and the facilities manager for a regional network of medtail clinics receives three urgent calls before 9 a.m.

• The HVAC system at the downtown location has failed during an unusually warm spring week
• The fire safety inspection at another clinic reveals expired extinguishers
• A third location reports flickering lights in patient exam rooms

Each issue requires coordinating with a different vendor, navigating varying payment terms, and following up multiple times just to get status updates. Meanwhile, the facilities ‘team’ consists of just two people managing these challenges across the entire footprint.

This scenario plays out daily for medical office facility managers, particularly those overseeing the rapidly growing medtail sector, where urgent care clinics, specialty practices, and outpatient facilities operate in retail-style environments. While new medical tenant move-ins to retail spaces have decreased since 2019, certain provider types like physical therapists, chiropractors, and veterinarians continue expanding into retail locations, driven by patient demand for convenient, accessible care.

Managed facility services for medical offices offer a comprehensive solution to persistent operational headaches, including addressing patient comfort, operational continuity, and regulatory compliance. CLS Facility Services has spent more than 50 years helping companies solve these issues, and today, we’re sharing five ways streamlining facility management positively impacts each location.

The Hidden Cost of Vendor Fragmentation

The shift toward managed facility services for medical offices represents more than simple vendor consolidation. It’s a strategic transformation that enables medical practices to focus on patient care rather than building maintenance logistics. Medical practices working with dozens or hundreds of separate vendors face constant coordination challenges — each requiring separate insurance verification, distinct payment terms, and multiple contact points. Communication becomes sporadic and reactive, with facility managers spending more time chasing information than strategically planning.

Managed facility services eliminate this complexity through a unified program covering all critical building systems. For example, one veterinary organization with more than 180 locations across 27 states was able to implement standardized maintenance programs, complete cycles within predictable timeframes, and maintain its facilities team size despite significant growth with CLS. Medical offices face similar challenges but with added complexity from infection control requirements and patient-facing environments where comfort directly impacts satisfaction scores.

Building Visibility Through Comprehensive Asset Management

Building a detailed asset list represents a foundational component of effective managed facility services for medical offices. Many lack complete visibility into their HVAC systems, knowing only that units exist without understanding their age, condition, or projected replacement timing. This knowledge gap creates budgeting uncertainty and increases the likelihood of expensive emergency replacements when equipment fails unexpectedly.

A comprehensive asset management program creates a detailed inventory of every HVAC unit across all locations, documenting specifications, installation dates, service history, and performance trends. This visibility enables proactive capital expenditure planning that distributes replacement costs over time. When facility managers understand which equipment is approaching end-of-life, they can coordinate replacements during optimal timing windows — scheduling installations during off-hours to avoid disrupting patient care while meeting compliance requirements for systems that affect air quality and patient safety.

Staying Current with Healthcare-Specific Innovations

Healthcare environments constantly evolve with new technologies designed to improve patient safety and comfort. Staying current with these developments challenges medical office facility managers, particularly when working with fragmented vendor relationships where each provider focuses narrowly on their service category. Managed facility services providers with healthcare expertise understand emerging trends and proactively recommend solutions that address evolving patient expectations.

Air scrubber technology exemplifies this dynamic. These systems actively remove airborne contaminants, allergens, and pathogens from HVAC systems, creating cleaner indoor air quality that supports infection control efforts. As patients become more aware of airborne disease transmission, medical offices implementing air scrubbers demonstrate commitment to patient safety. This proactive approach extends to other areas as well. Specialized electrical infrastructure for medical equipment requires expertise beyond standard commercial facility knowledge, while LED lighting retrofits must balance energy efficiency with healthcare-specific color rendering requirements.

Preventive Maintenance: The Foundation of Operational Reliability

Preventive maintenance forms the cornerstone of operational reliability in healthcare facilities. Unlike other commercial environments where equipment downtime creates inconvenience, medical offices face serious consequences when building systems fail. An HVAC outage during the summer months can force facilities to cancel appointments, resulting in lost revenue and disrupted care continuity. Emergency repairs always cost more than scheduled maintenance, both in direct service fees and operational impact.

Comprehensive preventive maintenance programs for medical offices must address multiple building systems with healthcare-appropriate protocols. HVAC maintenance requires more frequent filter changes than typical commercial spaces, as air quality directly impacts infection control. Electrical systems supporting critical medical equipment need regular inspection, while fire and life safety systems must undergo rigorous testing. Annual facility management planning coordinates these activities across multiple locations, ensuring appropriate attention while minimizing disruption to clinical operations.

Supporting Sustainability Goals Through Integrated Facility Management

Sustainability increasingly matters to healthcare organizations facing pressure from patients, employees, investors, and regulators to demonstrate environmental responsibility. Medical offices generate significant energy consumption through HVAC systems that run constantly and specialized equipment requiring reliable power. Environmental, social, and governance initiatives have become important considerations for organizations seeking to reduce their environmental footprint while realizing operational cost savings.

Managed facility services providers support these sustainability goals through multiple approaches. LED lighting retrofits significantly reduce energy consumption while improving light quality. Energy management systems provide real-time visibility into consumption patterns, enabling optimization strategies that reduce waste without compromising comfort. Proactive HVAC maintenance ensures systems operate at peak efficiency. The centralized visibility enables organizations to track energy consumption trends across their entire facility portfolio, identifying optimization opportunities and supporting external reporting requirements while scaling successful initiatives across all locations.

Selecting the Right Managed Facility Services Partner

Implementing managed facility services for medical offices requires selecting a partner with the right combination of capabilities. Healthcare facility expertise ensures the provider understands infection control requirements, patient comfort priorities, and regulatory compliance obligations. A nationwide vendor network enables consistent service delivery across all locations, regardless of geographic distribution. Technology platforms that provide real-time visibility into maintenance activities, asset conditions, and spending patterns support informed decision-making. A track record of successful implementations in healthcare environments demonstrates the provider’s ability to deliver promised results.

CLS Facility Services brings more than 50 years of experience to healthcare facility management, with a deep understanding of both traditional medical environments and the emerging medtail sector.

Connect with CLS today to learn how managed facility services can transform your medical office operations.

There is strong documentation to demonstrate the need for more tradespeople nationwide across core services like commercial HVAC, electrical, and plumbing tradespeople. With this challenge ever present, facility maintenance managers are still tasked with the difficult job of building a trusted national network to support the maintenance needs of all of their locations.

With many businesses having a national footprint, some facility managers are tasked with building a network to support 50, 200, or even 1,000+ commercial locations. For this reason, trusted partnerships and national service coverage are so imperative. The ability to have an elite facility management partner to provide you with full coverage, strong communication, and well-vetted resources is paramount and difficult to replicate.

Plumbing is a unique trade because so many work orders are emergency-related. If a few lamps or ballasts are burnt out in a business, the work order can likely wait a few days — or even weeks sometimes — and the business receives little interruption. If a painting crew has to push back a job two days to begin, a business will continue to move on with little interference. But if a toilet is clogged or a pipe leak is taking place, those repairs are not only vital, but they also impact the safety, the content, and the business of the client, their staff, and their customers! In addition, planned commercial plumbing maintenance is a vital component of any PM program.

At CLS Facility Services, we’ve spent decades building and managing nationwide plumbing networks that deliver consistent emergency response across every location. Today, we’re taking a look at what facility managers face when selecting a strong plumbing network.

5 Questions Facility Managers Analyze When Analyzing Plumbing Maintenance Services

1. Is my plumbing maintenance vendor able to cover the needs of all of my commercial sites geographically nationwide or do they only cover major markets?

• Complete geographic coverage ensures that even your most remote locations receive the same quality emergency response as flagship sites in major metropolitan areas.

2. Do my quotes receive a strong level of detail to ensure repairs are thorough and complete?

• Detailed quoting eliminates scope creep and surprise costs while providing the documentation you need to validate expenses with stakeholders and budget accurately for future repairs.

3. Are communication and work order updates on point to assure satisfaction for my site managers?

• Real-time communication keeps site managers informed, reduces follow-up calls, and ensures everyone understands repair status without facility teams playing phone tag with contractors.

4. Am I able to analyze what percentage of plumbing repairs are resolved on the 1st trip and within 24 hours of sending a technician?

• First-trip resolution metrics reveal vendor competency and diagnostic capabilities while reducing the operational disruption and customer impact of multiple service visits for the same issue.

5. Do they offer a comprehensive Backflow Testing Program to meet my needs nationwide?

• Centralized backflow testing management ensures regulatory compliance across all locations while eliminating the administrative burden of coordinating with dozens of local testing providers.

Address Planned Commercial Plumbing Maintenance and More with CLS

As we see here, trust is truly everything — but so is elite communication, strong detail, full national coverage, and the ability to complete plumbing work orders on time and on budget. The right plumbing maintenance partner combines technical expertise with the operational discipline required to serve multi-location organizations effectively.

CLS Facility Services has implemented plumbing as a core trade for more than 40 years, supporting clients nationwide as part of our customized and comprehensive facility maintenance program. Our national network of vetted contractors provides consistent service standards, transparent communication, and reliable emergency response across every location in your portfolio. Through our asset management portal, you gain real-time visibility into plumbing work orders, response times, and first-trip resolution rates—the metrics that matter most for planned commercial plumbing maintenance.

Reach out to us today to discover how we can support and customize a plumbing maintenance program that fits your commercial maintenance needs.

We previously discussed building the ideal facility maintenance budget through proactively planning and strong facility services vendor partnerships with your field partners. As we begin a new year with new goals and expectations, let’s take a closer look at what you can do to optimize your maintenance budget.

Facility managers wear many hats, and the administrative responsibilities required to plan and implement budgets throughout the year are one of the most difficult challenges, given all of the ongoing work, transitions, and timely needs. For these reasons, relying on field partners to provide valuable vendor information is truly paramount to success.

At CLS Facility Services, we’ve spent more than 50 years helping facility managers leverage vendor partnerships to streamline budgeting processes and uncover cost-saving opportunities. Connect with our team to discover how strategic vendor collaboration can turn your maintenance budget from a reactive administrative burden into a proactive strategic asset.

5 Questions Facilities Managers Can Ask Vendors to Best Support Budget Optimization

1. Can you provide Monthly or Quarterly Reporting that analyzes a spend breakdown of all Work Orders by trade?

• Regular spend analysis by trade reveals patterns in maintenance costs, helps identify budget variances early, and enables more accurate forecasting for future fiscal years.

2. Can I have a copy of my HVAC Equipment List so that we can better understand the age of our assets?

• Understanding asset age across your portfolio allows you to anticipate replacement timing, avoid emergency failures, and distribute capital expenditures strategically rather than reactively.

3. Are you able to provide a List of the HVAC Units you would recommend for proactive CapEx replacement to help us reduce larger repair costs on old units?

• Proactive capital planning based on equipment condition and performance history prevents costly emergency replacements while allowing you to budget for planned upgrades during optimal timing windows.

4. Can you provide a summary of our HVAC PM Program spend, along with the Quarterly HVAC PM Completion Reports?

• Consolidated PM program reporting demonstrates the relationship between preventive maintenance investment and reduced reactive repair costs, validating your maintenance strategy to stakeholders.

5. Are there particular Sites or Regions where you would recommend LED Retrofits, based upon the lighting we currently have, areas where utility costs are high, or utility rebates are very strong?

• Vendor expertise in identifying high-impact retrofit opportunities helps prioritize projects that deliver the strongest ROI through reduced energy consumption and utility rebate capture.

Once again, with these questions, we see just how much trust and strong facility maintenance vendor partnerships can really matter. Not only do facility managers have the ability to request valuable information that vendors should be tracking for them, but simultaneously, the budgeting process and budgeting accountability are made easier by relying on good field partners to produce information for the facility manager and Operations Teams.

Optimize Your Maintenance Budget With CLS Facility Services

As a facility manager, relying on your vendors to help you be proactive is integral to creating success while lightening your workload. The right vendor partners don’t just execute work orders; they actively contribute to your strategic planning through comprehensive asset management, transparent reporting, and data-driven recommendations that support accurate budgeting.

Strong facility maintenance partnerships provide the visibility you need to make informed decisions about preventive maintenance investments, capital expenditure timing, and energy efficiency upgrades. By asking the right questions and working with vendors who proactively support your budgeting process, you transform maintenance from a cost center into a strategic advantage that delivers measurable operational improvements and cost control.

CLS Facility Services specializes in providing the comprehensive reporting, asset tracking, and strategic guidance that facility managers need to optimize their maintenance budgets. Our program-level approach and commitment to transparent communication ensure you have the information you need, when you need it — before you even have to ask.

CLS is here to support you! Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can customize asset management and service programs to support your facility maintenance needs.

During an era of rising tariffs, hourly rate increases, and material cost inflation, the development of a strong and accurate facility maintenance budget is increasingly integral for facility managers nationwide. Amidst running hundreds — often thousands — of annual work orders for so many trades to take care of their sites, facility managers must simultaneously manage the lofty task of developing a maintenance budget that serves multiple needs. Relying on vendor partners in this process is paramount.

At CLS Facility Services, we’ve spent more than 50 years helping facility managers navigate these budgeting challenges through transparent data, proactive business reviews, and comprehensive asset management. Connect with our team to discover how the right vendor partnership can transform your maintenance budgeting process from time-consuming guesswork into strategic planning.

4 Questions Facilities Managers Analyze to Develop their Maintenance Budget

1. What reporting is available via my vendors or work order management system that will support making budgeting more accurate?

• Comprehensive reporting systems that consolidate spending data, work order history, and asset performance across all locations eliminate manual data gathering and provide the visibility needed for accurate projections.

2. What changes have occurred with my Store List, HVAC Asset List, Remodels, and Budget Goals that will impact budgeting for the next fiscal year?

• Tracking these operational changes throughout the year ensures your budget reflects current realities rather than outdated assumptions that can create significant variance between projected and actual costs.

3. Am I conducting business reviews with my strongest vendor partners to help to make my budget more accurate and to capture valuable information?

• Regular vendor business reviews surface trends, identify cost-saving opportunities, and ensure alignment between your operational priorities and the services being delivered across your portfolio.

4. What cost increases will vendors be implementing that may negatively impact budgetary goals?

• Transparent communication about rate adjustments allows you to incorporate realistic cost projections rather than being surprised by increases that blow through your approved budget mid-year.

The common theme in all of these questions is simply being proactive. From seeking data, to relying on partnerships to relying on vendors to provide information; these are all keys to budgetary success and accuracy optimization. Strong facility management companies provide information and transparent data before the Facility Manager requests it. Having information at the finger tips truly facilitates the budgeting process and minimizes the amount of time spent in doing so.

Need Help Developing a Maintenance Budget? CLS Can Help

While facility maintenance vendors are judged by speed, pricing, and accuracy, the ability to provide elite reporting and to proactively support in the budgeting is equally imperative. CLS works to be an industry leader in reporting and asset management by planning proactive business reviews, providing in-depth customized reports, and utilizing data to bring value to tenured partnerships. Trust is everything.

We look forward to the opportunity to help you to build, customize, and proactively work together to manage your facility maintenance program.

Building a strong HVAC preventive maintenance program is an essential part of maximizing the performance of heating and cooling equipment, keeping your facilities both safe and comfortable, and making sure that lease requirements are satisfied. Every facility manager wants HVAC PMs to be completed thoroughly, on time, and on budget. With all of those integral items also comes the ever-important element of cost competitiveness. What is true dollar maximization of HVAC PM, and what factors impact commercial HVAC preventive maintenance cost?

At CLS Facility Services, we’ve spent more than 50 years helping organizations answer these questions and optimize their HVAC preventive maintenance investments. Connect with our team to discuss how a strategic approach to HVAC PM can reduce your long-term costs while improving system reliability.

5 Questions Facilities Managers Can Analyze When Pricing HVAC Preventive Maintenance

1. Do I have a uniform, written HVAC PM Scope of Work nationwide for all of my locations, and is there accountability for that scope and its thorough completion?

• Standardized scopes eliminate service variability and ensure every location receives consistent, comprehensive maintenance regardless of which technician performs the work.

2. Are belt changes and condenser coil chemical cleanings being done annually, or are those only being completed reactively if there is an issue?

• Including these services in preventive visits costs significantly less than emergency replacements and prevents the cascading equipment damage that occurs when worn belts fail or dirty coils force systems to work harder.

3. Is my HVAC vendor building an HVAC equipment list of all of the equipment at my facilities?

• Asset tracking enables strategic capital planning, helps identify patterns across your portfolio, and ensures no equipment is overlooked during maintenance cycles.

4. How much have my commercial HVAC preventive maintenance costs increased year-over-year, the past 5 years?

• Tracking cost trends reveals whether increases reflect genuine market conditions or indicate it’s time to explore more competitive partnership options.

5. What is my process for additional work found on HVAC PM work and for its quoting and approval?

• Clear protocols for discovered issues prevent surprise costs while ensuring necessary repairs receive prompt attention before they escalate into emergencies.

A good HVAC vendor has full in-depth detail on HVAC PM work, from the detailed pricing and asset management, to the manner in which reporting is presented. With HVAC PM making up a large portion of facility maintenance annual spend — and strong PMs helping to reduce service calls — FM managers have the power and the right to hold vendors to a strong level of HVAC PM accountability.

6 Strong Attributes the Right HVAC Vendor Emphasizes

1. Providing a detailed HVAC Equipment list — fully complete — whenever requested, and also having it available electronically as a point of reference.

• Digital accessibility means you can verify coverage and review asset details instantly rather than requesting updates each time you need information.

2. Minimal year-over-year cost increases.

• While some annual adjustments reflect genuine market conditions, excessive increases often signal a vendor relationship that no longer serves your best interests.

3. A detailed HVAC PM scope of work that assures all unit components are being serviced adroitly.

• Comprehensive scopes prevent the common industry practice of offering low baseline pricing while charging separately for essential services that should be included.

4. HVAC PMs are completed on time as outlined in the Agreement.

• Timely completion demonstrates operational discipline and ensures your facilities maintain optimal comfort during peak seasons when system reliability matters most.

5. Flexibility to make modifications to the PM program schedule to meet the FM manager and client budgetary needs and goals.

• The right partner works collaboratively to adjust timing and frequency based on your operational realities rather than rigidly enforcing one-size-fits-all schedules.

6. Preventive maintenance completion reporting and a strong quote follow-up process.

• Transparent reporting with photographic documentation and clear communication about additional needs builds trust while giving you the visibility to make informed decisions.

Better Manage Commercial HVAC Preventive Maintenance Cost With CLS

CLS Facility Services is an industry leader in the customization of HVAC preventive maintenance programs. Our approach and decades of experience give partners the tools needed to limit commercial HVAC preventive maintenance costs while improving operational outcomes. Reach out to us today to discuss how we can build a partnership to meet your service and budgetary needs.

Performance-Focused Facility Asset Maintenance Services

Bank facility maintenance requires specialized services that go beyond standard commercial offerings. Critical infrastructure, from interior and exterior lighting systems and signage to HVAC assets and fire-life safety equipment, demands maximum reliability to uphold brand image and reduce operational expense.

As a facility asset maintenance aggregator, CLS provides comprehensive bank facility maintenance programs that maximize uptime, enhance customer experiences, consolidate commercial service vendors, and streamline asset management across all locations.

Solutions to your most pressing challenges are just a call away. Get in touch now.

Why CLS for Bank Facility Maintenance?

Finance Focused

We assist with annual strategic planning, budgeting processes, CapEx planning, cost avoidance, program reporting, and vendor management — all while focusing on ROI.

Accessible Asset Data

Our online system gives your entire team 24/7/365 access to work orders, estimates, invoices, reports, and other program documentation, so you’re never in the dark.

Complete Coverage

We cover all 50 states. With our proven national network of vendors, all your locations will have coverage for every bank facility maintenance service needed.

Compliance Support

We know you have unique demands on your business. We’ll provide reporting and recommendations to help you demonstrate compliance in energy, safety, and more.

Vendor Consolidation

Reduce administrative stress and workload in dealing with multiple vendors for every location. We are your team for virtually every bank facility maintenance need.

Dedicated Team

Work with real people who have been with our company for decades and understand your challenges. Plus, your account manager is also your emergency contact.

Strategic Partnership Delivers Significant Cost Avoidance for Regional Bank

Learn how we consolidated a fragmented facility management program for a growing regional bank with more than 90 locations while maintaining scalability.

Simplify Your Work and Maximize Your Return

Work with CLS Facility Services for your banking institution’s facility asset maintenance needs.

Explore Other Helpful Resources and Insights

Optimizing LED Retrofit Savings for Banks and Financial Institutions

Learn how LED retrofit savings for banks are maximized with the right approach to ensure a strong return on investment and an overall streamlined process.

Building the Optimal Maintenance Program for Bank Facility Management

Learn how to streamline and simplify bank facility management with an aggregator partner and reliable national network.

Creating Trust: Facilities Maintenance for Financial Services

Facilities management for financial services companies from CLS supports mortgage lenders, investment firms, and insurance offices. Learn more here.

Facility Asset Maintenance That Drives Measurable Results

As with other financial services organizations, credit union facilities require consistent, specialized maintenance on their most critical assets. HVAC systems, signage, lighting and electrical assets, fire-life safety systems, plumbing, and more all require proactive, preventive maintenance to manage risk, ensure uptime, and prevent unexpected costs.

Despite this need and other strategic priorities, facility teams are often stretched thin. As a leading aggregator, CLS Facility Services resolves this issue. Our asset maintenance solutions for credit union facilities reduce the administrative burden on your team while consolidating service vendors, centralizing asset management information, and providing the data and expertise needed to consistently generate stronger ROI.

Work with a facility management partner that understands and resolves your most pressing challenges. Get in touch with us today.

Advantages of CLS for Credit Union Facility Asset Maintenance

We Sweat the Details

We support all planning, including annual strategy, budgeting, CapEx, and vendor management, while providing essential reporting and maximizing cost avoidance and ROI.

Online Asset Portal

Our online asset management system provides easy access 24/7/365 to find work orders, estimates, invoices, reports, and other information.

National Coverage

We’ll keep every location in your footprint covered thanks to our national vendor network, consisting of proven partners that are ready to support your maintenance needs.

Compliance Focused

As a credit union, you have extra demands placed on your locations and team. We understand these and work closely with you to ensure you’re always compliant.

Vendor Consolidation

Tired of the hassle of dealing with countless vendors for every location? With our network, we handle this for you so you can stay focused on other strategic priorities.

Dedicated Team

When you work with CLS, you get dedicated contacts for your account, billing, and more. And, your emergency contact is one of these same individuals — no third parties.

Partnership Achieves 10 Years of Cost Avoidance for Regional Bank

Learn how we streamlined a fragmented facility management program across dozens of locations with preventive maintenance and CapEx planning for this financial institution.

Ready to Streamline Your Facility Asset Maintenance?

Connect with our team to build a maintenance program that produces measurable results.

Grow Your Knowledge, and Your Results

Optimizing LED Retrofit Savings for Banks and Financial Institutions

Learn how LED retrofit savings for banks are maximized with the right approach to ensure a strong return on investment and an overall streamlined process.

Building the Optimal Maintenance Program for Bank Facility Management

Learn how to streamline and simplify bank facility management with an aggregator partner and reliable national network.

Creating Trust: Facilities Maintenance for Financial Services

Facilities management for financial services companies from CLS supports mortgage lenders, investment firms, and insurance offices. Learn more here.

As a facility management leader, working with commercial service vendors to support assets in HVAC/R, lighting, electrical, plumbing, fire-life safety, and signage is a significant part of your role. It’s also likely one of the most difficult, as you have to find them, build relationships, establish facility maintenance contracts, manage work expectations, deal with countless types of documentation, and more.

Yes, it’s an important part of the job. Whether you’re managing facility maintenance contracts for assets in-house or you’ve decided to allocate this administrative task to an aggregator, there are several essentials that you or your partner must consider. This ensures that every contract is set up so that all parties are protected, the work gets done well and on time, and financial details are accounted for. Let’s dig in.

Ensure These Factors Are Addressed in All of Your Facility Maintenance Contracts

1. Centralization: Whether your in-house team is managing contracts or an aggregator is taking care of it for you, it’s important that all contracts are established, negotiated, and managed by a centralized team. If you’re a multi-site organization, individual locations should not be doing this on their own, or ideally whatsoever. Contracts should be overseen and managed by a corporate team, corporate leader, or a single aggregator partner.
2. Definitions: Strong facility maintenance contracts must define the scope(s) of work needed by discipline, the expected response times, not-to-exceed (NTE) parameters, preventative maintenance schedules, any relevant compliance requirements, and service vendor performance metrics. Without the inclusion of these standards, cost control and service quality are entirely left to chance. Your team or your aggregator partner should ensure that every contract has these parameters defined.
3. Service Level Agreements and KPIs: There are a variety of metrics that must be tracked to keep each of your locations operational and to ensure you’re getting the work that you paid for. Contracts should specify what these expectations and measurables are to ensure your business is protected and service technicians are doing what they should be doing. Communication is key here. Your team needs to be in touch with vendors and location leaders or use a single system for managing information. Working with an aggregator greatly simplifies this workstream.
4. Coverage: Whether it’s a small subset of your locations or a larger piece of your overall portfolio, facility maintenance contracts must be clear about which locations are to be serviced. The last thing you want is for a location that is on the fringe of a commercial service vendor’s territory to suddenly be excluded or deprioritized because it was not made clear up front that the location was included. Accounting for scalability is also important, especially if your organization plans to expand in the coming months or years.
5. Disasters / Emergencies: What happens…when the worst happens? What is the expectation from your commercial service vendors? It is important to define this in your maintenance contracts because those vendors will be critical to restoring operations. The vendors must understand what is needed and expected of them in the event you call on them in this capacity, and pricing and service standards must be clearly defined.

Is It Clear Yet? Partner with an Aggregator for Your Facility Maintenance Contracts

For facility leaders of multi-site companies, retail brands, healthcare systems, financial facilities, restaurants, industrial facilities, and more, the complexity of managing asset maintenance across dozens or hundreds of locations quickly outgrows a traditional, vendor-by-vendor approach. 

That’s because as portfolios scale, so do the risks — pricing inconsistency, uneven service quality, compliance gaps, and administrative burden. An aggregated facility asset maintenance model is best suited for organizations that need national consistency without sacrificing local responsiveness, allowing facilities leaders to standardize performance, control costs, and maintain operational continuity across every trade and every market.

At CLS Facility Services, our team delivers this model by combining centralized oversight with a proven national network of specialized commercial service providers. By serving as the single point of accountability across HVAC, lighting, plumbing, fire and life safety, and more, we simplify facilities maintenance contract management while preserving access to best-in-class expertise. 

The result is a scalable, data-driven maintenance strategy that improves financial predictability, strengthens compliance, and gives facilities teams the confidence that every asset — across every location — is protected by the right partner. Get in touch with our team today to learn how we can put the aggregation model to work for you and simplify contracts, asset management, and so much more.

Previously, we focused on what is required in developing a maintenance budget for assets across all of your facilities. As a facility management leader, you likely already have a strong budgeting process and framework in place, but there is always room for other perspectives that might shed light on improvement opportunities.

Soon, we’ll be exploring how to optimize your maintenance budget, but we first need to review cost planning and estimating for facilities maintenance — specifically at the asset level. Think HVAC/R, lighting, electrical, plumbing, signage, fire and life safety, and others. An understanding at this particular level is critical because apart from other elements such as structures themselves and cleaning services, these systems will likely represent a significant part of your overall budget.

True cost accuracy comes from understanding specific information about these assets, such as overall condition, where they’re at in their respective lifecycles, and previous service performed as well as future service requirements. Combining this information with knowledge in its meaning for budgets will help you gain predictable, defendable, and data-driven figures that can be reliably used for cost planning and estimating — whether for specific or unplanned situations or as part of an annual budget planning process.

1. Develop an Asset Inventory

Hopefully you have a database of all of the above mentioned assets across every location within your footprint. If not, make that an urgent priority. A centralized, accessible database of all assets — with asset-specific information such as warranties, age, condition, and service history — is the foundation for any future facilities maintenance cost planning and estimating. The absence of this is often why many facilities leaders fail to accurately plan costs — asset records either don’t exist or aren’t updated. Here is a helpful guide on what should be included in a facility asset maintenance database.

2. Use Data to Create Baseline Cost Models

This sounds like it would be a straightforward process, but a deep understanding of each asset type is important. For example, in HVAC/R, you’ll want data on whether work was seasonal preventive maintenance or a reactive repair. You’ll need to understand costs tied to parts and work types, such as compressor failures, refrigerant costs, energy utilization, component lifespan, and more.

For lighting systems, does the data reflect whether work was cleaning, an inspection, testing, or a repair? Is it specific to lighting components, such as ballasts, drivers, sensors, and fixtures? Are you able to tell whether other financial factors are at play — utility rebates, labor, energy reductions, etc.? The database will go a long way in your ability to build these models.

3. Understand Lifecycle Implications

Assets will age and ultimately fail. It just happens. But do you know the manufacturer lifespan for each asset type? Do you know where current assets are in that cycle, along with how they’re currently performing? This information will allow you to pinpoint when assets are most likely to fail and whether they’re running at subpar levels. With this data, you can make informed decisions about whether you should proactively replace the asset sooner rather than later, or allow it to run-to-failure (RTF). The risk is clear here: without any insight into the assets themselves, any decisions made would be at best a shot in the dark. And if an asset breaks down early, you’re going to have a surprise expense.

4. Build Preventive Maintenance Cost Profiles

Preventive maintenance cycles must be built into your budget. It is best to understand this according to each trade. For example, with HVAC/R, preventive maintenance frequency will vary by climate, unit type, and whether service vendors offer multi-unit discounts. Other trades such as lighting and plumbing will have frequent and consistent maintenance needs as well. However, FLS systems have mandated maintenance frequencies. Breaking this down by trade will give you a better understanding of the associated costs.

5. Include Energy and Efficiency Impact

Sustainability has become a more significant focus for facility leaders across every industry. This plays a role in cost planning and estimating for facilities maintenance budgets. Understanding the energy impact of aging systems as well as the opportunities available with utility rebates, manufacturer incentives, and more should be a priority to help you understand and quantify payback periods for replacements or retrofits.

Get More on Facility Asset Maintenance Budgeting

Get these recommendations and many more in our latest guide. At CLS, we partner with our clients on their cost planning process and overall facility management budgeting needs every year. From CapEx HVAC management to proactively identifying retrofit opportunities across hundreds of locations, our team serves as a strategic advisor to your team.

As an aggregator, we handle the administrative and coordination work for every trade — ensuring proven vendors are working on your locations, upholding their service commitments, and providing you with all the information you need to keep moving forward.

We hope the recommendations in this guide were helpful to you. Please reach out if you have any questions or if we can assist you with your facility asset maintenance strategy.

While it may sound cliché, focusing on energy savings and optimal budgeting is paramount for banks, as costs are on the rise and proactive planning is becoming more essential than ever. LED lighting upgrades previously displayed ROI in the 3-4 year range. Now, properly-budgeted LED retrofits can yield ROI ranging from six to 18 months! Let’s take a look at important factors in energy management optimization and LED retrofit savings for banks.

5 Reasons Why LED Retrofit Savings are Stronger and More Optimal Than Ever Before

1. Material Cost Reductions: In yesteryear, bank LED projects were very costly, often yielding long ROIs and high-ticket budget items. With material development comes cost savings. Projects now yield better lighting technology results and stronger ROI.
2. Elite Warranties: When LED debuted, some warranties were one year and three years — a 5-year warranty was rare. Now, industry-leading manufacturers offer 10-year material warranties to promise an optimal long-term investment.
3. Ballast Removal: In the past, LED technologies still required use of ballasts or drivers. Now, LED lighting offers ballast removal, creating one failure point and material savings that foster much stronger ROI for your bank facilities.
4. Maintenance Savings: With better technology and ballast removal comes immense maintenance savings. Older lamp technologies ranged from 3,000 to 25,000 burn hours. Now, many LED lighting solutions have a rated life of 50,000 to 100,000 hours or longer, fostering maintenance savings for years to come.
5. Multiple Options: Customize LED retrofits to the needs of your banks. Now, you can replace fixtures entirely, retrofit existing fixtures without compromising architectural integrity, and cater LED lighting solutions to both your budgetary and aesthetic needs.

Select a True LED Lighting Expert to Manage Your LED Projects from Start to Finish

Have you ever read about someone offering a turn-key project solution, only to find out that you, the facility manager, end up running portions of the project for your banks? That’s likely not what you signed up for nor what you were promised. It’s imperative to select a lighting retrofit company that provides:

• Detailed energy savings analyses
• Thorough LED lighting survey assessments
• Utility rebate support to maximize ROI
• Project management for all of your banks, not just some of them geographically
• Multiple LED solutions to cater to your preferences and budgets
• Weekly meetings to keep projects on point, on budget, and detail oriented for success

CLS Facility Services has managed more than 12,000 lighting retrofit projects in the past 15 years and more than 8,500 lighting retrofit projects for financial institutions. We understand what it takes to provide elite project management, cost-efficient solutions, and ROI that make your finance teams smile.

Please contact us to support you with cost-free consultation to customize an LED retrofit program for your banks.

Bank facility management leaders are tasked with the challenging decision of selecting elite facility maintenance partnerships to ensure optimal and timely performance with a trustworthy partner. Let’s take a look at some of the more imperative elements in selecting the ideal facility management team.

5 Essential Characteristics of an Optimal Bank Facility Maintenance Partner

1. Timely Response: Bank comfort level is absolutely paramount. Therefore, working with vendors that respond to work orders instantaneously and have technicians on-site in a timely manner is truly essential. Whether it’s a plumbing issue or an HVAC cooling conflict, timely response is integral for bank comfort.
2. Trust: Timing is (just about) everything, but having a trusted partner is equally important. You want that partner who contacts you on site for a not-to-exceed (NTE) increase if the repair can be made that day. You also want a field partner who can help you in the pinch on nights, weekends, and holidays and provide equally superb service and communication during critical off-peak hours.
3. Technical Knowledge: Selecting a partner with technical expertise is utopian. You want to work with a partner that can help you decide whether the HVAC compressor repair is the way to go or if it’s more cost-effective to replace a unit as its elements are beyond warranty periods. Also, having an LED lighting and controls expert is so helpful when it comes time to review ROIs, budget CapEx projects, and evaluate utility rebates.
4. Elite Reporting: Facility managers approve thousands of dollars in essential work in trusted partnerships. It’s important to select a partner who tracks all spends, analyzes areas for cost savings and CapEx budgeting, and provides elite reports to support your budgetary needs.
5. Optimal Network: It’s a 90-degree day in Texas or Florida in the middle of summer. You need an HVAC vendor who can provide a trusted network of reliable technicians on those days when service tickets are numerous. Utilization of a well-vetted, technical, trusted network is truly everything.

While all of these elements carry great clout, every busy facility manager needs a partner who can provide strong communication, data, work order updates, and up-to-the minute status on all maintenance work in motion. It’s important that a facility manager can rely on their vendors to provide strong reporting to support consolidation of their work order management and simplify processes.

4 Reports That Help Bank Facility Managers to Thrive

1. Open Quote Report: Are you on the go visiting branches for two weeks straight? A strong partner can send you a consolidated open quote report to detail pressing items that need your attention. Never a need to rely on email threads for key items.
2. Work Order Status Report: Are you relying on 18 different vendors for HVAC, electrical, and plumbing repairs? A strong facility management partner can provide daily, weekly or monthly reporting to give you the status of all work order updates and even work order history.
3. HVAC Equipment List: HVAC is typically the leading facility maintenance spend for every facility manager. Task your partner with providing you with a detailed HVAC equipment list or an online web portal that tracks all repairs on each asset. You shouldn’t have to pay extra money for in-depth reporting or asset management.
4. Quarterly Business Reviews: Do you have a meeting with your bank CFO to review the monthly budget or annual budget? It’s perfectly acceptable to rely on a strong facility management partner to provide you with all the data at your fingertips. Conducting frequent business reviews in order to identify areas of improvement can be a real difference maker!

Bank Facility Management is Challenging Enough — Rely on a Partner to Make Your Life Easier

High-end facilities require top-notch, professional care. CLS Facility Services brings the most experienced account management team in the industry and combines that with a rock-solid vendor network and elite asset management in order to create long-term partnerships. Contact us to find out how we can customize a program to support you.

MedTail organizations — those offering medical and wellness services in a retail environment — have distinct facility management challenges. Leaders must balance regulatory and healthcare-adjacent requirements that come with the industry with more retail-focused concerns, such as understanding traffic patterns, seasonality, branding, and store systems.

But just as other facility managers must navigate annual planning at this time of year, so too must MedTail facility management leaders. There are essentially three high-level philosophies when it comes to annual planning:

1. Take a reactive approach, in the hope of conserving resources, and address issues, repairs, and new installations only as needed or when existing assets fail
2. Take a proactive approach, and invest in new systems to prevent potential breakdowns, unplanned expenses, and store disruptions
3. An awkward blend of these two, which can quickly cause confusion, disruption, and misalignment internally and with outside partners

We are not criticizing reactive MedTail facility management strategies — sometimes, this is what works best, depending on aspects such as store count, existing asset conditions/ages, and other factors. Unfortunately, such strategies often lack the data and tools necessary to know with certainty that a reactive approach is what is, in fact, best for the business.

A Proactive Approach is Best

And it’s not simply because “proactive” sounds better — it simply is. But what exactly does proactive mean? While there are many ways to be proactive in MedTail facility management, we’re speaking of how key assets — HVAC/R systems, energy management tools, FLS systems, plumbing infrastructure, lighting systems, signage, and more — are maintained and replaced. As a MedTail organization, each of these is critical to the operations of each location in your footprint. If one system goes down, it could lead to a store closure, prolonged discomfort for customers, or even the complete inability to operate until it’s fixed.

Rather than running these assets to failure, often referred to as run-to-failure (RTF), data should be gathered about each asset across your locations to best understand key information. For example, what is the age of the HVAC systems at specific locations? If they are aging a bit too close to any estimated lifespan, every day that they continue to operate equates to greater risk. Are certain assets creating more energy expense, or are they past their manufacturer warranty?

In this situation, it would be far better to replace these aging and underperforming assets proactively using CapEx resources rather than going RTF and having to hurriedly and expensively replace them — after they’ve already broken down and caused a store closure. The difference here is clear: proactively replace assets in a planned manner to avoid expense, or wait and experience a potential triple whammy of cost (replacement, likely markup due to rushing, and cost of the store closure).

What Will Your Approach Be?

With annual MedTail facility management planning and budgeting underway or about to begin for many organizations, now is the time to consider if a CapEx strategy is right for your business (spoiler alert: it is). Budgeting season is ideal as facility management leaders, finance teams, and executives can collaboratively evaluate this approach and adopt it for the year ahead.

But there is one final key to its success: understanding who will actually execute the CapEx plan. If your internal team doesn’t have capacity, partnering with an aggregator that offers CapEx support will be essential. This team will participate in annual budget planning and support the internal facility management team with proven tools, processes, data, and vendor relationships to ensure the CapEx program is managed expertly at all times.

CLS Facility Services provides this expertise to MedTail organizations and many others nationwide. For more than 50 years, we’ve been building, executing, and reporting on aggregated facility asset maintenance programs with measurable success — and we can do the same for you. Connect with us to learn more about our capabilities in CapEx asset maintenance.

From major large-format retail brands to retailers with smaller stores supplemented by a larger footprint, facility leaders navigating retail maintenance management for their organizations have quite a bit on their plates today. With the new year rapidly approaching, the top item on everyone’s list is establishing budgets, planning various new initiatives, and identifying ways to control costs amid economic uncertainty.

Retail facility leaders in particular have the challenge of navigating this across dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of locations. Each location offers its own challenges — from geographic variables to higher strain on systems such as HVAC, lighting, plumbing, and FLS.

On top of this, sustainability remains a critical focus. With raw materials, labor, equipment lead times, and their associated costs posing even more difficulties, the need to reduce energy and fuel consumption and maximize efficiency wherever possible remains a key strategic priority — and likely will well into the future.

And of course, leaders must be ready to address the elephant in the room — for this and every other industry. AI is also making headway when it comes to retail maintenance management, and in the broader industry as well. While adoption is still in the early stages, experts predict that AI tools will enable facility leaders to accelerate decision-making, conduct faster analysis of asset and building trends, and more.

Despite these concerns dominating facility leaders’ mindshare, leaders cannot afford to let retail maintenance management itself take a backseat. There are a number of essentials to a successful retail facility management program that must be in place and efficiently managed 24/7/365.

Five Core Components in a Retail Maintenance Management Program

1. Complete location coverage — This should go without saying, but ensuring complete service coverage for all stores is paramount. However, this is not easy to achieve, especially when the job of finding service vendors is managed by internal teams. Identifying, onboarding, and communicating with vendors across multiple service lines, for every location, is almost impossible for a small facility team. Working with an aggregator is essential here, as they have an established national network of commercial service vendors.
2. Service call and budget reporting — Understanding how retail maintenance management is progressing — location by location, call by call — is critical to success. If certain areas or service lines are experiencing repeat callbacks or other difficulties, leaders must be able to pinpoint these and make decisions. Measuring technician KPIs and other facility management metrics must be consistent. The same goes for the financial side — are budgets, both capital and operational, achieving what needs to be done? Are resources being constrained or pulled where they were not meant to be used?
3. CapEx prioritization — Which sounds preferable: 1) to wait until specific assets run to failure at an unforeseen point, and then fix them using OpEx resources (that are likely limited), or 2) invest in fixing them now using organizational CapEx resources before they create costly issues that must be fixed reactively with OpEx funds? One option leads to headaches and financial strain, and one does not.
4. Utility rebate strategy — Utilities, municipalities, states, and the federal government all offer lucrative incentives for energy reduction and energy management solutions. These programs require careful management on two ends: 1) up front in implementing the technology or processes required, and 2) collecting and managing all documentation needed to receive the rebate. Working with an experienced partner will go a long way in streamlining this process.
5. Centralized asset management — Last but not least, how retail maintenance management is literally managed influences the success of the program and determines whether time can be spent elsewhere. Organizing all asset information into a single place, having all program data and documentation available, and understanding trends over time are table stakes. Many facility leaders lack these management tools, unfortunately, but a proven third-party partner adds these capabilities simply through the partnership.

Do You Have These Essentials in Place?

If not, now is the time to consider partnering with a retail maintenance management aggregator. Unlike individual self-performing companies that perhaps only specialize in one or two service disciplines, an aggregator consolidates all facility management services into one partnership. Some add self-perform capabilities to that, but others execute services using a national network of proven commercial service vendors.

For leaders, this adds significant value in that all of the above needs are immediately added to existing capabilities — freeing up time and mindshare to navigate the challenges facing the industry and to identify new strategic opportunities for the business. And for retailers, all of that translates into greater revenue.

As an aggregator, CLS Facility Services partners with retailers nationwide for all of these services and more. We have worked with numerous companies nationwide for decades, helping them achieve measurable success with their facility asset maintenance needs. Connect with us to learn how we can put these capabilities to work for you.

CLS Offers Complete Facility Asset Management for Childcare Centers and Child Education Facilities

Operating multiple childcare centers and child education facilities presents unique facility management challenges that extend far beyond typical commercial maintenance. From ensuring strict safety compliance and maintaining healthy indoor environments to managing emergency protocols, childcare facility maintenance requires a partner who understands the critical nature of creating safe spaces for children. Working with an aggregator such as CLS Facility Services for childcare centers facilities maintenance is the ideal solution for multisite operators.

We provide proactive maintenance solutions, on-call services, and emergency support specifically designed for childcare environments. Our comprehensive approach covers HVAC/R systems, lighting and electrical, plumbing, fire and life safety systems, and more. As your dedicated childcare facility maintenance partner, we also offer energy- and cost-saving solutions to help you meet sustainability goals, including cloud-based energy management systems and LED retrofit projects.

Our specialized maintenance programs address the unique requirements of childcare environments, including enhanced safety protocols, child-safe materials and procedures, regulatory compliance support, and emergency response capabilities tailored to facilities serving children. We understand that in childcare facilities, every maintenance decision impacts the safety and well-being of the children in your care.

Childcare Facility Maintenance, and More

When you partner with CLS Facility Services, you get more than asset maintenance. Whether you operate a few locations or hundreds of centers, we provide a complete solution for managing your most important assets at every site:

• A national network of proven vendors experienced in childcare facility requirements, managed by our team
• A partner that supports you in annual facility budget planning and strategy with understanding of childcare industry economics
• Ability to use your work order management system (and we offer our own)
• A complete list of all assets at all locations with extensive model information and child safety considerations
• An online asset management portal available to you and your team 24/7/365
• Online access to all invoices, work orders, estimates, and compliance documentation
• A dedicated account manager and estimating contact who understands childcare facility requirements
• Your account manager is also your contact for emergency needs, with prioritized response for child safety issues

Keep Your Childcare and Development Center Facilities Safe and Operational with CLS Facility Services

Connect with us today to learn more about our childcare facilities maintenance services for HVAC, lighting, electrical, fire and life safety, plumbing, and more.

The conference room temperature climbed during the mortgage closing meeting. As the borrowers grew uncomfortable, shifting in their seats, the loan officer noticed their attention drifting from documents to the stifling air. What should have been a straightforward closing became tense, with clients questioning details they might normally have accepted. This scenario illustrates why facilities management for financial services requires specialized expertise — the HVAC failure didn’t just impact comfort, it undermined confidence during a critical $400,000 transaction.

Unlike traditional banks, which focus on quick transactions, non-banking financial services companies — including mortgage lenders, investment firms, insurance offices, and wealth advisors — operate in client-facing environments where extended consultations are crucial for determining transaction success. When facility systems fail during these revenue-generating interactions, the consequences extend far beyond maintenance costs to impact client relationships and deal completion.

CLS Facility Services has spent over 50 years helping financial services companies create environments that foster client confidence while maintaining operational excellence across all facility systems.

How Financial Services Facility Management Differs from Traditional Banking

While banks focus primarily on secure transaction environments and regulatory compliance, non-banking financial services companies operate with different priorities and challenges. Mortgage lending offices, investment advisory firms, and insurance companies often conduct lengthy consultations where clients make significant financial decisions requiring trust and comfort.

These environments demand meticulous attention to client-facing spaces: reception areas that convey professionalism, conference rooms that facilitate complex discussions, and private offices where sensitive financial conversations occur. Unlike bank branches designed for quick transactions, financial services facilities must support extended client interactions that can span hours.

The stakes are particularly high because facility issues directly impact revenue-generating activities. A malfunctioning HVAC system during a wealth management consultation or inadequate lighting in an insurance claims meeting can undermine client confidence and potentially derail significant business transactions.

Client Experience as a Business Driver

In financial services, first impressions can influence whether clients proceed with major financial decisions. The physical environment needs to communicate competence, stability, and trustworthiness — qualities essential for organizations managing mortgages, investments, and insurance policies.

Professional facility management ensures that reception areas remain welcoming and comfortable, conference rooms maintain optimal temperature and lighting for document review, and private consultation spaces provide the quiet, professional atmosphere necessary for sensitive financial discussions. These seemingly minor details significantly impact client perceptions and business outcomes.

Research consistently shows that well-maintained facilities enhance client satisfaction and trust. When CLS Facility Services helped a major investment firm implement comprehensive LED retrofit and facility improvements, the organization reported not only energy savings but also improved client feedback regarding office environments and meeting spaces. In the past decade, CLS has managed 10,000+ turn-key LED retrofits, from lighting audits to LED projects to lighting material warranty to lighting utility rebates to maximize LED project ROIs.

Operational Continuity and Emergency Response

Financial services companies cannot afford facility-related business interruptions. Mortgage closings have strict deadlines, investment consultations drive revenue, and insurance claims require immediate attention. When facility systems fail, business operations suffer a direct financial impact.

CLS provides 24/7 emergency response capabilities specifically designed for business-critical environments. Our account managers serve as direct emergency contacts, eliminating communication delays during crises. Through partnerships like our relationship with FirstCall Mechanical Group, we provide enhanced service capabilities that ensure rapid response across all facility systems.

Emergency response includes immediate deployment of temporary solutions to maintain business operations. Our turnkey programs for temporary heating and cooling solutions ensure that client-facing spaces remain comfortable and professional even during equipment failures. Spot coolers, portable heating units, and temporary electrical solutions keep revenue-generating activities operational while permanent repairs are completed.

Strategic Planning and Business Partnership

Financial services companies operate within specific business cycles and regulatory requirements that facility management must support. CLS provides comprehensive CapEx planning aligned with business priorities, helping organizations budget strategically for facility improvements and equipment replacements.

Our year-end business reviews provide complete transparency into facility performance, maintenance costs, and strategic recommendations for the coming year. This approach enables financial services companies to plan facility investments that support business growth while controlling operational costs.

Vendor consolidation simplifies facility management for multi-location financial services companies. Rather than managing dozens of separate maintenance providers across multiple offices, organizations can rely on CLS’s national network of vetted contractors to provide consistent service quality and standardized reporting across all locations.

Partner with Financial Services Facility Management Experts

CLS Facility Services understands the unique requirements of financial services environments. Our experienced team recognizes that facility management directly impacts business success and client relationships. We operate across all 50 states, providing consistent service quality for multi-location financial services companies.

Our proprietary asset management portal provides real-time visibility into facility performance across all locations, enabling proactive management that prevents issues before they impact business operations. This technology-enabled approach ensures that facility management supports rather than disrupts business activities.

Our comprehensive service portfolio covers all critical facility systems: HVAC/R maintenance, electrical and lighting, plumbing, and fire and life safety. This integrated approach ensures that all facility systems work together to create professional, comfortable environments that support client confidence and business success.

For mortgage lenders, investment advisors, insurance companies, and other financial services organizations, facility management represents a strategic business function that directly impacts client relationships and revenue generation. CLS Facility Services provides the expertise, technology, and national coverage necessary to create facility environments that support business success.

Connect with CLS today to learn how specialized financial services facility management can enhance your client experience and operational performance.

Facilities management teams are drowning in data. Modern buildings generate thousands of data points daily — sensor readings, work orders, energy metrics, vendor invoices, and equipment logs. Yet many multi-location organizations struggle to identify which metrics drive facilities maintenance efficiency and cost optimization. The challenge isn’t accessing data; it’s determining which measurements provide actionable insights that improve facility performance.

For organizations managing dozens or even hundreds of locations, facilities management efficiency creates competitive advantages through strategic performance measurement. According to IFMA’s latest benchmarking research, organizations tracking key facility management metrics achieve significantly lower operating costs while improving service delivery quality.

CLS Facility Services has spent more than 50 years helping multi-location organizations achieve facilities management efficiency through comprehensive benchmarking, performance tracking, and strategic optimization of key service ratios. Let’s take a closer look.

What Are Facilities Management Service Ratios?

Service ratios are metrics measuring the relationship between resources invested (labor, cost, time) and outcomes achieved (work orders completed, square footage maintained, response times). These ratios transform operational data into actionable intelligence, driving decision-making across facility portfolios.

Unlike simple cost tracking, service ratios provide context enabling facility managers to identify patterns, benchmark performance, and optimize resource allocation. For multi-location organizations, they enable consistency measurement across diverse facilities, creating opportunities for replicating best practices.

Why Benchmarks and Service Ratios Matter for Multi-Location Efficiency

As highlighted in our comprehensive reporting guide, effective benchmarking provides performance standards while ratios measure efficiency and identify improvement opportunities.

Strategic benchmarking supports budget accuracy through establishing baselines, workforce optimization by identifying staffing efficiencies, service delivery quality measurement, and multi-location consistency across diverse facilities.

Recent industry research shows that preventive maintenance strategies save businesses 12-18%, with every dollar spent returning $5 in avoided reactive costs. These savings compound across multi-location portfolios. By spotlighting the right data, you can measure your advances in preventive maintenance, its effectiveness and efficiency, and make decisions that move your organization forward.

Key Metrics for Facilities Management Efficiency

Equipment Uptime and Availability

Equipment uptime measures the percentage of time critical systems function properly. Industry benchmarks typically target 95-98% uptime for essential systems like HVAC. This metric directly impacts occupant comfort, operational continuity, and maintenance costs. This is a high-level view of the effectiveness of your maintenance efforts, both proactive and reactive.

Work Order Cycle Time

Work order cycle time measures duration from issue reporting to resolution, reflecting service delivery quality and responsiveness. Leading organizations achieve 24-48 hour resolution for routine requests, with emergency issues resolved within hours.

Tracking these metrics as part of comprehensive KPI programs enables continuous improvement in service delivery quality.

Maintenance Cost per Square Foot

Maintenance cost per square foot provides a baseline efficiency measurement across facility portfolios. IFMA research indicates median maintenance costs ranging from $2.50-$5.59 per square foot, depending on facility complexity and location.

Similarly, Utility Cost per Square Foot measures the cost to light, heat, cool, etc., your facilities, and ties in with many sustainability initiatives that relate to energy or resource consumption.

These metrics enable portfolio comparison, budget planning, and resource allocation optimization across entire facility networks.

Preventive vs. Reactive Maintenance Ratios

The preventive-to-reactive maintenance ratio indicates long-term facility management efficiency. Industry best practices target 70-80% preventive maintenance, with only 20-30% reactive emergency repairs. How is your organization spending the bulk of its maintenance time? Reacting to the latest breakdown, or working to prevent costly downtime?

Organizations achieving optimal ratios experience lower total maintenance costs, extended equipment lifecycles, and improved operational predictability.

Mean Time Between Failures and Repairs

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time Between Repairs (MTBR) provide insights into equipment reliability and maintenance effectiveness. MTBF measures average operational periods between failures and should give a gauge of the state of your preventive measures. Meanwhile, MTBR tracks average repair completion time, allowing you to know that when service is required that it is being handled efficiently.

These complementary metrics help optimize maintenance schedules, identify equipment replacement needs, and measure preventive maintenance program effectiveness.

How to Use These Metrics Effectively

Effective benchmarking requires systematic data collection, consistent measurement standards, and strategic application of insights. Centralized facility management planning enables accurate benchmarking through comprehensive data visibility and standardized protocols.

Successful organizations use benchmarks as decision-making tools rather than reporting metrics, applying continuous improvement methodologies that guide staffing, scheduling, and resource allocation adjustments.

The Role of Technology in Driving Facilities Maintenance Efficiency

Managing service ratios across multi-location portfolios requires sophisticated technology platforms for consistent data collection and analysis. CLS Facility Services’ proprietary asset management portal provides real-time visibility into key performance metrics while enabling benchmarking analysis across entire portfolios.

Through our national network of vetted contractors, CLS implements standardized measurement protocols, ensuring data consistency across all locations while providing technology infrastructure for continuous performance optimization.

Partner with Facilities Management Efficiency Experts

CLS Facility Services provides comprehensive facilities management efficiency solutions for organizations with 50 to 500 locations. Our integrated approach combines advanced benchmarking capabilities, performance tracking technology, and strategic optimization expertise, delivering measurable improvements.

Through our service portfolio covering HVAC/R systems, electrical and lighting, plumbing, fire and life safety, and general maintenance, we provide unified benchmarking and performance measurement, driving continuous improvement across facility portfolios.

Connect with CLS today to learn how strategic benchmarking and service ratio optimization can transform your facilities management efficiency.

The mutual top goal of facility maintenance managers and facility maintenance partners is to ensure that the buildings, stores, offices, storage facilities, restaurants, clinics, and facilities they manage are all properly maintained, comfortable, and safe.

HVAC will always be a top contributing trade pertaining to this goal and will forever represent a large spend due to its complexities, even if equipment and proactive maintenance is managed with pristine skill and planning.

With the equipment and parts of HVAC materials trending toward longer lead times than ever before, having alternative solutions to keep buildings comfortable and safe — and business strong — is likely more paramount as well.

4 Key Elements to Portable Heating and Cooling Success

In looking to build vendor partnerships that thrive on speed, reliable consistency, trust, and communication, CLS Facility Services has been ever-fortunate and appreciative of our now tenured partnership with Spot Coolers.

Let’s take a look at these four elements that foster important results for our partners who are relying on us to bring comfort and safety to their businesses.

1. Speed — It’s July 4th weekend. It’s 94 degrees. And a unit goes down. Having an amazing partner on whom we can rely to get temporary cooling to the retail store, determine the right solution for that store application, and set up cooling is essential for our client’s business and the safety and comfort of both store employees and visiting shoppers.
2. Reliable Consistency — Spot Coolers has made sure that CLS always has a prospective solution with temporary heating and cooling units for client needs to ensure their desired comfort level is met. This means having a large inventory of equipment is essential across the entire United States. Industry-leading technology combined with impressive inventory are what pave the way for success.
3. Trust — Sometimes we need to rely on vendor partners in a pinch when there is a crucial moment and small window of time to make the right call. CLS relies on the team at Spot Coolers to make the right decisions to ensure the comfort levels of our clients, whether it’s the busy holiday season or that 100-degree summer day where air conditioning is essential for both comfort and safety.
4. Expert Coverage — Most portable heating and cooling companies have great selection in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, but CLS partners with Spot Coolers because they provide us with elite coverage in each market nationwide. They help us to cater to the heating and cooling needs of the facility type and specific application, and they provide that solution in a timely manner for our clients.

The True Key to Success? A Strong Partnership

Let’s face it, in an ever-changing market with costs and lead times on the rise, it’s inevitable that even the most proactive partnerships will result in an HVAC unit being down for a while and parts requiring lead time. No facility maintenance manager can budget to replace all older units, nor can they predict the struggles of HVAC equipment. Having a partner like Spot Coolers to provide timely heating and cooling comfort for facilities is essential.

For years, CLS account managers have had elite and timely communication with Spot Coolers in order to bring comfort to our clients’ facilities in a timely manner during times of heating and cooling needs. These temporary heating and cooling solutions can help businesses to stay up and running and employees and customers alike to find comfort, even amid HVAC equipment struggles.

If temporary cooling and heating solutions are paramount for your buildings and businesses, do not hesitate to reach out to CLS Facility Services to support you with this integral part of our turnkey HVAC maintenance program.

CLS Facility Services began as Continental Lighting Services in 1970 and expanded our core facility maintenance services offerings in the years to follow. Since our inception, we take pride in providing lighting, electrical, and sign maintenance services — along with turnkey lighting retrofit projects — producing great results, implementing large national coverage, offering expertise, and displaying world class customer service.

The development of lighting technologies and proliferation of LED retrofit successes has put a paramount emphasis on the importance of lighting manufacturer partnerships. At CLS, we manage thousands of lighting and electrical work orders per year and have managed more than 12,000 turnkey lighting retrofit projects in the past 15 years. Partnering with lighting manufacturers that have our back and create great results for our clients is the most essential element in lighting maintenance success.

CLS has been fortunate to build an amazing partnership with Keystone Technologies. We value their expertise and industry excellence to the fullest. They have helped to produce tremendous lighting results for retail, restaurant, storage facility, educational facilities, sports complexes, distribution centers, and lighting success for all of our clients’ buildings. What makes Keystone an outstanding partner?

5 Qualities of an Industry-Leading LED Lighting Manufacturer Partner

1. Experience and Trust — Let’s face it, LED lighting is more popular than ever. With that, many new “lighting manufacturers” are being created and coming out of nowhere. Keystone Technologies brings more than 80 years of lighting innovation and expertise, fostering tremendous trust and a reputable track record.
2. Quality Product — With so many LED technologies available now, we expect everything you would want in any product: strong quality, for a fair price, with trustworthy performance.
   • CLS is currently conducting a 5,000-location LED retrofit comprising more than 75,000 fixtures and 225,000 Keystone lamps. During this project, we have experienced seven lamp failures in three years across all projects. Truly incredible technology performance!
3. Strong Warranties — In an era where manufacturers boast that a lamp or fixture will last 50,000 to 100,000 burn hours, a three-year warranty doesn’t cut it! Keystone Technologies provides CLS with industry-leading backing of their product line. We don’t buy products from a three-year-old lighting manufacturer that boasts a five-year warranty.
4. Tremendous Selection — Some lighting manufacturers specialize in three to four fixture specs that represent the entirety of their product line. Keystone provides CLS with cutting-edge solutions for multiple interior lighting LED solutions for LED lamps and new fixtures, along with exterior lighting solutions like wall packs, pole lighting, and RGBW lighting. This variety provides us with a trusted, all-inclusive solution for our clients’ LED lighting needs and fosters turnkey LED project success.
5. Trustworthy Product Availability — It’s October, and a facility manager has CapEx funding available to do an LED lighting retrofit for their largest distribution center and retail stores. We receive the purchase orders and are ready to dispatch LED lighting technicians to perform work with skill. The last thing our clients want to hear is, “This product has a 10- to 12-week lead time, so we are excited to complete your projects in January.” Keystone Technologies always provides us with tremendous product stock, lightning-fast execution, and strong communication on availability.

LED Technologies Continue to Develop and Increase in Variety Every Day

Rising utility rates make conversion to LED lighting more important for retail stores, warehouses, storage facilities, medical buildings, and more. CLS is fortunate to have a tremendous partnership with Keystone Technologies that allows us to provide the most elite, cost-effective, warranty-strong LED retrofit projects for our clients.

If you are interested in pursuing LED lighting retrofits for your business, please contact CLS to learn about how we can support you. From the maximization of rebates and energy savings, to producing industry-leading ROIs and LED solutions, you have our full support.

FirstCall Mechanical Group (“FirstCall”), a leading commercial services company, has partnered with CLS Facility Services, a facilities management company based in Cleveland, Ohio, that serves customers nationwide.

For over 50 years, CLS Facility Services has provided industry-leading facility management and maintenance services to businesses nationwide across various industries. CLS offers its customers a single-source national network of proven and certified vendors and field partners across multiple sectors.

CLS is led by Bill Brodnick, President and CFO, Rob Vaughan, VP of Business Development and Marketing, Stacey Lariccia, Director of Operations, and Kathy Malkus, Director of Finance. This extraordinary leadership team will continue to lead CLS, now with the support of the FirstCall network.

Pursing Growth and Excellence Together

Bill Brodnick said of the partnership, “We are thrilled to become a FirstCall company. FirstCall and CLS fit both strategically and culturally. FirstCall’s expertise and resources will help CLS to continue to grow and expand its business to meet customer needs. We could not be happier to have joined the entire FirstCall team as CLS enters the next chapter of its story.”

Evan Eachus, CEO of FirstCall said, “We’re excited to partner with the CLS team. CLS has extensive experience serving national customers across the country. We’re thrilled to partner with Bill Brodnick, Rob Vaughan and the rest of the CLS team to continue to grow CLS and to better serve strategic accounts across the FirstCall network.”

Matthew Hunt, Group President of FirstCall, shared, “CLS has built a talented team that sets a high standard for customer service in our industry. We are ecstatic for our partnership with CLS, the opportunity to support the growth of their team, and advance our shared vision.”

Committed to Providing Leading National Facility Maintenance

Regarding the focus on clients in the partnership, CLS’ Rob Vaughan emphasized, “In an everchanging Facility Management industry, FirstCall brings additional strength for our clients, helping CLS to fortify our network, buying power and technical expertise. FirstCall exemplifies our strategic approach to providing elite service and building trustworthy long-term partnerships.”

CLS celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2025 and is stronger than ever after becoming a FirstCall Company, fostering a great cohesive partnership. If you’re in need of facility maintenance services from a trusted partner equipped to deliver the best results, turn to our team. Get in touch with us today to get started.

That tenure and loyalty is truly epitomized with the work of Kelly Flowers, our Senior Account Manager who celebrated her 20th anniversary at CLS in July!

Kelly began as an Account Manager with our Customer Service Team in 2005. She was promoted to Senior Account Manager in 2023 due to her leadership and incredible work with our clients. If you work with CLS, it’s highly likely that you have spoken to Kelly on the phone as she guided you through emergency service call solutions, technical updates, detailed up-to-the minute analyses of HVAC resolution, and coordination of staffing to assure problems are resolved in an optimal and timely manner.

Kelly has even worked with three clients from their very first service call until now — all of whom have been with CLS for more than 12 years! She brings a high level of empathy to her job each and every day, treating clients’ facilities like her very own and ensuring they are taken care of.

As a kind and passionate person, Kelly constantly helps to lead our team and client partnerships to new levels, and her reliability has earned the respect of our clients as well as her peers. While also quick with a joke and a smile, Kelly prioritizes communication to align all parties and make sure headquarters personnel, store staff, technical workers, and internal team members are all on the same page, assuring each work order has the best possible outcome.

Kelly enjoys spending time with her family and friends and is also noted for being a brave soul in the CLS office, as she is the lone Pittsburgh Steelers fan amidst a (sadly loyal) sea of diehard Cleveland Browns fans. Kelly’s love of Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu will forever draw the ire of her CLS family, but she makes up for her Steelers loyalty by being an amazing worker, a kind soul, a joke-telling peer, and a true friend.

Congratulations on 20 years at CLS, Kelly Flowers, and cheers to the next 20 years!

A regional investment firm recently discovered that their 47 office locations collectively consumed enough electricity annually to power 400 homes. More striking was the realization that their aging lighting systems were responsible for over 60% of that consumption while generating excess heat that increased their HVAC costs. Within 18 months of implementing a comprehensive green facility management strategy, they had reduced energy consumption by 40% while eliminating 180 tons of carbon emissions annually.

This transformation illustrates the tremendous environmental leverage that multi-location organizations possess through strategic facility management. For organizations operating 50 to 500 locations, facility management decisions create cumulative environmental impacts that extend far beyond individual buildings. When properly managed, these distributed facility networks become powerful drivers of environmental performance that deliver measurable benefits for both sustainability goals and operational efficiency.

CLS Facility Services has spent more than 50 years helping multi-location organizations realize the environmental and financial potential of green facility management through comprehensive programs that span HVAC optimization, electrical efficiency, and strategic lighting retrofits.

The Scale of Multi-Location Environmental Opportunity

Multi-location organizations often underestimate their collective environmental footprint and improvement opportunities. A 100-location retail chain represents a distributed energy system that, when optimized strategically, achieves environmental benefits equivalent to removing hundreds of vehicles from roads annually.

The challenge lies in coordinating improvements across diverse locations and multiple vendors. Without centralized strategy, environmental initiatives often deliver inconsistent results. Green facility management treats facility portfolios as integrated environmental systems, enabling coordinated strategies that deliver scaled impact while maintaining operational efficiency.

Core Service Lines Driving Environmental Performance

HVAC Systems: The Foundation of Energy Efficiency

HVAC systems account for 40-60% of commercial building energy consumption, making them primary targets for environmental improvement. Modern HVAC management includes strategic efficiency optimization, refrigerant management, and smart energy controls.

The R-22 refrigerant phase-out represents both environmental necessity and efficiency opportunity. Organizations transitioning to environmentally friendly refrigerants typically achieve 15-25% efficiency improvements while eliminating ozone-depleting substances.

Proactive HVAC maintenance prevents energy waste through optimized performance, ensuring equipment operates at peak efficiency throughout its lifecycle rather than degrading gradually while consuming increasing energy.

Electrical Systems: Smart Energy Management for Portfolio-Wide Impact

Smart energy management systems enable real-time monitoring and control of electrical consumption patterns, identifying inefficiencies and automatically optimizing performance.

For multi-location organizations, centralized electrical management provides visibility into consumption patterns across all facilities. Organizations can identify highest-performing locations and implement similar strategies network-wide, multiplying environmental benefits through standardized efficiency practices.

Advanced electrical management includes power factor optimization, load balancing, and demand management strategies that reduce energy consumption and utility demand charges while minimizing environmental impact.

LED Retrofits: Proven Environmental and Financial Returns

LED retrofit projects represent the most measurable environmental wins for multi-location organizations. Comprehensive programs typically reduce lighting energy consumption by 60-80% while eliminating frequent lamp replacements.

Environmental impact extends beyond energy savings. LED systems last 15-25 times longer than traditional lighting, dramatically reducing landfill waste. They contain no mercury or hazardous materials, eliminating disposal risks.

A 200-location retail chain implementing LED retrofits typically avoids 2,000-3,000 pounds of annual lighting waste while reducing carbon emissions by hundreds of tons.

Measurable Environmental Impact: Real-World Results

Our work with a major investment firm demonstrates measurable environmental impact through comprehensive LED retrofits. The firm achieved 40% energy consumption reduction while eliminating 180 tons of annual carbon emissions and preventing thousands of pounds of lighting waste from landfills.

Another firm’s program expansion to additional locations multiplied environmental benefits while maintaining strong financial returns, demonstrating how initial successes scale across entire facility portfolios.

Strategic Implementation: From Reactive to Proactive Environmental Management

Effective green facility management requires transitioning from reactive compliance to proactive optimization through comprehensive environmental assessment, integrated service approaches, and standardized implementation across all locations. This strategic approach ensures environmental improvements complement operational requirements while delivering predictable benefits.

Partner with Green Facility Management Experts

CLS Facility Services provides comprehensive green facility management solutions delivering measurable environmental and financial benefits for organizations with 50 to 500 locations. Our integrated approach combines HVAC optimization, electrical efficiency, and LED retrofit expertise with environmental reporting and ESG support.

Through our national network and asset management portal, we ensure consistent environmental performance across all locations while providing real-time visibility into environmental metrics and improvement opportunities.

Connect with CLS today to learn how green facility management can transform your environmental and operational performance.

Facility managers overseeing multi-location operations face the same weekly challenge: maintenance reports scattered across dozens of different vendor systems. HVAC contractors send cryptic spreadsheets, electrical vendors provide PDFs without cost summaries, and plumbing services upload invoices to separate portals. Meanwhile, executives demand comprehensive spend analysis within days.

For organizations with 50 to 500 locations, the challenge isn’t lacking data — it’s transforming fragmented information into actionable insights. This data chaos prevents strategic decision-making and obscures cost-saving opportunities.

CLS Facility Services has spent more than 50 years solving this exact problem through comprehensive facility management reporting that turns scattered vendor data into strategic business intelligence.

The Multi-Vendor Reporting Challenge

A typical 100-location retail chain manages relationships with 20-30 different service providers — HVAC contractors, electrical firms, plumbing services, and equipment vendors. Each operates independently with different systems and reporting formats.

This creates critical problems: Inconsistent data formats prevent performance comparisons across locations. Decision-making delays occur when managers spend weeks collecting information from multiple sources. Cost inefficiencies remain hidden in vendor-specific reports that lack portfolio-wide visibility. Compliance gaps emerge when documentation requirements vary across vendors.

Beyond Basic Financial Summaries: Comprehensive Facility Intelligence

Effective facility management reporting extends far beyond traditional financial summaries and invoice tracking. As highlighted in our facility management KPIs guide, comprehensive reporting should provide insights across multiple dimensions of facility performance.

Modern facility management requires detailed operational reporting that tracks maintenance call volumes, response times, resolution rates, and recurring issues across all locations. This operational intelligence helps identify patterns that financial reporting alone cannot reveal. Building detailed equipment lists for all locations provides visibility into asset condition, age, and performance trends to enable proactive replacement planning.

With rising energy costs and increasing sustainability focus, reporting must include energy consumption patterns and efficiency trends. Smart energy management systems provide real-time data that enables both immediate adjustments and long-term strategic planning. For industries like banking and healthcare, comprehensive reporting must include detailed compliance documentation and risk mitigation activities.

The CLS Approach: Technology-Enabled Comprehensive Reporting

CLS Facility Services addresses reporting challenges through a proprietary asset management portal that consolidates all maintenance data, work orders, invoices, and asset information in a single, accessible platform. This technology-enabled approach provides unprecedented visibility into maintenance activities and asset performance across entire facility portfolios.

Through our national network of vetted contractors, CLS implements standardized reporting protocols across all service providers and locations. This means every HVAC inspection, electrical maintenance activity, and plumbing repair follows the same documentation standards, regardless of location or local contractor. The result is consistent, comparable data that enables meaningful analysis and decision-making.

The CLS client portal provides real-time access to maintenance activities, work order status, and asset performance metrics. Facility managers can generate reports instantly rather than waiting for monthly or quarterly summaries from multiple vendors. This cost-free work order management system eliminates the administrative burden of managing multiple vendor portals and reporting systems.

By consolidating maintenance history, asset performance data, and cost information, the CLS reporting system enables predictive analytics that identify assets approaching end-of-life before failures occur. This proactive CapEx planning approach allows organizations to budget for equipment replacements strategically rather than reactively.

Strategic Benefits of Consolidated Reporting

Comprehensive reporting transforms facility management from a cost center into a strategic business function that drives operational efficiency and cost optimization.

Centralized facility management planning enables more accurate budget forecasting by providing complete visibility into maintenance spending patterns, asset replacement needs, and operational trends. Organizations can identify opportunities for bulk purchasing, negotiate better vendor contracts, and optimize maintenance schedules to reduce costs.

With comprehensive data available instantly, facility managers can make informed decisions about maintenance priorities, resource allocation, and vendor performance. This improved decision-making capability reduces emergency repairs, extends asset lifespans, and improves overall operational efficiency. Vendor consolidation strategies can dramatically simplify reporting while improving service consistency and cost management.

Partner with Comprehensive Facility Management Reporting Experts

CLS Facility Services provides comprehensive facility management reporting solutions for organizations with 50 to 500 locations. Our combination of proprietary technology, standardized processes, and nationwide service network ensures facility managers receive the strategic intelligence needed to optimize operations, control costs, and make informed decisions.

Through our integrated approach covering HVAC/R systems, electrical and lighting, plumbing, fire and life safety, and general maintenance, we provide unified reporting that transforms scattered vendor data into strategic business intelligence.

Connect with CLS today to learn how comprehensive facility management reporting can transform your operations.

Businesses like child development require a facility maintenance aggregator partner who understands the intricacies of performance and professionalism. Here, we’ll explore several reasons why an aggregator makes the most sense in facilities maintenance for childcare centers.

Why Facilities Maintenance for Childcare Centers Requires an Aggregator

1. Customization of Services — Understanding hours of operations, key times to perform work, and “no go” hours for work is absolutely paramount. Doing HVAC or refrigeration during a time when children are in the cafeteria eating lunch is not realistic. Work must be customized to fit the proper hours in order to meet the needs of the childcare facility and how it operates.
2. Understanding Child Safety is the Ultimate Priority — Whether it’s technicians checking in with identification with the right site personnel, proper certifications being in place, or providing vendor contact info to the corporate facility manager, your facilities maintenance for childcare centers must always follow all safety regulations in order to prioritize child safety.
3. Timely Response and Timely Repairs are Essential — Mirroring the lines of child safety with protocols is following the best practice of optimizing quick response times, maximizing “first trip repairs,” and ensuring timely turnaround with quotes for larger scopes of work that go above Not-to-Exceed (NTE) work items. Site comfort is a must for child safety.
4. Good National Coverage is the Key — It’s a 95-degree day in Texas or Florida in June — you must have the best partner who is prepared with primary, secondary and tertiary vendors in each market to ensure that an HVAC emergency call, electrical breaker issue, or plumbing emergency can be resolved in a timely manner after the dispatch of the service call. Aggregators have a developed network in each market to ensure excellence during those challenging days.

The Next Generation Deserves to Grow in a Safe, Functional Space — and You Deserve Support for Keeping It That Way

Having a facility maintenance partner who customizes their communication, services, follow-up, and processes to meet your facility manager needs — and the needs of the kids — is what fosters success. 

As a facility manager, we know that you never want to hear “this is the way we’ve always done it.” Instead, you want to hear, “What can we do to modify communication and process to make this work for you?” The latter is the definition of partnership and an element that can create long-term solidification between the facility management partner and the facility management team.

With so many precious lives being cared for in your facilities, there can be no slip-ups, miscommunication, or missteps. You need someone who is on the ball 24/7/365. At CLS Facility Services, our average vendor partnership spans nearly 10 years, and our average client partnership exceeds eight years!  We understand the importance of creating change and customization of processes to create the solutions that you need.

If you’ve been looking for a partner to support your facilities asset maintenance needs, our team is ready to help. Fill out the form below, and our team will be in touch right away.

• With banks, maintenance = operational excellence — Learn how to turn maintenance from reactive repair cycles to proactive facility management.

5 Facility Maintenance Reporting Needs to Create Success

1. Elite Asset Management — Banks and financial firms are highly likely to develop CapEx budgets to foster a proactive FM program. Building a thorough HVAC asset list is essential in accomplishing CapEx HVAC planning. CLS thrives on building HVAC equipment lists for each client so that we can identify all HVAC assets and prioritize proactive replacement for units in danger of impacting comfort.
2. Detailed FM Spend Analyses — Does your facility management company track your spend for HVAC, electrical, plumbing, signage, and fire-life safety services? Can they intricately break down your FM spend within each of those segments? Understanding spend breakdown can create positive changes and program customizations to help reduce spend and maximize budgets.
3. Identifying FM Service Ratios — Do you receive information that compares your HVAC preventive maintenance spend to your reactive maintenance spend to your HVAC CapEx spend? Achieving optimal HVAC PM-to-HVAC RM ratio is a unique way to evaluate the success of your service partnership. If that ratio is off base, changes may be recommended!
4. Tracking All Data — Having invoice breakdowns of every service call, each HVAC PM and FLS PM, and tracking of every penny of spend allows for elite synthesis of data so that best practices can come to fruition and key adjustments can be made to maximize your FM program.
5. Establishing Fiscal FM Goals — Analysis of all of the aforementioned data can not only foster proper setup of CapEx spending, but it can help to achieve fiscal facility maintenance goals by allocating funds to specific trades, goals, and company needs.

Experience a Better Approach to Facility Maintenance Reporting

At CLS Facility Services, we not only track the aforementioned reporting items, but we also customize unique facility maintenance reporting for items such as environmental analyses resulting from LED retrofits, refrigerant capture reports, and more.

We understand that facility maintenance for financial institutions is not only unique from a service perspective but also from a reporting and data point of view. Thriving on strong customization of services and reporting can build the best long-term partnerships.

If you’ve been looking for a new partner to support your facility management goals, whether through greater coverage and support or more insight through reporting, our team is here to help. Fill out the form below, and our team will be in touch with you right away.

Commercial storage facilities operate in a world where every operational efficiency matters. Whether you’re managing a network of self-storage locations, operating massive distribution warehouses, or overseeing specialized cold storage facilities, lighting and electrical systems represent both significant operational expenses and untapped opportunities for improvement. Yet many operators treat commercial storage and facilities services (i.e., lighting, HVAC, and more) as an afterthought rather than a strategic asset that can enhance security, improve worker productivity, reduce costs, and create competitive advantages.

The challenge extends beyond simply keeping the lights on. Modern commercial storage operations require sophisticated lighting and electrical infrastructure that supports 24/7 security systems, enables efficient material handling, meets stringent safety requirements, and operates cost-effectively across facilities that can span hundreds of thousands of square feet. For multi-location storage operators, managing these complex systems consistently across diverse facilities while controlling costs requires specialized expertise and strategic planning.

At CLS Facility Services, we have experience and insight from working with self-storage brands and multi-site facilities like warehouses and distribution centers. Today, we’re examining five important commercial storage and facilities services — from lighting and temperature control to efficient, resilient electrical systems. Let’s dive in.

5 Lighting and Electrical Priorities for Storage Success

1. Security-Focused Lighting Design and Surveillance Integration

Security represents the foundation of successful storage operations, and lighting plays a critical role in creating effective surveillance environments. Inadequate illumination creates blind spots that compromise security systems and increase liability risks. For self-storage facilities, proper lighting directly impacts customer confidence and willingness to rent units.

Effective security lighting requires strategic placement that eliminates shadows around entry points, loading areas, and perimeter zones. Modern LED systems can integrate with motion detection and surveillance cameras to provide enhanced illumination when activity is detected while maintaining energy efficiency during low-activity periods.

The electrical infrastructure supporting security systems must provide reliable power to cameras, access control systems, and alarm equipment. Backup power solutions ensure security systems remain operational during electrical outages, protecting valuable inventory and maintaining facility access for authorized personnel.

2. Energy Efficiency Through Strategic LED Retrofits

Commercial storage facilities typically feature large spaces with high ceilings, creating significant lighting energy demands. Traditional lighting systems like metal halide or fluorescent fixtures consume substantial electricity while generating excess heat that can burden HVAC systems, particularly in climate-controlled storage environments.

Commercial storage and facilities services can make use of LED retrofit projects to dramatically reduce energy consumption while improving light quality and reducing maintenance requirements. LED fixtures designed for high-bay applications provide superior illumination distribution compared to traditional systems while lasting significantly longer, reducing the frequency and cost of maintenance activities in difficult-to-access locations.

Smart lighting controls add another layer of efficiency by automatically adjusting illumination based on occupancy, time of day, and natural light availability. These systems can reduce energy consumption by an additional percentage beyond standard LED efficiency gains, providing a measurable impact on operational costs across large facility portfolios.

3. Safety Compliance and Worker Productivity Enhancement

Commercial storage operations must meet specific illumination standards to ensure worker safety and maintain compliance with OSHA requirements. Inadequate lighting contributes to workplace accidents, increases insurance liability, and reduces worker productivity in material handling and administrative tasks.

Proper lighting design considers task-specific requirements for different areas within storage facilities. Loading docks require bright, uniform illumination to support safe material handling operations. Administrative areas need comfortable lighting that reduces eye strain for computer-based tasks. Warehouse aisles must provide adequate visibility for forklift operations and inventory management activities.

LED lighting systems provide superior color rendering and consistent illumination that enhances visibility and reduces eye fatigue. Unlike traditional systems that can flicker or change color temperature as they age, LED fixtures maintain consistent performance throughout their operational life.

4. Climate Control Integration and Heat Load Management

In storage facilities, lighting systems can significantly impact HVAC operational costs through heat generation. Traditional lighting technologies produce substantial waste heat that increases cooling demands, particularly problematic in climate-controlled storage environments where temperature and humidity must be carefully maintained.

LED lighting systems generate minimal heat compared to traditional technologies, reducing the cooling load on HVAC systems. This reduction provides compounding energy savings beyond the direct electrical efficiency of LED fixtures themselves. For cold storage facilities, reduced heat generation from lighting helps maintain required temperatures more efficiently while reducing stress on refrigeration equipment.

Electrical maintenance programs must consider the integration between lighting and HVAC systems to optimize overall facility performance and should be part of any commercial storage and facilities services portfolio. Proper electrical system maintenance ensures lighting operates at peak efficiency while supporting the electrical demands of climate control equipment.

5. Maintenance Accessibility and Lifecycle Cost Management

Commercial storage facilities often feature challenging maintenance environments with high ceilings, cramped aisles, and 24/7 operational requirements. Traditional lighting systems require frequent maintenance activities that can disrupt operations and require expensive lift equipment to access fixtures in high-bay locations.

LED lighting systems dramatically reduce maintenance requirements through extended operational life and improved durability. This reduction is particularly valuable in storage environments where accessing fixtures for maintenance can be costly and disruptive. Proactive maintenance planning helps storage operators budget for lighting system replacements before failures occur, avoiding emergency repairs during critical operational periods.

For multi-location storage operators, standardizing lighting specifications and maintenance protocols across all facilities creates economies of scale while simplifying training and inventory management. Vendor consolidation strategies ensure consistent service quality and pricing across diverse geographic locations.

Partner with Commercial Storage and Facilities Services Experts

CLS Facility Services brings more than 50 years of experience to commercial storage lighting and electrical challenges. Our national network of proven vendors ensures consistent service quality across all your storage facility locations, while our comprehensive approach addresses lighting, electrical, and integrated building systems through a single partnership.

Our team understands the unique operational requirements of different storage facility types, from high-throughput distribution centers to customer-facing self-storage locations. We can design and implement LED retrofit projects that deliver measurable energy savings while enhancing security, safety, and operational efficiency.

Through our client asset management portal, storage facility operators gain real-time visibility into lighting system performance, maintenance schedules, and energy consumption across their entire portfolio. This transparency enables better decision-making while ensuring consistent lighting standards across all locations.

Turn your commercial storage operations from reactive lighting management to strategic facility optimization. Connect with CLS today to explore how our lighting and electrical expertise can enhance your storage facility performance.

When a dialysis patient arrives for their life-sustaining treatment, they trust that every electrical system will function flawlessly. The dialysis machine that filters their blood, the backup power that ensures uninterrupted care, the specialized lighting that helps technicians monitor their condition, and the HVAC system that maintains a sterile environment — all depend on a robust electrical infrastructure operating seamlessly behind the scenes. Critical to keeping that infrastructure humming is healthcare electrical maintenance.

For medtail operators managing urgent care clinics, specialty practices, and outpatient facilities in retail environments, electrical maintenance isn’t just about keeping the lights on. It’s about creating the foundational infrastructure that enables quality healthcare delivery while meeting the unique challenges of converting retail spaces into medical facilities.

The Hidden Complexity of Medtail Electrical Systems

Unlike traditional retail establishments, medtail facilities require electrical infrastructure that can support both the convenience of retail environments and the critical demands of healthcare delivery. This dual requirement creates complexity that many facility managers underestimate. The usual comfort demands for customers (patients) and staff must be met, but additional load needs to be accounted for to handle medical equipment, backup solutions, and more.

Consider the electrical load requirements alone. A typical retail space uses between 14-15 kWh per square foot over a year. For a medical facility, this usage increases to a more substantial 16-20 kWh per square foot — as expected when factoring in the needs of diagnostic equipment, specialized lighting, and climate control systems. When retrofitting a former clothing store into an urgent care clinic, this dramatic increase in electrical demand requires comprehensive upgrades to panels, circuits, and distribution systems. The attention to detail for healthcare electrical maintenance is essential.

Medical Equipment Integration Challenges

Modern healthcare delivery relies on increasingly sophisticated electrical systems. Imaging equipment like X-ray machines and ultrasound devices requires dedicated circuits with specific voltage requirements and grounding specifications. Laboratory equipment needs stable power with minimal fluctuation to ensure accurate test results. Even seemingly simple devices like examination lights must meet healthcare-specific electrical codes for patient safety.

For medtail operators, these requirements often mean retrofitting retail electrical systems that were never designed for such demanding applications. The challenge intensifies when facilities share electrical infrastructure with adjacent retail tenants, requiring careful load balancing and isolation of critical medical circuits.

Regulatory Compliance Beyond Standard Electrical Codes

Healthcare electrical maintenance must satisfy multiple regulatory frameworks that don’t apply to typical retail environments. The National Electrical Code (NEC) Article 517 governs electrical systems in healthcare facilities, requiring specialized grounding systems, isolated power supplies for critical areas, and emergency power provisions.

Additionally, Joint Commission standards, state health department regulations, and OSHA requirements all impose specific electrical maintenance and documentation requirements. For multi-location medtail operators, ensuring consistent compliance across all facilities while managing different local inspection authorities adds another layer of complexity.

Four Healthcare Electrical Maintenance Priorities

1. Emergency Power Systems and Testing Protocols

In healthcare environments, power outages aren’t just inconveniences — they can be life-threatening. Dialysis centers, urgent care facilities, and specialty clinics all require reliable backup power systems to maintain critical operations during electrical failures.

Healthcare electrical maintenance must include regular testing of emergency generators, automatic transfer switches, and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). These systems need monthly exercise runs, annual load bank testing, and comprehensive documentation to satisfy regulatory requirements.

2. Medical Equipment Electrical Support

Modern medical equipment represents significant capital investments that require specialized electrical maintenance to protect performance and longevity. Imaging devices, laboratory analyzers, and treatment equipment all have specific power quality requirements that standard retail electrical systems may not provide.

Voltage fluctuations, harmonic distortion, and electrical noise can damage sensitive medical equipment or compromise diagnostic accuracy. Healthcare electrical maintenance programs must include power quality monitoring, harmonic analysis, and surge protection specifically designed for medical environments.

3. Energy Management for Cost Control

Medtail operators face intense pressure to control operating costs while maintaining quality care. Electrical systems represent a significant portion of facility operating expenses, making energy efficiency crucial for profitability.

Healthcare electrical maintenance programs should include LED lighting upgrades designed for medical environments, power factor correction to reduce demand charges, and energy monitoring systems that identify inefficient equipment. For multi-location operators, centralized energy management platforms can provide visibility into electrical consumption patterns across all facilities.

4. Integrated System Performance

In medtail facilities, electrical systems don’t operate in isolation — they power and integrate with HVAC, lighting, security, and fire safety systems. Poor electrical maintenance can cascade into failures across multiple building systems, disrupting patient care and creating costly emergency repairs.

Effective healthcare electrical maintenance takes a systems approach, ensuring that the electrical infrastructure properly supports all connected building systems. This includes maintaining proper voltage levels for HVAC equipment, ensuring adequate power for specialized medical lighting, and providing reliable backup power for fire safety systems.

The CLS Advantage: Comprehensive Healthcare Electrical Maintenance

CLS Facility Services brings more than 50 years of experience to healthcare electrical maintenance, with a deep understanding of both retail infrastructure and medical facility requirements. Our nationwide network of vetted electrical contractors ensures consistent service quality across all your medtail locations.

Electrical infrastructure forms the invisible foundation that enables quality healthcare delivery in medtail environments. By partnering with CLS Facility Services, medtail operators gain access to specialized expertise, proactive maintenance programs, and integrated solutions that ensure reliable electrical performance across all locations.

Connect with CLS today to learn how our healthcare electrical maintenance programs can support your medtail operations.

Unlock Additional Savings on Your Facility Upgrades

When implementing energy-efficient facility improvements, the initial investment is just one part of the financial equation. CLS Facility Services helps multi-site organizations identify, pursue, and secure valuable utility rebates that can significantly reduce project costs and accelerate ROI across your entire footprint.

Benefit from Comprehensive Utility Rebate Management Services

Our utility rebate experts navigate the complex landscape of available incentives for:

• LED Lighting Retrofits: Capture rebates that can cover 15-30% of project costs, with some programs offering up to 70% coverage for qualifying upgrades
• Electric Vehicle Charger Installation: Access federal tax credits worth up to 30% of installation costs, plus state-specific incentives that can reduce expenses by thousands per charging station
• HVAC System Upgrades: Secure incentives for high-efficiency equipment replacements that complement your energy savings
• Energy Management Systems: Obtain additional rebates for technologies that optimize facility energy consumption

The CLS Advantage for Utility Rebates

Our turnkey approach to utility rebate management services eliminates the complexity and administrative burden typically associated with incentive programs. We handle the entire process — from initial opportunity assessment through final submission and verification — ensuring you maximize available funds without diverting internal resources.

Our national presence gives us unique insight into utility incentive programs across diverse markets, allowing us to identify opportunities your local contractors might miss. With our proprietary asset management system, we track rebate eligibility, application status, and realized savings across your entire portfolio.

By partnering with CLS for utility rebate management services, you’ll transform sustainable facility upgrades from necessary expenses into strategic investments with accelerated payback periods and enhanced long-term returns.

Reach out to us today to explore utility rebate opportunities for your facility improvements.

Prevent Disruptions with Proactive Electrical System Care

Electrical systems are the lifeblood of your facilities — when they fail, operations grind to a halt, creating safety hazards, disrupting customer experiences, and impacting your bottom line. CLS Facility Services provides comprehensive electrical facility maintenance solutions that keep your critical power systems functioning reliably across all your locations.

How Our Electrical Maintenance Services Work

Our nationwide network of licensed electricians delivers consistent, high-quality electrical maintenance services including:

• Comprehensive electrical system inspections and preventive maintenance
• Circuit breaker testing and maintenance
• Electrical panel servicing and upgrades
• Outlet and switch repairs and replacements
• Emergency power system testing and maintenance
• Code compliance assessments and remediation
• Energy efficiency audits and implementation
• Surge protection installation and verification

The CLS Advantage for Electrical Facility Maintenance

With more than 50 years of experience maintaining electrical systems for multi-site businesses, we understand the unique challenges of managing electrical infrastructure across numerous locations. Our aggregator approach ensures you receive consistent, high-quality service from vetted electrical contractors nationwide, all coordinated through a single point of contact.

Our proprietary asset management portal provides complete visibility into your electrical maintenance program, including maintenance histories, upcoming service schedules, and performance metrics. This technology-enabled approach allows for proactive identification of potential issues before they cause costly disruptions.

By implementing a preventive electrical maintenance program with CLS, you’ll experience fewer emergency calls, extend the life of your electrical components, and maintain a safer environment for employees and customers alike.

Contact us today to learn how our electrical facility maintenance services can protect your operations.

Keep Your Business Running When Primary HVAC Systems Fail

When your facility’s HVAC system unexpectedly fails, operations and customer experience don’t have to suffer. CLS Facility Services provides rapid-response temporary heating and cooling solutions that maintain comfortable environments while permanent repairs are implemented.

Responsive Emergency Temperature Control

Our temporary heating and cooling services include:

• Rapid deployment of portable cooling units, industrial fans, and temporary heaters
• Expert assessment of immediate facility needs based on square footage and usage
• Strategic placement of equipment to maximize comfort and operational continuity
• Coordination of all delivery, installation, and retrieval logistics
• Regular monitoring to ensure temporary solutions meet performance requirements
• Seamless transition from temporary to permanent HVAC solutions

The CLS Advantage for Temporary Heating and Cooling

With HVAC services representing a considerable portion of our business, we understand the critical nature of maintaining appropriate temperatures in your facilities. Our nationwide vendor network ensures consistent access to temporary equipment across all your locations, eliminating the need to source local providers during an emergency.

Our proprietary asset management portal provides complete visibility into your temporary equipment deployment, including installation details, performance metrics, and costs. This technology-enabled approach allows for informed decision-making even during critical situations.

As your single point of contact for all facility needs, we coordinate every aspect of temporary heating and cooling deployment, freeing your team to focus on maintaining business operations. Our proactive communication keeps stakeholders informed throughout the process, from initial equipment deployment through permanent system restoration.

Don’t let HVAC failures disrupt your business. Partner with CLS Facility Services for emergency temperature control solutions that protect your operations, employees, and customer experience.

Reach out to us today to learn more about our temporary heating and cooling services.

Maximize Value and Minimize Disruption with Strategic Planning for HVAC Assets

Unplanned HVAC replacements can devastate your budget and operations. When commercial HVAC units fail unexpectedly, the consequences extend beyond just repair costs — uncomfortable temperatures affect customer experiences, emergency replacements come with premium pricing, and critical operations face disruption while new equipment is sourced. CLS Facility Services transforms reactive HVAC emergencies into strategic CapEx planning through our comprehensive HVAC CapEx maintenance program.

Take a Closer Look: Explore the HVAC CapEx strategy in detail on our blog.

Our Approach to HVAC CapEx Maintenance

• We build a detailed inventory of all your HVAC assets across locations, documenting age, condition, and performance history.
• Our technicians identify units approaching end-of-life or showing increased repair frequency.
• We prioritize replacements based on critical factors: unit age, repair history, site environment, and lease terms.
• You receive a strategic replacement schedule aligning with your budgeting cycles and business priorities.
• Our nationwide vendor network ensures consistent installation quality and pricing across all locations.

The Benefits of a Proactive Approach to HVAC

• Eliminate emergency replacement costs and extended downtime.
• Secure better pricing through planned purchasing rather than emergency procurement.
• Maintain comfortable environments for employees and customers year-round.
• Improve energy efficiency with planned upgrades to newer technology.
• Leverage potential landlord contributions for replacements when negotiating leases.

Our HVAC CapEx program helps multi-site organizations avoid significant maintenance costs through proactive equipment replacement. Turn your HVAC systems from potential liabilities into strategic assets with CLS Facility Services.

Contact us today to develop your HVAC CapEx plan.

Financial institutions face unique challenges when it comes to fire and life safety management. Beyond the universal concern for human safety, banks and credit unions must also protect sensitive customer data, secure physical assets, and maintain strict regulatory compliance across numerous locations. With financial regulations becoming increasingly stringent, a reactive approach to financial fire and life safety services is no longer sufficient.

Based on CLS Facility Services’ 50+ years of experience supporting financial institutions with 50 to 500 locations nationwide, we’ve identified five essential fire and life safety services that create a truly proactive protection strategy. Implementing these services doesn’t just satisfy compliance requirements — it demonstrates your institution’s commitment to safeguarding what matters most.

Fab Five: Financial Fire and Life Safety Services

1. Comprehensive Fire System Inspections with Uniform Scope of Work

For financial institutions with multiple branches, inconsistent inspection protocols represent a significant liability. When different branches follow varying inspection standards, some locations inevitably receive less thorough evaluations than others. CLS Facility Services implements a uniform scope of work across all your locations, ensuring that every branch — from flagship downtown offices to small rural locations — receives identical inspection protocols.

This standardized approach guarantees that all fire alarm systems, sprinklers, extinguishers, emergency lighting, and evacuation routes meet the same rigorous standards, regardless of location. By eliminating inspection variability, financial institutions can simplify compliance reporting, standardize training procedures, and ensure consistent protection across their entire footprint. This uniform approach is particularly valuable during regulatory audits, as it demonstrates systematic diligence rather than location-by-location variation.

2. Detailed Completion Reports and Compliance Documentation

Perhaps the most critical component of financial fire and life safety management is thorough documentation. Detailed completion reports serve as verification that systems are functioning properly and that all required maintenance has been performed according to schedule. These comprehensive reports include:

• Itemized checklist of all inspected components
• Photographic documentation of completed work
• Identification of any deficiencies requiring attention
• Certification of compliance with relevant regulations
• Digital archiving for immediate access during audits

Through the CLS Facility Services client asset management portal, financial institutions can access these reports instantly, providing seamless documentation for regulatory compliance, insurance requirements, and internal risk management protocols. This level of documentation transforms fire and life safety from a potential liability into a demonstrable commitment to protection and compliance.

3. Emergency System Maintenance and Rapid Response

Even with the most rigorous preventive maintenance, emergencies can arise. For financial institutions, system failures can trigger serious consequences — from regulatory violations to branch closures. At CLS, our emergency response capabilities are critical for the financial sector, with guaranteed response times tailored to the importance of different systems.

Our national network of vetted contractors ensures consistent emergency response capabilities across all your locations, eliminating the need to manage multiple local vendors with varying capabilities. During emergency repairs, we can implement temporary solutions to maintain compliance and protection until permanent repairs are completed. This approach minimizes disruption to banking operations while ensuring continuous protection for customers, employees, and assets.

4. Proactive Testing and Preventive Maintenance Programs

The foundation of effective financial fire and life safety services is a consistent, schedule-based testing and maintenance program. For financial institutions, these programs must balance thoroughness with operational considerations — testing must be comprehensive yet minimally disruptive to daily banking activities.

CLS develops customized preventive maintenance schedules that account for branch operating hours, customer traffic patterns, and seasonal considerations. This proactive approach includes regular testing of:

• Fire alarm systems and notification devices
• Sprinkler systems and water supplies
• Emergency lighting and exit signs
• Fire extinguishers and suppression systems
• Smoke and heat detection equipment

By identifying and addressing potential issues before they become critical failures, financial institutions avoid the costs and disruptions associated with emergency repairs while maintaining continuous compliance with regulations.

5. Multi-Location Monitoring and Centralized Reporting

For financial institutions with dozens or hundreds of branches, managing fire and life safety across all locations presents significant challenges. CLS’s centralized monitoring and reporting capabilities provide headquarters teams with comprehensive visibility across the entire branch network.

Our client asset management portal consolidates inspection reports, maintenance records, compliance documentation, and system performance data in a single, accessible platform. This centralized approach enables:

• Corporate-wide compliance verification
• Identification of systemic issues across multiple locations
• Streamlined budgeting for maintenance and replacements
• Simplified reporting for regulatory agencies
• Trend analysis to predict and prevent future issues

This level of visibility transforms fire and life safety from a location-by-location concern into a strategic, enterprise-wide program that can be managed efficiently from a central point while ensuring consistent implementation across all branches.

Trust CLS for Superior Financial Fire and Life Safety Services

Implementing these five financial fire and life safety services creates a truly proactive approach that protects financial institutions on multiple levels — from physical safety and asset protection to regulatory compliance and reputation management. With more than 50 years of experience, our team understands the need for multi-location banking operations to convey trust and stability in everything they do.

By partnering with a single-source provider for all fire and life safety needs, financial institutions can ensure consistent implementation, streamlined management, and comprehensive documentation across their entire footprint.

Contact CLS today to assess your current fire and life safety program and explore opportunities for a more proactive approach.

In retail, customer comfort has a direct impact on shopping behavior and sales. After all, it’s decidedly harder (and more expensive) to land a new customer than to retain an existing one. When your HVAC system underperforms, customers notice — they may leave before making a purchase and be less inclined to return.

Beyond comfort, improperly maintained HVAC systems drain profits through energy inefficiency, shortened equipment lifespan, and emergency repair costs. With over 50 years of experience in retail store HVAC management, CLS Facility Services understands the unique challenges these environments face.

Whether you manage a handful of stores or hundreds of locations, incorporating these six essential elements into your HVAC management approach can help you create a comfortable shopping environment, prevent costly emergencies, extend equipment lifespan, and optimize your maintenance budget. Let’s explore the essential components of an effective retail store HVAC management program.

6 Tools Critical for Retail Store HVAC Management

1. Comprehensive Preventive Maintenance Program

A robust preventive maintenance program is the foundation of effective HVAC management. For retailers, this means scheduling maintenance around your business cycles — avoiding peak shopping seasons when possible, while ensuring systems are optimized before critical periods like summer heat waves or winter cold snaps. Regular, systematic inspections should include filter replacements, coil cleaning, electrical checks, and refrigerant level verification. Preventive maintenance not only reduces unexpected breakdowns but also extends equipment life by years, offering two paths toward ROI. This proactive approach prevents customer discomfort and avoids the revenue loss associated with emergency repairs during busy shopping hours.

2. Specialized Cooling System Cleaning

Retailers in the Northeast and Midwest face a unique seasonal challenge: cottonwood season. These fluffy seeds can quickly clog condenser coils, restricting airflow and causing systems to work harder while cooling less effectively. Implementing specialized cleaning protocols during late spring and early summer helps prevent this common issue. A clogged cooling system can severely reduce efficiency and significantly increase energy costs. Regular professional cleaning of external condensers, especially in cottonwood-prone areas, is essential for maintaining optimal performance.

This is just one example of a specialized approach that prevents the premature wear that occurs when systems run continuously at higher-than-designed pressures due to restricted airflow.

3. Proactive System Wear Assessment and Energy Management

Rather than waiting for equipment failure, implement regular wear assessments to identify components approaching end-of-life. This proactive approach allows for planned replacements during off-hours, preventing disruptions to shopping experiences and avoiding emergency service premiums. By integrating energy management system monitoring with wear assessments, you can identify performance degradation before it impacts comfort or costs.

Smart energy management systems provide remote monitoring capabilities, allowing for real-time adjustments and early problem detection. These integrated solutions can reduce energy consumption while providing valuable data on system performance across multiple locations. Proactive assessment should include making CapEx recommendations for aging equipment, creating a strategic replacement schedule that distributes costs over time rather than requiring large emergency expenditures.

4. Robust Reporting and Work Order Management

Effective retail store HVAC management requires comprehensive documentation and streamlined communication. Implement a digital work order system that tracks maintenance history, repair frequency, and costs for each unit across all locations. At CLS Facility Services, our client asset management portal provides retailers with real-time visibility into equipment status, work order progress, and maintenance schedules. This transparency enables better budgeting and faster decision-making. The ideal system should allow store managers to quickly report issues while providing facilities teams with analytical tools to identify patterns, prioritize maintenance, and optimize resource allocation across multiple locations.

5. Emergency Response Protocols

Even with preventive maintenance, emergencies occur. When they do, rapid response is essential — particularly in retail environments where customer comfort directly impacts sales. Establish clear emergency protocols with guaranteed response times and access to portable heating or cooling solutions when needed. Your HVAC service provider should offer 24/7 emergency support with direct access to on-call technicians who understand retail environments. At CLS, dedicated account managers serve as single points of contact during emergencies, eliminating confusion and ensuring continuity of service when time is critical.

6. Vendor Consolidation Strategy

Managing multiple vendors across numerous locations creates an unnecessary administrative burden and inconsistent service quality. A vendor consolidation strategy centralizes retail store HVAC management under a single service provider with nationwide coverage.

This approach ensures standardized maintenance practices, consistent pricing, streamlined invoicing, and comprehensive reporting across all locations. CLS’s national network of vetted contractors provides consistent service standards while maintaining local expertise. Consolidating vendors also strengthens accountability, simplifies escalation processes, and creates economies of scale that can reduce overall maintenance costs.

Improve Your Retail Store HVAC Management With CLS

Implementing these six must-haves in your retail HVAC management program transforms a potential liability into a strategic asset. With CLS Facility Services’ 50+ years of experience supporting retailers nationwide, you can create an HVAC management approach that enhances customer comfort while optimizing operational costs. Our team specializes in designing customized programs that address your specific challenges while providing the transparency, reliability, and efficiency that retail operations demand.

Contact CLS today to elevate your HVAC management strategy.

Case Study: Improved Efficiency with Strategic Planning for HVAC Replacement

About Our Client

Our client is a publicly traded financial services company with a strong commercial banking presence and additional fee-based businesses including mortgage origination and municipal investment banking. With a national footprint spanning 48 states and the District of Columbia, this organization required strategic planning for HVAC replacement across its 68 locations.

The Problem: Managing Aging HVAC Infrastructure Across a National Footprint

Before implementing strategic planning for HVAC replacement through CLS Facility Services, the financial services company faced several challenges managing its extensive HVAC infrastructure:

• The organization was dealing with unexpected HVAC failures that disrupted operations at branch locations and corporate offices.
• Emergency replacements were causing significant budget overruns, with unplanned expenditures for both temporary cooling solutions and rushed equipment procurement.
• Many locations still operated with older units using R-22 refrigerant, which faced a production phaseout due to environmental regulations and presented increasing maintenance costs.
• Without a structured replacement program, the facilities team struggled to forecast capital expenditure needs accurately, leading to reactive rather than strategic budget allocation.

The Solution: A Comprehensive HVAC Replacement Planning Program

The financial services company partnered with CLS Facility Services to develop and implement a strategic approach to HVAC asset management across its national footprint.

• We conducted a comprehensive inventory and assessment of all 450 HVAC units across the client’s 68 locations, documenting unit age, condition, repair history, and refrigerant type.
• Our team established a prioritization matrix that considered multiple factors: equipment age, repair frequency, critical nature of the location, lease terms, and potential energy efficiency improvements.
• We identified units still using R-22 refrigerant for priority replacement, addressing both environmental compliance and long-term maintenance cost concerns.
• Together with the client, we developed an annual CapEx replacement program that planned replacements before failures occurred, allowing for strategic scheduling during shoulder seasons.
• We implemented a work order management system to track all maintenance activities, providing data-driven insights for future replacement planning.

The Result: Significant Cost Avoidance and Improved Operational Reliability

By planning for HVAC replacement with the client, CLS delivered measurable beneficial results for the financial services company:

• By replacing units proactively rather than reactively, the client avoided an estimated $25,000 in temporary cooling costs that would have been incurred during emergency replacements.
• The strategic replacement approach prevented approximately $50,000 in major repairs on aging equipment that would have ultimately required replacement.
• The program successfully eliminated R-22 refrigerant from 11 critical units, reducing environmental impact while avoiding escalating maintenance costs as this refrigerant becomes increasingly scarce and expensive.
• The facilities team now has comprehensive visibility into HVAC assets across all locations, enabling more accurate forecasting and budgeting for future capital expenditures.
• Through strategic timing of replacements and improved specification processes, the client realized energy efficiency gains that will continue to reduce operational costs year over year.

Embrace Planning for HVAC Replacement with CLS

CLS Facility Services provides complete HVAC asset management solutions for organizations across multiple industries with anywhere from 50 to 400 locations. Our strategic approach to HVAC replacement planning, nationwide vendor network, proven team, and technology and management strategy deliver both immediate cost savings and long-term operational benefits through better reliability, energy efficiency, and budget predictability.

We ensure all of your most critical assets — from lighting and HVAC/R systems to signage, FLS, and plumbing — are covered 24/7/365.

Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities.

Or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

Step into any suburban shopping center or neighborhood plaza, and you’ll notice a transformation taking place. Where retail stores once exclusively dominated, sleek urgent care clinics, modern dialysis centers, and specialized medical practices now anchor these spaces. This shift represents more than a real estate trend — it’s a fundamental reimagining of how and where healthcare services reach communities. For the facility managers behind these distributed care networks, this shift brings unique challenges that demand specialized expertise and strategic planning.

What is Medtail and Why is it Growing?

Medtail — a blend of “medical” and “retail” — describes the growing trend of healthcare services being delivered in retail settings such as shopping centers, strip malls, and standalone facilities. This model makes healthcare more accessible and convenient, offering services like urgent care, dental and vision clinics, cosmetic and wellness treatments, and specialized care like dialysis in high-traffic retail environments.

Major retailers and healthcare providers have embraced this model, reflecting consumer demand for quick, affordable, and convenient healthcare options. For facility managers overseeing these locations, understanding the specific maintenance requirements is essential for operational success.

How Clinic Healthcare Facilities Management Differs from Traditional Institutions

While sharing some common requirements with larger healthcare institutions, clinics and medtail establishments have distinctly different facility management needs:

• Scale and retrofitting challenges: These facilities often require retrofitting retail spaces for medical use, adding specialized plumbing, HVAC modifications, and privacy features.
• Regulatory balance: Must meet healthcare standards with particular emphasis on privacy, ADA compliance, and sanitation within a retail context.
• Mechanical systems: Typically feature retail-grade infrastructure that needs strategic upgrades to meet medical requirements.
• Shared resources: Often share utilities and infrastructure with other retail tenants, complicating maintenance responsibilities and cost allocation.
• Patient flow focus: Designed for quick service delivery, accessibility, and retail-like experience rather than extended patient stays.
• Cost structure: Facility costs represent a higher percentage of overall operating expenses, making efficient maintenance crucial for profitability.

Key Facility Management Concerns for Clinics and Medtail Establishments

1. Infection Control and Cleanliness

Unlike standard retail spaces, healthcare facilities — even smaller ones — must maintain rigorous cleanliness standards:

• Regular HVAC maintenance and filter changes to prevent the spread of airborne pathogens
• Enhanced cleaning protocols for clinical areas
• Proper waste management systems for medical materials
• Strategically placed hand hygiene stations throughout the facility

2. Preventive Maintenance of Critical Systems

Small clinics and medtail establishments cannot afford system failures that interrupt patient care:

• Regular inspections of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems
• Specialized maintenance for medical equipment such as imaging devices and sterilization equipment
• Backup power solutions for critical systems
• Water quality management, particularly important for facilities like dialysis centers

3. Regulatory Compliance

Even smaller healthcare facilities must meet stringent compliance standards:

• Adherence to local, state, and federal regulations (OSHA, ADA)
• Detailed documentation of maintenance activities
• Regular inspections and certifications
• Staying current with evolving healthcare codes and standards

4. Patient Comfort and Experience

The patient experience in smaller healthcare settings is a crucial differentiator:

• Consistent climate control throughout patient areas
• Proper lighting in examination and treatment spaces
• Non-slip flooring and accessibility features
• Comfortable waiting areas that balance privacy and efficiency

5. Equipment Uptime and Operational Continuity

Downtime in a small clinic can mean turning patients away:

• Immediate response protocols for equipment failures
• Preventive maintenance schedules for clinical equipment
• Coordination of maintenance activities during non-peak hours

6. Cost and Performance Visibility

Many medtail operators manage multiple locations, requiring:

• Centralized and cost-effective work order management
• Performance tracking across various sites
• Budget transparency and cost control measures
• Vendor management and performance metrics

7. Seasonal and Environmental Challenges

Retail environments present unique seasonal considerations:

• Increased HVAC demands during extreme weather
• Humidity control to prevent mold growth
• Seasonal traffic pattern adjustments

The Benefits of Consolidated Healthcare Facilities Management

As you can see, it’s a lot to keep track of and manage. However, consolidating healthcare facilities management for multiple clinics or medtail locations offers substantial advantages:

• Comprehensive asset management: Building detailed equipment lists for all locations provides visibility into asset condition, age, and performance.
• Proactive capital expenditure planning: Identifying equipment for replacement before failure prevents costly emergency situations.
• Strategic vendor consolidation: Working with a single facilities management partner streamlines operations and reduces costs.
• Enhanced patient experience: Well-maintained facilities with functioning HVAC, proper lighting, and clean environments create positive patient impressions.
• Operational efficiency: When maintenance is handled through a single provider, clinic staff can focus on patient care rather than managing building issues.
• Improved data management: A centralized work order system provides a single source of truth for facility data across the clinic network.

Partner with a Healthcare Facilities Management Expert

CLS Facility Services has been supporting healthcare facilities nationwide for more than 50 years. With a highly experienced team, online asset management tools, a national network of proven vendors, and a strategic partnership approach that prioritizes service and communication, we’re uniquely positioned to address the specialized needs of clinics and medtail establishments. Our comprehensive approach covers all critical facility systems:

• HVAC/R maintenance and service
• Plumbing systems
• Electrical and lighting
• General repairs and building maintenance
• Fire and life safety systems

By transforming your approach to healthcare facilities management from reactive to proactive, you can reduce costs, improve operations, and create better experiences for both staff and patients.

Connect with us today to learn more about how we can help your healthcare facilities thrive.

Delivering Specialized Facilities Management Service for Banks

Case Study: How a Strategic Partnership Yielded Decade-Long Results and Significant Cost Avoidance

About Our Client

Our client is a growing regional banking institution with more than 90 locations. What began as a partnership to service 27 lending facilities has expanded over a decade to encompass comprehensive management of all the bank’s locations.

The Problem: Fragmented Facility Management Approach Creating Inefficiencies

Before partnering with CLS Facility Services, the banking institution struggled with several facility management challenges that impacted both operations and budgeting.

• The bank was working with multiple vendors across different service categories, creating coordination challenges and inconsistent service quality.
• Their previous facility management partner provided inadequate service, resulting in frequent equipment failures and disruptions to branch operations.
• With facilities ranging from small branches with 3-5 HVAC units to larger locations with nearly 20 units, the bank faced challenges in tracking asset performance and planning for replacements.
• The facilities team was stretched thin trying to manage reactive maintenance issues across multiple locations and service categories.
• Without a strategic replacement plan, the bank faced unexpected equipment failures that led to expensive emergency replacements and temporary heating/cooling solutions costing thousands of dollars.

The Solution: A Comprehensive Facility Management Program with Proactive Planning

The banking institution turned to CLS Facility Services for its aggregator approach to facility management, nationwide coverage, and commitment to proactive maintenance.

• We implemented a comprehensive maintenance program covering all HVAC preventive maintenance and reactive service, plumbing, electrical work, and general repair across all banking locations.
• Our team created a detailed HVAC equipment list for all locations, giving the bank complete visibility into their assets’ condition, age, and performance.
• We established a proactive capital expenditure plan, identifying 4-10 units annually for replacement before they could fail — embracing a CapEx facility management approach that prevents costly emergency situations.
• Through vendor consolidation, we streamlined the bank’s facility management, providing a single point of contact for all maintenance needs and eliminating coordination headaches.
• We implemented a cost-free work order management system, enabling the bank to track service requests, completions, and expenditures without additional fees.
• Our team established key facility management KPIs to measure performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

The Result: A Decade of Strategic Partnership with Measurable Benefits

Our comprehensive facilities management service for banks has delivered significant results for the banking institution over our decade-long partnership.

• The bank has avoided thousands of dollars in potential emergency repairs and temporary heating/cooling costs through our proactive maintenance and replacement strategy.
• Regular business reviews provide complete transparency into service call costs, site-by-site spending, and capital expenditure information — allowing for more accurate budgeting and planning.
• The facilities team has maintained its size despite significant institutional growth, as CLS handles the increasing workload of facility management across all locations.
• Our mid-Q4 equipment assessment and planning meetings help the bank prioritize branches for equipment replacement based on lease terms, weather considerations, and equipment condition — ensuring optimal allocation of their facility budget.
• The banking institution benefits from expert training sessions conducted by CLS, with specialized courses on HVAC systems and LED lighting technologies to enhance their team’s knowledge.
• Our sustainability-focused approach to facility management has helped the bank reduce its environmental footprint while simultaneously reducing operational costs.

Partner with CLS for Comprehensive Banking Facility Management

CLS Facility Services provides the industry’s leading facilities management service for banks with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations. Our program-level approach, highly experienced team, technology-driven management strategy, and nationwide vendor network ensure that all of your most critical assets — from HVAC/R systems and lighting to signage and plumbing — are covered 24/7/365.

When it comes to maximizing facilities management service for banks, selecting a partner with many years of project experience and a superb project management team is of paramount importance. CLS is that team. Connect with us today to get started today.

Behind every successful banking operation stands a well-maintained physical infrastructure. While digital transformation grabs headlines, the humble brick-and-mortar branch remains the face of banking for millions of customers — and maintaining these facilities has evolved from a necessary expense into a strategic advantage. Financial institutions that master bank building maintenance don’t just fix what’s broken; they create environments that enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experience, and strengthen the bottom line.

The Evolving Bank Building Maintenance Landscape

Banks today are operating in an increasingly complex environment. According to Deloitte’s banking industry outlook, nearly 60% of banking leaders consider legacy infrastructure to be the top challenge impeding organizational growth. This infrastructure challenge extends to physical facilities, where fragmented maintenance approaches create inefficiencies.

The financial impact of poor bank building maintenance is substantial. A BCG study found that one bank with 300 branches discovered it was using more than 100 different vendors for facilities management services. By consolidating to fewer than 10 vendors and forming strategic partnerships, the bank reduced its maintenance spending by 19% annually.

Common Bank Building Maintenance Challenges

Financial institutions typically face several critical challenges when managing their physical infrastructure:

• Multiple vendors and fragmented service delivery: Many banks work with dozens of separate maintenance providers across their branch network, leading to inconsistent service quality and unnecessary administrative complexity.
• Reactive maintenance cycles: Without proactive planning, banks fall into costly cycles of emergency repairs that disrupt branch operations and customer service.
• Difficulty tracking asset performance: Many institutions lack visibility into the condition, age, and maintenance history of critical systems like HVAC, electrical, and plumbing.
• Rising maintenance costs: Emergency repairs, temporary solutions, and inefficient vendor management all contribute to escalating bank building maintenance expenses.

The Strategic Approach to Bank Building Maintenance

Forward-thinking financial institutions are shifting from reactive to proactive maintenance strategies. This approach begins with comprehensive asset management and preventive maintenance planning.

A recent case study from our work with a regional banking institution demonstrates the power of this approach. After struggling with fragmented vendor relationships and frequent equipment failures across their branches, they implemented a strategic maintenance program that delivered significant improvements in both operational performance and cost efficiency. Read the full case study here.

The Financial Case for Consolidated Bank Building Maintenance

The cost savings potential from consolidating bank building maintenance is substantial. According to Gartner, one large company reduced its vendor count by 25% and achieved annual savings of 20% through portfolio rationalization. For banks transitioning to more technology-focused operations, this represents significant savings that can be invested in other strategic areas.

Several key strategies drive these savings:

• Comprehensive asset management: Building a detailed HVAC equipment list for all banking locations provides visibility into asset condition, age, and performance.
• Proactive capital expenditure planning: Identifying equipment for replacement before failure helps implement a CapEx facility management approach that prevents costly emergencies.
• Strategic vendor consolidation: Research shows that aggressive sourcing, particularly when combined with effective vendor negotiations, can achieve annual savings of 10-15% for categories like janitorial services, HVAC, and building maintenance. Implementing vendor consolidation delivers similar savings across bank branch networks.

Beyond Cost Savings: Additional Benefits of Strategic Bank Building Maintenance

While cost reduction is often the primary driver for improving bank building maintenance, numerous additional benefits emerge:

• Enhanced customer experience: Well-maintained bank branches with functioning HVAC, proper lighting, and clean facilities create positive customer impressions and support the brand image.
• Operational efficiency: When maintenance is handled through a single provider, bank employees can focus on serving customers rather than managing building issues.
• Improved data management: A cost-free work order management system provides a single source of truth for facility data across the branch network.
• Enhanced compliance tracking: Establishing key facility management KPIs ensures maintenance activities meet regulatory requirements and internal standards.
• Sustainability improvements: A sustainability-focused approach to bank building maintenance reduces environmental impact while cutting operational costs.

Partner with the Facilities Maintenance Experts

CLS Facility Services has been supporting financial institutions nationwide for more than 50 years. With a highly experienced team, online asset management tools, a national network of proven vendors, and a strategic partnership approach that prioritizes service and communication, we’re the partner you need.

By transforming your approach to bank building maintenance from reactive to proactive, you can reduce costs, improve branch operations, and create better experiences for both employees and customers.

Connect with us today to learn more about us and how we can help.

Few people epitomize that tenure and contribution more than Tina Walker. Tina joined CLS in 1998 in the position of Billing Clerk and will be celebrating her 27th anniversary this year. She was promoted to Senior Billing Clerk in 2015 and promoted again to Team Leader, Billing in 2019.

Tina has been a true team leader and contributor to client success for more than two decades here at CLS, making sure the invoicing process runs with utmost efficiency and accountability and that our team has peak communication with our clients.

When it comes to spreadsheets, reporting, accuracy, and “data at your fingertips,” Tina works diligently to make sure that processes are established internally to ensure client success and total organization of the billing cycle. We joke that Tina is never allowed to retire because we may need two employees to replace her excellence!

In addition to leadership in CLS’ finance department, Tina has served on our Entertainment Activities Committee for many years, helping to coordinate many company meals, activities, and events throughout the years, ranging from our Christmas Cubicle Decorating Contest to Game Night to our many beloved Bowling Nights.

When she’s not at the office, Tina enjoys spending time with her husband Hal and two beautiful children. She enjoys bowling, Disney Cruises, warm-weather vacations, and many family trips to watch her son play college baseball, as he continues to set school records as an all-conference player!

In a facility management industry full of plentiful turnover, our CLS team is blessed to appreciate the tenure and dedication of a team member like Tina Walker, who has been so brilliant for so long.

Thank you for all you do, Tina!

The Benefits of a Fortified HVAC Preventive Maintenance and CapEx Program

About Our Client Partnership and Creating a Plan Together

A Large 180-Site Industry-Leading Retail Chain with a National Footprint

Our client’s facilities team was tasked with selecting an HVAC vendor who could build a fortified HVAC preventive maintenance program, develop strong asset management, assist in strong reporting, and offer in-depth knowledge to support mindful CapEx budgeting decisions to maximize the HVAC facilities budget.  When our partnership began, they felt the incumbent vendor was sending excessive amounts of HVAC quotes, trending towards more reactive strategies and an increased spend, hurting their budget.

How We Worked Together to Execute a Strong HVAC Preventive Maintenance Program

CLS Facility Services was contracted to build a fortified HVAC preventive maintenance program. Here’s what we did:

• Quarterly Structure — These programs are conducted on a quarterly basis for all store locations to ensure that all equipment is maintained and functioning optimally, filters are changed four times annually, and units are inspected proactively in order to minimize emergency service calls and costly trips for deficiencies.
• Cleanings and Component Changes — Condenser coil chemical (power wash) cleanings and belt changes are proactively built into the program — once annually — in order to ensure optimal HVAC unit performance as well as to avoid trip charges, emergency calls, and the cost of conducting these repair reactively (which can be three to four times what’s necessary).
• Filters — Quality filters are being utilized to ensure strong air quality and protection of the HVAC assets.  Utilization of pleated filters is implemented across all PMs nationwide.
• Program Uniformity — Technicians are held to a uniform HVAC scope of work nationwide in order to foster accountability for all aspects of maintenance being completed thoroughly on each HVAC asset.
• HVAC Asset Lists — Full asset management is developed for the retailer and updated on each maintenance cycle, detailing the manufacturer, make, model, serial number, age, and repair history of each piece of HVAC equipment.  The client’s Facility Management Team has transparent access to their detailed HVAC Equipment List in order to maximize asset management, budget proactively, and work with CLS to make educated decisions on influential spends.
• Vendor Stability — Technician turnover is minimal, meaning that the same technicians are performing work on equipment from cycle to cycle to ensure consistency, knowledge of the site and equipment, and accountability.
• Consistent Pricing — Cost adjustments are nominal year over year and the HVAC maintenance program is priced cost competitively with minimal inflationary price increases that align with the retailer’s facility maintenance budget.
• Consultation You Can Trust — CLS provides informative feedback on quotes, key HVAC decisions and technical details from staff who are a combination of former HVAC technicians or account leaders with 25+ years of industry experience.
• Educational Training — The client and CLS have educational training sessions 2-3 times annually, educating the Facilities Management Team on HVAC component functions, key terminologies, and identification of key HVAC items that are unique to their stores.

Steps to Reduce Maintenance Costs

• Not to Exceed — A small HVAC “not to exceed” is built into each maintenance cycle for each store location. This empowers technicians to proactively make simplistic repairs on units — such as replacing contactors, replacing a belt, replacing batteries in a thermostat — in order to avoid costly return trips required with quoting these minor repairs. Due to trust in the partnership, this NTE is only utilized on around 16% of all maintenance.
• Service Call Avoidance — CLS account managers will reach out to client sites to check their comfort level as well as get information on thermostat readings or functionality in order to either avoid the service call altogether (if applicable) or even downgrade an emergency to a standard call if feasible.
• Quote Review — CLS does a thorough review of all HVAC preventive maintenance quotes and reactive maintenance “service call” quotes in order to vet whether the suggested item is a proper spend for the client. If a quote is deemed unnecessary or minor, this spend is voided in order to maximize the HVAC budget accordingly.

Maximizing the Benefits of a Dynamic CapEx Approach

By building detailed asset management of the entire fleet of HVAC equipment, CLS is able to review the data on more than 900 HVAC units in order to help the retailer to budget to replace a select number of units proactively each year, depending upon the budget available on an annual basis.

Detailed surveys are launched to quote unit replacements for optimal store locations and assets, create definitive budgets for proactive replacement, and to help weigh the cost-benefit analyses of proactive replacement depending on lease status, budget, store revenue, and overall unit importance (oftentimes stores relying on just one or two HVAC units are prioritized, as failure of that unit is detrimental).

HVAC units are ordered and replaced proactively to avoid large costly maintenance repairs, increase energy efficiency, and to maximize the new warranties of newly-replaced HVAC assets.

The Short and Long-Term Benefits

In the end, this very proactive HVAC program has created an elite ability to budget accurately and to avoid large numbers of costly reactive maintenance spends. The client’s Facility Maintenance Team has full visibility to their HVAC budgetary goals and a proactive approach to foster future success.

• While many retailers boast HVAC equipment lists with an average age of 12–15+ years old, this retailer’s average HVAC unit is approximately eight years old.
• This leading retailer demonstrates a dynamic ratio of “Reactive-to-PM Spend” ranging from 0.5:1 to 2:1 over the past eight years. Many competitive retailers show a 3:1 or even 5:1 ratio, due to reactive spending, costly return trips, inability to perform proactive replacements, and proactive PM approach.
• This retailer displays a very low number of emergency calls to replace broken belts or to clean clogged coils due to these services being performed proactively throughout their HVAC PM program.
• Due to the younger age of HVAC equipment, this retailer annually saves thousands of dollars in temporary cooing and temporary heating rentals, as repairs are minor, lead time on repair materials is voided, and units are in better overall health.
• Utility cost savings are elite, as younger units have far greater energy efficiency and foster savings.
• R-22 and old forms of refrigerant are never needed with this retailer’s HVAC equipment, as zero units in their fleet of more than 900 HVAC assets contain these HVAC repair elements.

It’s All About the Ability to Be Proactive — and to Budget Proactively

While price and hourly rates are important, strong preventive maintenance execution, elite asset management, thorough vetting of quotes, and strong CapEx planning are what truly foster savings.

In a true facility maintenance partnership, the retailer and facility maintenance empower one another to work together to budget proactively, define needs, and to customize a program to meet the retailer’s goals and needs. In an industry full of annual turnover in partnerships, we are forever grateful for tenured partnerships and the ability to be a partner — and never a vendor.

The Effectiveness of Proactive HVAC Maintenance for Retail Stores

Preventive Maintenance and a CapEx Approach are Critical for Retail Facility Maintenance Budgeting Success

In retail facility maintenance, HVAC services spend is either the largest or second largest expenditure for nearly every facilities manager, exhausting a large portion of their annual FM budget. As facility management teams are annually tasked at keeping costs under control — and even reducing maintenance costs year-over-year — the vital nature of a strong HVAC services program can have a dynamic impact on every facility maintenance budget.

Retailers maintain HVAC equipment in myriad ways, depending upon their preferences and their business’ facility maintenance budgets. Here are five elements that cause total variation in the way HVAC equipment is serviced and its subsequent impact on budgeting.

1. HVAC Preventive Maintenance Strategy — Some completely lack a preventive maintenance (PM) program, while others conduct six to eight PMs annually. The majority of retailers are required to perform three to four PMs annually in order to be compliant with leases.
2. Proactive or Reactive with Key HVAC Elements — Are annual belt changes built into the PM program or done reactively for four to six times the cost? Are condenser coil chemical cleanings built into the PM program or done reactively for two to four times the cost? That upfront
3. CapEx HVAC Replacement or Break/Fix — Are proactive HVAC CapEx plans in place to replace a certain percentage of your HVAC units annually, prior to their end of life? Alternatively, is there no budget to replace HVAC units proactively and the retailer instead  waits until end-of-life equipment breakdown to change out the unit?
4. Full HVAC Asset Management — Is the facility manager — or better yet, their HVAC partner — building a very detailed HVAC equipment asset list so that warranties, equipment age, equipment condition, repair history, and unit information at each store location are tracked adroitly.
5. Year-Over-Year Spend Analyses — Is the retailer closely studying year-over-year HVAC costs to review HVAC maintenance RM-to-PM spend ratio? Is the facility manager analyzing cost breakdowns of HVAC spend on temporary heating/cooling, compressor replacements, heat exchanger replacement, and detailed spend breakdown of specific HVAC services?

Everyone has their own approach, their own budget, their own strategy for HVAC program success. What’s important is the synthesis of the retail facility manager’s goals and the retailer’s actual facility maintenance budget. A facility management team may want to thrive to be more proactive with their HVAC services program, but oftentimes a retailer’s budget limitations may not allow them to do that.

In order to maximize proactive HVAC maintenance for retail stores, a facility maintenance team must formulate a true partnership with their vendor by transparently outlining their goals, their budgetary needs, and even their limitations. By doing so, the two sides can work together to formulate a plan that works best for each retailer’s individual needs. The facility maintenance company that leads with “this is the way we’ve always done it” is not empowering that facilities team to outline their company’s budgetary needs and guidelines for what may support a great HVAC program partnership.

Look at the five elements listed above to make sure you are clearly defining what your needs are for each element. While budgets vary for everyone, the ability to outline a customized program is the key to mutual success in a proactive HVAC maintenance program for retail stores.

More is Coming on Proactive HVAC Maintenance for Retail Stores — Stay Tuned

In our next blog, we’ll detail a case study that demonstrates how one industry-leading retailer has maximized their HVAC program and fostered long-term success by being proactive with their spend and data collection.

But that doesn’t mean assets at all of your locations — ranging from HVAC/R systems and lighting to plumbing and fire & life safety equipment — are taking a break. Post-holiday retail facility maintenance should be top-of-mind for every facility management leader — not only to keep assets running smoothly during this demanding time of year but also to mitigate risk as warmer months approach.

There’s much to consider with this, so our team has put together a quick checklist of post-holiday retail facility maintenance to help you support your locations, keep customers and employees comfortable, and avoid unnecessary maintenance or replacement costs.

Your Post-Holiday Retail Facility Maintenance Checklist

1. Check All HVAC Systems and Components

Holidays can be extra hard on HVAC systems because of increased foot traffic, and more people means HVAC systems have to work harder to circulate air, clean it, and maintain a certain temperature. With cooler temperatures keeping systems running 24/7, the wear and tear on these systems is significantly higher than other times of year. Change filters, check belts and other components, and do a thorough inspection to identify other instances of wear so they don’t put the entire system at risk of breakdown.

• Not sure where to start with HVAC maintenance? Get a complete guide here (along with an extensive glossary).

2. Inspect Electrical and Lighting Systems

Holidays mean longer store hours, which means more demand and strain on electrical and lighting systems. It can be easy to overlook some of these with other assets experiencing more physical wear, but any opportunity to make improvements after the holidays will position your business for greater resiliency with this type of asset as the year progresses. Also, consider what your lighting systems may be costing you — LED is no longer a new technology, and there are a number of ways that existing lighting systems (even if they’re LED) can be enhanced to further reduce component and maintenance costs.

• Just as with HVAC, lighting and LED technology has a learning curve. Get a complimentary guide that explains how to navigate this important asset type.

3. Ensure Plumbing Systems are Flowing Smoothly

Plumbing is one of the asset classes that receives significant physical wear and tear, particularly during cooler months when water for faucets, kitchen systems, and more must be heated before use. Higher foot traffic in stores also means more use of restrooms. While a plumbing problem is much more visible than an HVAC or electrical issue, it’s still important to conduct a thorough review of all plumbing assets following periods of high demand. This will ensure that you’re able to focus on other critical priorities into the spring months — rather than constantly dealing with issues across all of your locations.

• Maintaining plumbing assets comes with distinct challenges that facility leaders must be prepared for. Get ahead of the curve with this helpful plumbing overview.

4. Proactively Inspect All Fire and Life Safety Systems

While you’ll obviously get fire and life safety (FLS) systems checked annually or semi-annually based on your location and the asset type, there’s no reason to not be proactive following the holidays. It would be better to know that all of these systems are good to go following a few months of higher foot traffic (where use, tampering, or other situations could create future issues) rather than wait for the next inspection.

5. Don’t Slow Down — Prepare for Next Season

Spring brings its own challenges, ranging from cottonwood that can clog up air conditioning systems to HVAC assets switching their functions to cool facilities rather than heat them. All of this means assets should be proactively inspected and maintained now so you can be confident that as temperatures begin to rise, all of your locations are in a good position to keep employees and customers comfortable — and costs manageable.

6. Evaluate How Your Vendors Supported You

For retailers, the holiday season is typically one of your busiest and most revenue-generating times of the year. Having vendors to support you reliably throughout this important time is critical. Reflect on the holiday season and what happened — it’s likely that you had an occasional asset issue to resolve. How did they assist you in doing that? Were they responsive? Did they get the job done right the first time? Also, consider how your vendors and partners supported you with annual planning or reporting for your budgeting process. Did they give you everything you needed to accurately forecast? If not, it may be worth considering this approach to facility asset maintenance.

Implement These Recommendations with the Experts

CLS Facility Services has been supporting retailers nationwide for more than 50 years, providing key services ranging from HVAC/R maintenance and LED retrofits to plumbing maintenance and more. With a highly experienced team, online asset management tools, a national network of proven vendors, and a strategic partnership approach that prioritizes service and communication, we’re the partner you need to make this year your best yet for facility management wins.

Connect with us today to learn more about us and how we can help.

We know you and your team are busy, so we won’t make you scroll for miles before we get to the point. Here’s what you came here to find out. We hope it’s helpful — if you want to connect to discuss these points in detail, get in touch with us here.

1. Consolidate your service vendors — This is probably one of your greatest frustrations as a facility leader. With many locations come many commercial service vendors to provide support across various facility trades. Extensive paperwork, communication effort, coordination, etc. — it’s a lot for one team to handle. As part of your annual strategic plan, consider dedicating time and resources toward consolidation.
2. Build an asset database — Every location throughout your footprint has numerous assets, each with a variety of data points and model numbers that must be known, stored, and occasionally looked up for maintenance needs. More importantly, knowing those assets’ age, performance histories, and associated costs can help to inform future replacement decisions. Building a complete database of all asset information that is accessible at any time will go a long way in helping with quick serve restaurant facilities management.
3. Take a CapEx approach to replacements — It’s like that each location is required to pay for large asset replacements, such as new HVAC systems. When these situations arise, those expenses can throw off OpEx budgets significantly. It’s better to pay for those replacements proactively using data from the above database — and funding from CapEx budgets. This allows those costs to be spread out over time and frees up OpEx budgets for other priorities.
4. Focus on vendor performance — While it can be challenging to pay attention to vendor performance over time, particularly if you’re handling quick serve restaurant facilities management internally with a limited team, it’s still an important function. While one-off issues are common, what matters is when a service vendor is consistently failing to meet the mark. The location suffers, budgets suffer, and your team has to find a new vendor. Monitoring vendor performance KPIs over time will help you identify where changes must be made.
5. Drive toward work scope uniformity — Closely related to the above is ensuring that scopes of work, regardless of the vendor doing it, are made uniform. This means that the work to be done, the materials and supplies needed, the associated costs, and the expected timeframes for completing it are all consistent — regardless of location. This can be challenging when working with different vendors, as you’re often at the mercy of what the company will do (this is particularly true when it’s a short notice service call or emergency, and you just need something to be done). But driving toward consistency will help you keep budgets manageable and always know what you should be getting.

Now, If You Want to Know Why All of This Matters, Keep Reading

We mentioned this a few times in each item, but the challenge facing facility leaders and their teams today is the difficulty in handling all of this on your own — and while trying to support other organizational goals.

Every maintenance issue that your team experiences means less time supporting those goals and instead devoting hours of their day to finding vendors, making calls, sending emails, communicating with site managers, following up for documentation, and more.

The most ideal solution to this is using an aggregator to manage facility asset maintenance for you. Rather than your team working with separate self-performing service vendors across your coverage area, partnering with an aggregator means all of the daily asset maintenance needs your team handles — as well as the five key considerations above — are handled exclusively by another team.

The advantages of working with an aggregator are many, but just a few include:

• Efficient consolidation of commercial service vendors
• Less administrative hassle and burden on your team
• Your team can devote more focus to strategic priorities
• Uniform work scopes across all of your locations
• Reliable, centralized communication with a proven team
• Flexibility to work in a variety of work order management systems
• And many, many more

Ready to Transform Your Quick Service Restaurant Facility Management Program?

Fill out the form below to get in contact with us and to learn how we can build a program that makes life easier for you, your team, your site managers, and ultimately the many customers who choose you to keep them going every day.

Financial services and bank facilities management leaders have spent the past few years navigating unprecedented changes. One of the most significant has been how consumers interact with physical locations and the services available to them while on site. With online and mobile services satisfying most of consumers’ daily financial needs, it has become more important to invest in on-site experiences.

Examples of the ways that financial services and bank facilities management leaders are seeking to make on-site visits more meaningful, memorable, repeatable, and profitable include:

• Prioritizing relationship-building with visitors and customers
• Offering services that require conversations, such as retirement planning
• Offering self-service solutions for quick or simple transactions
• Hybridizing their offerings for seamless digital–physical experiences
• Supporting local communities by hosting events, networking, etc.

Generational differences play a role here as well. Older generations prefer working directly with people, whereas younger generations prefer the ease of mobile and online solutions. With numerous generations still requiring support, financial services and bank facilities management leaders will be catering to different consumers for some time.

While innovations continue to spring up in branches nationwide, all of the facility assets that enable successful interactions mustn’t be forgotten. HVAC systems, plumbing, lighting, building exteriors and interiors, safety systems, and more must also be routinely maintained, repaired, and replaced as needed.

Clearly, as a financial services and bank facilities management leader, you and your team have your hands full. How can you prioritize all of these assets, across numerous locations, at all times — all while providing strategic support for other organizational initiatives?

Consider the Value of Working with an Aggregator

A facility asset maintenance aggregator is a company that established relationships with proven commercial service vendors across multiple trades. When you work with an aggregator, their team manages all aspects of facility asset maintenance on your behalf. This provides you with numerous advantages:

• Building a complete and detailed database of all assets across all locations
• All communication is managed by our team, freeing up more time for yours
• Vendors covering your locations are known, allowing faster response times
• All documentation is centrally stored and managed in our online portal
• Your account manager is the same contact for emergency needs
• Warranties and rebates for assets are managed on your behalf
• Flexibility to use your work order management system or a custom one
• Peace of mind knowing that you’re working with tenured professionals

Case in Point: Centralizing Facility Management and LED Retrofit Programs

If you’re wondering how a financial services and bank facilities maintenance program might work, consider the following examples.

First, a major investment management firm required LED retrofits across all of its locations nationwide. Now, if its facility management team attempted to oversee this effort in house, it would have required significant time, energy, and resources (and potentially more staff).

Rather than assume that responsibility, it partnered with an aggregator — at first for a pilot effort, then for the complete program. With the aggregator running point on every detail, and keeping firm leaders updated on a weekly basis, the results were significant.

A second example comes from the veterinary world but is applicable here due to the organization having numerous locations nationwide. The organization was struggling with its current facility asset maintenance approach, which consisted of its internal team handling all facility needs for more than 180 locations across 27 states. Clearly, this was slowing its team down and resulted in maintenance needs falling behind.

By aggregating this maintenance, the company was able to centralize all facility asset maintenance activity in a single partner. This eliminated headaches around finding vendors, obtaining insurance information and other documentation, and navigating billing issues. Communication was streamlined, and all efforts were completed on a timely schedule — with the company being updated regularly on progress.

Keep Your Physical Locations Looking Their Best 24/7/365

CLS Facility Services has partnered with numerous financial services and banking institutions nationwide for decades, providing them with a complete line of facility asset maintenance solutions executed on a proactive schedule.

And with our CapEx approach to facility management, we identify opportunities for savings paid for and amortized through CapEx funds — keeping location-specific resources freed up for other needs.

That’s just the beginning of why companies choose to partner with us, though. Connect with us today to learn more about how we can help with your financial services and bank facilities management needs.

Lighting codes and standards have evolved for decades since their creation, and where we stand in 2025 is no exception. When LED Lighting emerged, it was costly, the technology was unproven, and LED warranties were minimal. LED conversions and lighting retrofits often yield ROIs in the 5-10 year range!

Fast-forward to now, and lumens per watt are elite, LED lighting costs have been reduced significantly, LED warranties can reach 10 years, and LED retrofit ROIs can be under 1.5 years on a consistent basis. What was once a high-end option has become the norm in lighting retrofitting and continues to become increasingly budget-friendly and logical for facility maintenance budgets. But did we ever think we’d see the era where LED became obligatory?

LED was an Option… Now, It’s a Must.

Understanding new lighting codes and standards is imperative for modern facility maintenance managers and energy management directors.  Here are 5 key questions to ask in 2025 regarding your facilities’ lighting specifications.

• Are all lamps and ballasts at your facility readily available if a site experiences lighting outages?
• Do specific States have lighting codes and standards that no longer allow you to replace certain types of lighting because lamps, ballasts, or particular specs can no longer be shipped or installed in that State?
• Is it now more expensive to replace old lighting “like-for-like” than it is to convert to LED?
• If a site has a high percentage of outages, is it more cost-efficient to convert the entire location to LED than it is to replace a portion of outages?
• Am I fully maximizing Energy and maintenance savings by replacing older lighting?

State Lighting Codes and Standards are Having a Major Impact

Beginning January 1st, 2025, multiple States — including California — are banning the shipment of T8, T12, and HID lamps and ballasts, deeming these specs obsolete.  These new regulations are expected to have a dynamic impact on the lighting of many retail, medical, industrial, manufacturing, and storage facilities, among many other building types. While some businesses “stocked up” on these expiring specs, others will adapt to the difficulty in trying to replace outages.  In these applications, converting to LED may have been a proactively wise CapEx option in the past, but may now become an obligatory step.  Facility managers will need to budget accordingly to adapt to these new lighting codes and standards and ensure that their store locations are up to code, well-lit, and able to make sure that lighting outages do not negatively impact their business.

For more information on lighting codes and standards and states where this may impact your business, please reach out to our CLS team so that we can look to support you with a customized program to meet your lighting budgets and goals.

Christina Villella: Fortifying Vendor Relations with Style

In leading our Vendor Relations Team, Christina works to continuously fortify CLS’ contractor network nationwide and develops great relationships with our field partners across the country. Thanks to her leadership, we have been fortunate to work with some vendors for more than 20 years! In addition to leading the team and working with our vendors, Christina supports the development of CLS’ preventative maintenance program and works to set up more than 8,000 HVAC PMs and 500 FLS PMs on an annual basis.

Beyond the Office

In her free time, Christina enjoys traveling to warm-weather vacation spots and loves to spend a lot of time with her family and grandchildren. Christina has long served on the board of CLS’ entertainment committee and helped to plan many fun company social events and special meals.

If you ask any CLS team member, Christina is the ultimate chef — she dazzles in the kitchen, preparing her specialty pasta dishes, amazing soups, specialty breakfast casseroles, and so much more. Staff have been known to request the stuffed pepper soup or sausage breakfast bake to make sure we are fully energized for each and every workday. While our team is blessed with many culinary superstars, Christina is the queen of the kitchen in bringing many smiles to the faces of our staff when she prepares her delicious meals.

Christina’s positive attitude, sense of humor, and loving nature have fostered special growth to our CLS culture, and her contributions to our team, our processes, and our leadership have been truly influential.

For organizations with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations, budget planning is understandably complex. Each of these locations, in addition to corporate facilities, has multiple assets that vary in terms of age, performance, maintenance needs, and energy demands. It’s important to factor these details along with other goals into your overall budget. Additionally, the execution of work also influences budgets — as in, is your team responsible for working with service vendors, or are you working with an aggregator?

Even if your facilities management budget planning process is already complete, it’s important to remember that budgets don’t like to stay pinned down. You’ll always have surprises — unexpected costs, unplanned maintenance, critical replacements, etc. However, what matters is that you implement processes, systems, and partners that help you stay as far ahead of the curve as possible. Here, we’ll detail a few recommendations to help you do exactly that.

Did you miss our year-end budget planning recommendations? Check out our latest post and make sure you’ve covered all of your bases.

Recommendations for Proactively Reinforcing Your Facilities Management Budget

1. Invest the Time to Build a Detailed HVAC Asset List

Do you have a complete list of every single asset across all of your locations? If not, consider building one or working with an aggregator partner. For the latter, the aggregator will review all your HVAC assets across your footprint early on — and potentially other asset types such as lighting systems — to build a comprehensive list.

This database will show model numbers, serial numbers, asset histories, documentation, maintenance records, and more. This helps you identify which assets need maintenance and at what frequency. It also helps identify assets that could be proactively replaced (more on this shortly). The advantage is that you’ll be significantly more precise when it comes to figuring out maintenance and acquisition costs for the following year.

2. Setting Aside CapEx Money to Proactively Replace Old Units

Every building throughout your footprint was built at a different time. The same follows for the assets in those facilities. Some are older, some are newer. And if you have hundreds of sites, you likely have a batch of assets that are at replacement stage or rapidly approaching it. Rather than wait for them to break down and cause disruptions, consider proactively replacing them — and doing so from CapEx funds.

With CapEx asset replacement, new HVAC units and other assets are paid for up front, and all in one go, using corporate funds for every location where they’re needed. If you were to use OpEx funds, location themselves could become resource constrained. This way, the assets are replaced before they become problematic for each location, replacement costs can be amortized, and each location remains up and running in the new year.

3. Re-evaluate Your Facility Maintenance Service KPIs

What are you tracking when it comes to facility maintenance? If you’re operating with a straightforward break–fix mentality, you likely have no idea what the true cost of maintenance is — not just because maintenance is rarely occurring but also because you haven’t identified any cost savings through it. Also, who are you working with for maintenance? Are the service technicians from your commercial service vendors creating more expense by not getting the job done correctly the first time, resulting in excess call-backs? Remember, you can’t improve what you aren’t measuring.

4. Is Maintenance Being Managed by Individual Locations?

Even if you have a core facility management team, it may be the case that due to capacity limitations or time constraints, individual locations are having to address emergencies, replacements, and ongoing maintenance on their own. And if you don’t have a corporate facility management team, you can bet that’s the case. Consider working toward centralizing facility maintenance for all of your locations. The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to build a corporate facility management team. You can simply work with an aggregator who will handle all of this on your behalf.

Implement These Facilities Maintenance Budget Planning Solutions for a Better Year

As an aggregator, CLS Facility Services manages your facility asset maintenance program on your behalf. No more administrative hassles or frustrations, just a proactive partner that keeps all of your most critical assets running smoothly.

We achieve that through a strong relationship with you that’s based on service excellence and trust as well as long-term partnerships with commercial service vendors throughout our nationwide network. We have an average relationship length of 14.5 years with these vendors, so you know you’re getting only the best technicians when we assign them to your program.

When you partner with us for facility asset maintenance, you get a dedicated team — an account manager, billing contact, estimating specialist, and more — who manage your account with precision. And, our team members have an average tenure of more than 14 years with our organization, so you know that you’re working with experienced experts.

As facilities maintenance budget planning experts, we partner with you for annual budget planning to ensure you’re able to maximize every dollar you spend on maintaining your infrastructure — from proactive replacements and maintenance strategies to maximizing rebates and warranties. Connect with us below to make the year ahead one of your best.

Mid to late Q4 of every year will find facility management leaders and their teams engaged in budget planning and strategy for the year ahead. As with any budgeting effort, understanding facility management costs — from new asset purchase and installation to ongoing maintenance — from recent years is critical to making informed decisions about needs going forward.

This information and the process of analyzing it is about more than looking at what was spent but also what was not spent and the potential impact of that. For example, if a previous year’s budget did not allow for preventive maintenance for a specific location or group of assets, leaders would be wise to factor the risk of that into future budget proposals. According to industry research, deferred repairs or maintenance of as little as $100 could turn into a significantly more expensive $10,000 repair later.

Here, we’ll provide some facility maintenance cost management recommendations that have been proven to help organizations with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations or more streamline and enhance their budget planning.

• Go in-depth into discipline-specific budgeting and strategy: Explore a variety of ebooks and other resources to help you grow your knowledge.

4 Maintenance Cost Management Recommendations That Will Make the New Year More Prioritized and Cost Effective

Build a Detailed Multisite Asset Inventory

Each location in your footprint has dozens of individual assets across HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, signage, FLS, and more. Do you know the historical performance of those assets? Do you have all asset information such as model and serial numbers centrally stored? Do you have past maintenance records, invoices, and other important documentation readily available? If not, consider building an asset inventory list. It’s exactly what it sounds like, and it can help you dramatically impact maintenance cost management for the better. You’ll be able to identify your most critically underperforming assets by location and other criteria and make prioritized decisions about where to spend your resources in the future.

• Want to see a facility asset list in action? Connect with us today to see how it works and how it can help you.

Consider the CapEx Approach for Replacements

Another recommendation for optimizing facility maintenance cost management is to consider shifting to a CapEx-focused approach. Through this, you can proactively invest in long-term solutions such as asset replacements or upgrades and predictive maintenance technologies (such as energy management systems), which reduce costly emergency repairs and unplanned downtime. This method enhances cost predictability in annual budget planning and also supports overall organizational goals by extending asset lifespans and supporting sustainability initiatives.

Look Beyond the Assets Themselves

Asset replacements and repairs are important in facility maintenance cost management — but there’s more to plan for beyond these alone. Also consider the energy cost tied to various systems. Energy is one of the leading costs for commercial buildings, accounting for anywhere from 20% to 40% of operating expenses. Even a modest decrease in energy utilization can translate into significant savings as well as reduced maintenance costs. In addition to the asset inventory above, budgeting for lighting audits, retrofits and upgrades, and preventive maintenance solutions will help you invest in the energy intensity of your locations while also providing lucrative rebates that can help offset initial investments.

Consolidate Vendors with a Facility Management Aggregator

Last but not least (and certainly most impactful), consider the cost of your team having to deal with numerous commercial service vendors throughout your footprint. Are pricing and work quality appropriate and consistent? Are there gaps in service coverage that force your team to spend time finding new vendors? How much time is lost dealing with multiple work order management systems, account contacts, billing systems, etc.? Simply managing your program has a significant cost that must be considered in your budget planning. Carefully evaluate the benefits of working with a facility management aggregator to save.

Build a More Resilient Budget for the Year Ahead

Even if you already have a refined facility management budgeting process, consider how the above recommendations can help you take it further. At CLS Facility Services, we partner with our clients nationwide to help them make the most of their resources to extend the performance and lifespan of their assets. These are significant investments — ones that impact customers and employees every day. Maximizing that investment while leveraging every opportunity for facility maintenance cost management is crucial.

If we can assist you as you look to build your budget and strategy for the road ahead, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can book a time that works best for you here, or fill out the form below.

And that’s plumbing. Because of the longevity and inaccessibility of plumbing in facilities management, maintenance can be difficult to execute. While you might regularly adjust and replace plumbing fixtures and components that are more visible, other components (such as those inside walls or underground) may be left alone for decades. As you can imagine, it can be easy to forget about these assets over the years in favor of other needs in HVAC/R, lighting, electrical, fire/life safety, signage, and others.

However, this situation conflicts with many of the goals and focuses of facility managers today. For example, sustainability is likely one of your top priorities alongside managing costs and keeping locations up and running. Goals such as water conservation, leak detection, smart monitoring solutions, greywater repurposing, and implementing more sustainable materials (among countless others) all mean you need to be aware of existing plumbing systems, their performance, and where you can make improvements.

So, what’s the best approach to plumbing in facilities management? One that doesn’t equate to flushing your budget down the drain thanks to demolition and reconstruction expenses? One that doesn’t lead to facility closures, lost revenue for the business (or the tenant if you rent the space), and other financial setbacks? The answer is simple: work with a facility asset maintenance aggregator.

How an Aggregator Helps with Plumbing in Facilities Management

First, an aggregator is a company that manages a significant portion of your facility asset maintenance needs. Whereas you might currently be working with self-performing commercial service vendors near each of your locations, companies with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations benefit from working with an aggregator because they assume responsibility for this work entirely — and more.

Aggregators identify and manage vendors on your behalf, assess and analyze the assets across your entire footprint, build proactive maintenance plans, and assist in your annual budget planning. Some additional ways that an aggregator can help you get ahead on plumbing in facilities management include:

• Addressing old infrastructure — Depending on your facilities, it’s not unreasonable that the plumbing infrastructure itself is just as old as the building — especially for systems located in walls/floors. By conducting testing and assessing asset documentation and other historical data, your aggregator partner will be able to help you build out a managed plan for addressing aging infrastructure before it turns into costly problems and damage.
• Prioritizing maintenance to control costs — Plumbing assets can last a long time, but that doesn’t mean they don’t experience wear and tear that can dramatically shorten their lifespan. Proactive maintenance is critical for plumbing assets, but it can be prioritized based on need, financial/operational impact, asset age, and other variables. Your aggregator partner will be able to help you determine priority.
• Vendor consolidation — Apart from the assets themselves, working with an aggregator reduces the amount of time and effort your team has to invest in finding, onboarding, and communicating with self-performing plumbing vendors that support the areas where your facilities are located. Imagine the productivity boost your team will receive in not having to deal with the back and forth with current and prospective vendors. Additionally, you won’t have to deal with finding a vendor should an emergency arise — your aggregator will handle it for you.
• Budget planning using CapEx funding — Large-scale replacement of older plumbing assets can be expensive. Rather than waiting until a plumbing asset fails and paying reactively out of OpEx funds, an aggregator can help you identify facilities where such replacements may be needed ahead of time so you can factor those projects into CapEx budgets. This allows you to amortize the cost over time while keeping the location’s operational budgets dedicated to other needs.

Stop the Leak: Managing Plumbing Costs with a Facility Management Aggregator

Get your copy of our in-depth guide to commercial plumbing maintenance here and learn how to proactively manage plumbing maintenance costs across all of your locations.

Put Our Expertise to the Test

As one of the leading facility asset maintenance aggregators in the country, CLS Facility Services works with organizations across a variety of industries to help them with all manner of maintenance needs. As experts in plumbing maintenance, we know the challenges you’re up against. Entrust your plumbing needs to us, and benefit from:

• Complete support for all of your locations across the United States
• A partnership built on more than 50 years of experience and tenure
• A single dedicated account management/emergency contact team
• An online asset management portal available to you 24/7/365
• A national network of tenured, proven commercial service vendors
• Support with budgeting and CapEx planning
• And much, much more

If you’re ready to take a new approach to plumbing in facilities management, our team is ready to help. Connect with us below or book a time that works best for you.

Working with an experienced and knowledgeable team that handles service calls with elite follow-up is excellent as well. The best facility management aggregators look to take the work away from the facility manager and execute a service call from start to finish, providing thorough updates. With commercial plumbing maintenance services, these attributes are very important given the high number of plumbing service needs that result in either an emergency call or a need that requires immediate action.

In this overview, we’ll explore this topic from two perspectives: 1) what your facilities themselves should consider with regard to their plumbing needs, and 2) what makes for an ideal commercial plumbing maintenance partner who can meet those needs.

Stop the Leak: Learn how to manage plumbing costs across all of your facilities with an aggregator. Download your free copy of our latest guide.

5 Questions Your Facility Partners Should Ask Sites to Ensure Excellence in Plumbing Service

1. Are you experiencing low water pressure in any manner?
2. Has your site had backflow testing done at any time in the past six months?
3. Are there any current leaks or emergencies that are impacting your business right now?
4. Can you tell me how long your business has resided at this location?
5. Has this issue occurred in the past three months?

An experienced customer service team of knowledgeable account managers will ask the right questions — not only to gauge the comfort level of the site but also to prepare the plumbing technician with as much information as possible before they go to a site. Having all of the details helps plumbers arrive on site with the correct materials and an understanding of whether the issue is new or recurring. It also helps them to prioritize the visit depending upon the severity of the emergency — or lack thereof.

As service networks change nationwide, the need for strong national coverage is ever important, but the manner in which services calls are managed carries the utmost importance, too. A strong facility management aggregator not only has a strong network but also manages calls with precision to look out for your needs and optimal results.

5 Ways the Optimal Facility Maintenance Partner Provides Excellent Plumbing Services

1. Your account manager understands your communication preferences and needs so that both the facility manager and site personnel are confident in timely repairs and optimal outcomes.
2. Your partner tracks repair and work history in order to identify recurring issues or sites experiencing repeat plumbing issues.
3. Your partner has a multi-tiered national plumbing network to handle emergency needs during busy times in a timely manner, with quality response times.
4. They have procedures established to look to resolve as many plumbing issues as possible on the first visit to the site.
5. Your partner offers plumbing training and educational sessions for your facilities maintenance team, allowing your business to increase its technical knowledge and to ask questions with veteran plumbers.

Work with the Best in the Business

At CLS, your four- to five-person assigned team will have 75+ years of industry experience. They are here to look out for your best interests and needs and to complete jobs during standard business hours, nights, weekends, and busy holidays. Our team members have elite customer service training and are empathetic in understanding your individual needs and look to support you.

Connect with us below to learn more about our plumbing capabilities, or book a time with us that works best for you.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: Stop the Leak: Managing Plumbing Costs with a Facility Management Aggregator

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When LED lighting first burst onto the scene in the facility maintenance world, 2×4 LED troffers cost more than $200 per fixture, their warranties were limited, and color temperature selection was a pipe dream. The thought of converting a facility of any size or type to LED carried large energy savings, but the return on investment for such projects typically ranged from four to eight years!

Fast forward to 2024 and LED lighting retrofit options are not only more cost efficient, but styles and options for LED are more eclectic than ever before. Return on investment potential has dramatically expanded and accelerated, with the method making an impact on these figures as well.

In this post we’ll explore the different LED lighting retrofit options available as of today so you can make an informed decision about which to implement in your locations.

Go in-depth into commercial LED retrofits in this extensive overview, complete with a glossary of LED and lighting terminology. Download your copy now.

Exploring the Different Types of LED Lighting Retrofit Options

• Retrofit existing fixtures — When looking to manage a budget for commercial facilities for LED lighting upgrades, the option to retrofit existing fixtures will always be more cost efficient than replacing technology with new fixtures. Please don’t feel like this option is “cheaper,” but instead merely more cost efficient. For businesses that do not desire an entirely new aesthetic, retrofitting existing fixtures can make projects more budget friendly, while simultaneously capturing energy savings in the 40 to 80% range. Likewise, LED lamp options carry very strong five- to 10-year warranties.
• Replace fixtures entirely — For businesses looking for a new aesthetic, new fixture options are most cost efficient than ever and carry strong warranties as well. New fixture technologies often come with color selectable features, allowing fixture settings to be customized for each and every space. Feasibly, one office could have one color temperature, while the office next door is a different color temperature altogether.

Additional Considerations with LED Retrofits

Ballast Elimination is Most Important

Regardless of whether you choose to retrofit existing fixtures or to go with all-new LED fixtures, the elimination of T12, T8, T5, and HID ballasts is the most important element in converting to LED. While energy savings and lighting utility rebates help to support stronger ROI, the elimination of ballasts creates one point of failure in each fixture and saves thousands of dollars in the future. This is because ballasts no longer need to be replaced, which was necessary with older lighting technologies that LED is replacing. The elimination of ballasts reduces maintenance savings immediately after project completion and continues to pay back your business with maintenance and material savings for years to come.

Maximize Your LED Warranties

Furthermore, regardless of LED retrofit vs. fixture replacement options, maximizing your LED lighting warranty is integral. Working with an experienced partner like CLS — who has completed more than 10,000 lighting retrofits in the past decade — offers businesses the opportunity to earn warranties that go beyond the norm.

Oftentimes, those strong relationships CLS has with manufacturers can help you to earn an industry-leading 10-year warranty on LED technologies. In this manner, not only does your business reap the benefits of strong project ROIs and great results, but you are benefitting from 10 years of not having to pay for lighting technology replacement or material costs to replace lamps or fixtures.

Let’s Shine a Light on the Best LED Lighting Retrofit Options for Your Situation

CLS Facility Services has been supporting organizations across the country for more than 50 years with all manner of facility asset maintenance needs. From HVAC/R and lighting to plumbing and fire/life safety, we build proactive programs that keep assets running their best while helping businesses avoid unexpected maintenance costs and more. With a highly experienced team, distinct value-adds that keep you informed 24/7/365, and a national network of proven vendors, we’re the team you need to achieve your facility management goals.

Connect with us below or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

eBook: Stop the Leak: Managing Plumbing Costs with a Facility Management Aggregator

Get insights that will help you offset the challenges associated with plumbing within your facility management strategy.

While some facility management disciplines operate with comparatively less attention and demand, others require more — especially as facilities age or emergencies arise. Plumbing is one of these disciplines.

In our free guide, you’ll tap into plumbing and learn the challenges that are contributing to this higher demand to help you avoid physical, on-site messes as well as messes in your facility management budget planning.

What you’ll learn in this ebook:

• The impact of aging infrastructure
• The importance of multi-site work uniformity
• Preventive maintenance strategy
• Budget planning recommendations
• And more

Fill out the form to download your free copy now.

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Q4 is rapidly approaching, and that means budgeting and planning for the year ahead. Soon you and your team will meet to plan a variety of facility management needs — from maintenance cycles to asset replacement needs and more. With Q4 and the new year comes more than just a sea of financial tasks and planning, however — it also brings opportunities to make the road ahead more advantageous. And that’s thanks to commercial lighting audits and surveys.

Why commercial lighting audits and surveys? How does this seemingly minor program make a meaningful long-term contribution to your facility management strategy? It all comes down to the lighting and electrical work you have planned for the coming year.

If your organization is planning virtually any form of lighting upgrades, replacements, or even just maintenance across your locations, you must first assess what’s actually needed at each location — before signing contracts and executing the work itself. Additionally, if you plan to take advantage of the many utility and/or government rebates that come with energy-efficient LED retrofits and upgrades, you’ll need to first determine which locations and assets will qualify for them. All of this and more is done through commercial lighting audits and surveys.

Learn how to navigate a successful commercial LED retrofit program in our in-depth guide. Download your free copy here.

What Goes Into a Commercial Lighting Audit and Survey

A commercial lighting audit and survey assesses numerous aspects of lighting assets themselves, related electrical systems, and overall lighting needs — all tailored to the individual locations of your facilities. Below is a sampling of what a lighting survey includes:

• Collection of all lighting data across facilities for all locations surveyed
• Evaluation of lighting equipment, fixtures, wiring, and more
• Analysis of lighting distribution, color temperature, and outages (interior and exterior)
• Determination on installation equipment needed (lifts, recycling of lamps or ballasts, new sockets, etc.)
• Analysis of location-specific energy and lighting maintenance expenses
• Evaluation of asset warranties, purchase orders, and related documentation
• Identification of any requirements for utility rebate programs
• Development of proposals for retrofits, maintenance, upgrades, and replacements

How All of This Helps with Proactive Planning

A commercial lighting audit and survey for your locations is crucial for annual facility management budget and work planning for a number of reasons:

• You know exactly how many assets are in play across your footprint
• Data about asset age, performance, cost, and more is up-to-date
• Cost savings and rebate data is all made available prior to budget planning
• Warranty information is gathered proactively, saving you time and effort
• Recommendations for upgrades, replacements, and improvements are provided
• This helps to prevent unplanned change orders down the road

Maximize the Success of Your Lighting Survey Program — and What Follows It — with a Facility Management Aggregator

We understand that this is just one of many responsibilities and areas of focus that you and your team have around this time of year. But taking proactive steps to protect your locations against the unexpected — as well as your facility management budget — will go a long way in ensuring that customers and employees have consistently positive experiences each and every day and that you’re in the best position possible to reduce costs and maximize asset performance.

As a facility management aggregator for organizations spanning numerous industries, CLS Facility Services is the ideal partner to help you implement commercial lighting audits and surveys — as well as many other proactive facility asset maintenance solutions. Learn more about how we can support your success in the months ahead, and then connect with us to discuss your facility management needs.

For more than 50 years, CLS Facility Services has been supporting organizations with 50 to 500 locations to proactively maintain a variety of assets, monitor and improve performance, and enhance FM strategy. We’ll do the same — and more — for you.

Insights from the Experts

Stop the Leak: Managing Plumbing Costs with a Facility Management Aggregator

Get insights into the challenges of plumbing in facility asset maintenance and how an aggregator can transform this critical part of your maintenance strategy.

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Our Facility Maintenance Services

As a leading facilities maintenance company, we offer a complete portfolio of capabilities to proactively maintain your most crucial assets.

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Recent Posts

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Understanding Commercial HVAC Preventive Maintenance

Commercial HVAC preventive maintenance turns reactive facility management into strategic asset protection. Learn the fundamentals from CLS Facility Services.

CLS Offers Extensive Facility Asset Management for Laboratory HVAC Systems, Lighting Systems, and More

Whether nationwide or regional, laboratory companies that operate multiple sites face challenges in facility asset management every day. From navigating site- and asset-specific issues and repair needs to proactively planning organization-wide asset maintenance strategy and budgeting. It’s a lot for a single facility management team to handle. Working with an aggregator such as CLS Facility Services for lab managed maintenance services is the ideal solution.

We provide proactive maintenance solutions, on-call services, and emergency support for a wide range of assets, including laboratory HVAC/R, lighting, electrical systems, plumbing, signage, and more. As your dedicated lab managed maintenance services partner, we also offer energy- and cost-saving solutions to help you meet your sustainability goals, such as cloud-based energy management systems and more.

In addition to addressing lighting and electrical needs, we specialize in turnkey LED retrofit projects. Our comprehensive process includes conducting site surveys and creating turnkey proposals that cover LED fixture solutions, energy savings evaluations, return on investment analyses, and detailed lighting asset management information. We also provide industry-leading warranties on your LED solutions. CLS handles every aspect of the survey, rebate, procurement, and LED retrofit projects, ensuring that you prioritize your LED upgrades based on the greatest energy savings, optimal utility rebates, and highest ROI.

We Go Beyond Just Laboratory Asset Maintenance

When you partner with CLS Facility Services, you get more than asset maintenance. Whether you have a few dozen locations or a few hundred, we provide a complete solution for managing your most important assets at every site:

• A national network of proven vendors to execute work, managed by our team
• A partner that supports you in annual facility budget planning and strategy
• Ability to use your work order management system (and we offer our own)
• A complete list of all assets at all locations with extensive model information
• An online asset management portal available to you and your team 24/7/365
• Online access to all invoices, work orders, estimates, and other documentation
• A dedicated account manager and estimating contact to advise and support you
• Your account manager is also your contact for emergency needs

Keep Your Labs Running Smoothly with CLS Facility Services

Connect with us today to learn more about our laboratory managed maintenance services for HVAC, lighting, electrical, FLS, plumbing, and more.

Case Study: Maximizing Turnkey LED Project Management

We previously documented the importance of a well-planned process to maximize the many benefits of an LED lighting retrofit rollout. Whether budgeting LED retrofit work for a chain of 50 retail stores, 150 storage facilities, or 5,000 office settings, a definitive action plan is key.

Let’s recap CLS’ action plan in rolling out an LED retrofit for more than 1,000 office locations across the country for a large financial services firm. In doing so, we’ll visit the steps involved with pre-planning, procurement, installations, and maximizing optimal return on investment.

A quick summary of the pilot program: CLS Facility Services implemented a turnkey LED retrofit pilot program for a nationwide financial services firm with more than 8,000 locations. The pilot at 230 locations in Missouri replaced outdated, mercury-containing T8 and T12 lamps with mercury-free LED lamps — yielding immediate environmental and financial benefits. The program achieved a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, 62.5% energy savings, and significantly lowered utility costs. Read the case study here.

Situation Analysis and Pre-Planning

1. Goals were set in advance to determine the number of projects to be completed on a monthly and annual basis in order to execute large amounts of work in a timely manner. Work was spread out in order to meet the budgetary needs of the client.
2. We studied the geographical layout of thousands of locations in order to determine the most optimal states and larger utility rebates available. This allowed us to organize projects chronologically and by state based upon rebate strength.
3. Detailed lighting surveys were conducted in order to capture accurate information to ensure project success, lack of change orders, and optimal energy savings options.
4. LED materials were selected, based upon cost competitiveness, largest energy savings, strength of warranty, and compliance with lighting rebate programs.
5. Projects were completed on a state-by-state basis and rebates were achieved where available, helping to pay for 10 to 20% of LED project costs.
6. Pipelines for state completions were established two to four months in advance of work beginning in order to maximize savings, utility rebate potential, and priorities for the client.

By planning ahead and adroitly carrying out the above steps, LED projects were completed on time, on budget, and with the most optimal technology to foster strongest savings, warranty, and ROI.

The Results the First 18 Months of the LED Retrofit Program

1. We completed 1,300 LED retrofits for the financial firm, resulting in 62.1% energy savings.
2. We secured industry-leading 10-year warranties on all LED materials involved in the retrofit projects.
3. EPA recycling of all removed lamps resulted in landfill waste avoidance of more than 10,000 pounds of material in order to be green compliant and meet all state and national regulations for recycling.
4. Utility rebates were captured for all locations that had rebates available.
5. Technicians built schedules to work around the hours of operation of the offices, holidays, and peak season business in order to not disrupt locations’ daily operations.
6. Weekly meetings were conducted to discuss project details, areas for improvement, and scheduling of LED work for future states in order to maximize energy savings, utility rebates, and project efficiency.
7. LED project routes were established seasonally — based upon weather conditions — in order to optimize technicians’ travel in harsh-weather areas, ensure work could always be done during specific windows of time, and that weather would not impact travel conditions.

Success Requires Experience — Ensure You’re Working with the Right Partner

Establishing efficient processes for LED retrofits can lead to optimal results and facilitate work for the many personnel that are involved in creating successful project completions. For each client, the approach is different and is based upon their goals, their budgetary needs, and their timelines. While all needs are different, customizing the project management approach via strong communication leads to success.

When it comes to maximizing LED retrofit work, selecting a partner with many years of project experience and a superb project management team is of paramount importance. CLS is that team. Connect with us today to learn more about our LED retrofit capabilities.

The environmental impacts of LED lighting are well-known, and a strong motivator behind a lot of businesses’ recent shift to more sustainable lighting. In fact, the North American LED lighting market reached $20.5 billion in 2023, and has an estimated growth rate of 8.6%. This boom can be attributed to the rising interest in sustainability efforts. However, the financial benefits of LED retrofitting your business are equally as important and should be explored further.

LED retrofit projects enhance the value of your commercial space, and are more cost-effective than completely replacing the entire lighting system. Before you embark on LED retrofitting your business, you should understand the financial advantages that may come your way. Here, we’ll explore the cost-savings associated with LED retrofitting and share an example of a business who transformed their commercial spaces without damaging their budget.

How Can LED Retrofitting Save You Money?

LED retrofitting your lighting systems throughout your facilities will result in reduced maintenance costs because LED lighting requires less upkeep than incandescent bulbs. That’s because LED lights have a much longer lifespan. They last an impressive 20,000 to 60,000 hours. Compare that with incandescent bulbs, which typically only last 750 to 2,000 hours. That’s an instant cost-savings because businesses don’t have to repeatedly invest in replacements. You also won’t have to spend money on maintenance labor. Those resources can instead be directed elsewhere.

Additionally, the energy savings that come with LED retrofitting your facilities means lower utility bills. LED lights generate very little heat and use less electricity, so expect savings across the board, from lighting and energy to HVAC. LED retrofitting can cut these expenses anywhere from 40% to 90%.

Government incentives also help offset the initial investment of LED retrofitting your business. Depending on facility locations, certain rebates are available to pay a percentage of LED project costs. You can also take advantage of other nationwide incentives or tax deductions. For instance, EP Act 179, enacted in 2020, offers tax deductions for commercial businesses that improve the energy efficiency of their buildings.

LED retrofitting is also much more cost-effective than completely replacing all light fixtures. LED lights are more versatile than traditional lighting, and can be fitted into existing fixtures, eliminating the extra cost of replacing them. Those expenses can add up, so this flexibility is key.

In general, an experienced partner will ensure that an LED retrofit project disrupts the daily operations of your business as little as possible. Let’s take a look at a recent example of how CLS Facility Services supported a client with their LED retrofit project.

Example: Proper Planning for LED Work Produces Optimal Results

Recently, a major financial services firm partnered with CLS Facility Services for a complete LED retrofitting in more than 1,000 office locations across the country. Organized project management was key for this large endeavor, and allowed it to be carried out on time and within budget.

Ensuring that daily operations in these commercial spaces were not interrupted was paramount, and proper planning allowed for this. Technicians built their work schedules around the hours of operations of these offices so as not to disrupt business. They also ensured that they were not interrupting the offices during peak season times.

In addition, LED project routes were established to better optimize the labor of these technicians. For example, seasonality and weather conditions were noted to make sure weather would not impact travel conditions for the technicians. Partnering with an experienced LED retrofitting expert like CLS Facility Services ensured that this financial services firm would not have to shut down any locations and lose out on businesses, thus saving money in the long run.

Proper planning also allowed each location to achieve rebates where available, which helped to pay for 10 to 20% of LED retrofitting costs. CLS Facility Services was able to maximize savings, utility rebate potential, and enhance the value of each project for a stronger ROI. In the end, we completed 1,300 LED retrofits for the financial services firm, which resulted in an astounding 62.1% energy savings.

LED Retrofitting: Eco-Friendly and Budget-Smart

Of course the ultimate benefit of LED retrofitting is helping the planet, but the financial perks are certainly hard to ignore. When selecting a partner for your LED retrofit project, CLS Facility Services is hard to ignore, too.

We have extensive experience with organizations across multiple industries to help them benefit from the environmental and financial impacts of LED retrofitting. We provide you with facility asset management services that you can trust to help your organization operate at peak performance while also achieving your financial and sustainability goals.

Connect with our team today to learn more about how our turnkey LED retrofitting can help your business save money. 

When LED lighting first became prominent, retrofits were often limited to very costly new fixtures. While lighting energy savings were substantial, costs were significant, warranties were limited, and the return on investment for converting to LED lighting was often in the 3–4-year range.

Fast forward to today, and modern LED retrofits are not only more cost efficient but also foster greater results than ever before. The key for facility managers is to look to maximize all of the benefits of converting to LED while simultaneously fitting these impactful projects into the CapEx budgets accordingly.

Grow your knowledge: Learn everything that goes into a commercial LED lighting retrofit program.

Five Difference Makers in the Modern LED Retrofit

1. Lower Costs — When LED entered the market, fixture replacements were the lone option and newer technologies carried sky-high prices. Now, pricing is competitive and ROIs can achieve the 12–24-month range — not the 3-4 year range of yesteryear.
2. Ballast Elimination — Original LED technologies required old ballasts to be replaced with LED drivers — just a fancier “LED version” of ballasts. In this manner, LED still had two failure points: the lamps and the drivers. Now, LED direct-wire lamps allow for ballast elimination, creating more dynamic energy and maintenance savings.
3. Game-Changing Warranties — When LED debuted, it was common to see 3-year warranties with the occasional 5-year warranty. Now, leading LED manufacturers offer 7-, 8-, and even 10-year warranties — creating a more prominent long-term investment when converting to LED.
4. Stronger Energy Savings — For typical ceiling fixtures found in offices, retail stores, and storage spaces, original LED lamps were 16–20 watts apiece, meaning conversion to LED offered approximately 30–50% savings. Now, direct-wire LED lamps are 8–12 watts apiece, demonstrating 55–75% energy savings across the board.
5. Multiple LED Options and Flexibility — New LED lighting technologies offer entire fixture replacement, retrofit kits for existing fixture housing, new LED lamps, and multiple ways to retrofit nearly any lighting application. Facility managers can select LED retrofit options that are right for their business aesthetic, budgetary needs, energy savings goals, and the light levels they desire.

While LED retrofit results are more cost efficient, create more energy savings, and produce better ROI than ever before, some of the same best practices still prove true in fostering optimal results. With many lighting manufacturers and many LED install partners available, carefully making key decisions is integral in earning optimal results.

Four Best Practices in Unlocking the Ideal LED Retrofit

1. Conduct Thorough Lighting Surveys — Paying for in-depth lighting surveys prior to LED work is fundamental, as it ensures accuracy of data, decreased risk of change orders, and maximization of warranties. They will help to ensure that the correct LED retrofit solution is selected for your sites.
2. Maximize Warranties — With 8- and 10-year warranties available in the modern market, make sure to select specs from reliable manufacturers with strong warranties. In this manner, you aren’t just looking to achieve that sparkling 18-month ROI, but also making sure you have an LED solution for years to come.
3. Ask for References — With LED being so important, make sure to obtain references from your LED retrofit partner. A good management company should have 500+ LED retrofit project completions on their resume.
4. Make Sure Projects are Turn-Key — The utopian LED project should include strong surveys, perfect procurement, great project execution, maximization of utility rebates, proper recycling of removed lamps, and a project recap that can demonstrate to your upper management team that the job was very well done.

Implement the Best LED Retrofit Solutions with CLS Facility Services

For more than 50 years, CLS Facility Services has been assisting companies nationwide with turnkey LED retrofits, electrical and lighting maintenance, and more. We’re ready to help you, too. As an aggregator, we handle all aspects of your program on your behalf, ensuring you and your team can focus on more strategic priorities while our team — and our network of proven lighting vendors nationwide — keep all of your locations shining brightly for your customers and employees.

Connect with us today to learn more and to start building your LED retrofit solution.

Your work order management system is essential to the daily facility asset management operations of your business. From creating work orders themselves to managing documentation and vendor partners, the amount of information that you and your team process every day likely couldn’t be done — and realistically, shouldn’t be done — without a proper and effective work order management system in place.

However, you already know there are many work order management systems available for facility management teams. While each has common as well as distinct features and benefits, it’s important to consider the cost of these platforms in terms of 1) what you pay as well and 2) the effort/involvement required to use it. Even the most efficient work order management system won’t help you if you still have to invest time elsewhere in making it work. It may be helpful to break down a couple scenarios for comparison.

1. A System Managed by Your Team Only

• You pay a monthly or annual fee for using the work order platform
• You pay a fee per work order or ticket to utilize the system
• Your team is responsible for managing all work orders for all locations
• Your team handles all setup, communications, and files from vendors
• Your team handles all system upkeep and other administrative work
• Your team manages and stores estimates and invoices in the system
• Your team handles the system developer relationship
• Updates, changes, research, and analysis are your team’s responsibility
• Training new hires is your responsibility (or has a fee if done by the developer)
• Your team has to deal with system maintenance, outages, and other issues

2. A System Managed by Your Team — and an Aggregator

• The aggregator provides a work order management system for you to use
• The aggregator is responsible for managing all work orders for all locations
• The aggregator handles all setup, communications, and files from vendors
• The aggregator handles all system upkeep and other administrative work
• The aggregator manages and stores estimates and invoices in the system
• The aggregator handles the system developer relationship (or is the developer)
• Updates, changes, research, and analysis are the aggregator’s responsibility
• The aggregator can train your team on their system or one already in use
• The aggregator deals with system maintenance, outages, and other issues

Now Consider, in Which Scenario Do You Come Out Ahead?

At first, it might seem like handling all of this work in-house with a set number of FTEs is preferable. You know what the platform costs, and you know what it costs to have those employees. But what is the cost of heavy workloads holding those employees back from accomplishing other high priority tasks?

In facilities management, time is of the essence — a broken down HVAC/R system can lead to store closures and lost revenue. Malfunctioning signage creates negative impressions that can affect customer perceptions. Lighting issues can also lead to safety issues, which impact business operations. If your team can’t address issues such as these fast enough because they’re dealing with other administrative burdens, the cost becomes even greater.

No, in reality the second scenario is far better. Of course, working with an aggregator comes with a cost. But when you work with the right partner, that cost is offset by key value-adds such as a cost-free work order management system — and, greatest of all, the removal of almost all work outlined in the comparison above from your plate. That’s because those tasks are what aggregators do best: handling your facility asset management program on your behalf so your team can focus on other strategic priorities.

One of the distinct benefits of working with an aggregator is that their facility asset management capabilities are performed for all of your locations — not just one or a few. All of them. This is often a challenge for facility teams who otherwise would have to identify self-performing service vendors near each location. Instead, the aggregator leans on established relationships with commercial service vendors and manages all work from start to finish, proactively maintaining assets and helping you control costs.

Learn more about the advantages of working with an aggregator here.

Work with the Leader in Facility Asset Management

At CLS Facility Services, we provide a work order management system that is completely cost free for our clients. Because it’s our own in-house system, you only have one party to work with for updates or support needs. Combined with our preventive maintenance strategies and complete support for virtually every asset across all of your locations, a partnership with us helped you control costs, accelerate results in your program, and more efficiently manage all of the information and data pertaining to facility management.

Connect with us to learn more about our capabilities and our system.

Overcome Today’s Challenges with Expert Facility Management Training

Are you noticing a lack of coverage and maintenance support across your organization? Are you facing a shortage of skilled technicians across all service disciplines? Are you struggling to find new or consistent ways to train new and existing staff?

If you’re seeing a shift in your team, you’re not alone — the number of skilled workers in the trades is lower than ever due to a lack of workforce participation, a need for additional skill training, and older generations retiring faster than new workers can replace them.

That’s why CLS offers facility management training with a focus on maintenance across numerous asset types such as lighting, LED retrofits, signage, HVAC, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, and more.

Here’s How Our Facility Management Training Stands Out

Expert Insights

Led by our internal team, our facility management training equips your staff with knowledge built from decades of experience across the industry.

Partner Support

In addition to our team, we bring in outside partners from the trades to provide practical examples, scenarios, and more.

Multiple Formats

Our facility management training can be conducted virtually or in-person — whatever works best for your team and their time.

Shorter Sessions

Training is conducted in 20- to 30-minute sessions to fit into attendees’ schedules and is focused on specific topics to ensure maximum absorption of the content.

Interactive Style

Shorter training also allows for Q&A sessions, and attendees are encouraged to ask questions to ensure they walk away informed and fully prepared.

100% Free

There is no charge for our facility management training. We believe in empowering leaders and workers with the knowledge they need for success.

Schedule Training for Your Team Now

Our training is tailored to your team and their needs and whenever you need it. Simply fill out the form below, and our team will be in touch to discuss a training plan and get you scheduled. Please also feel free to call us at (800) 548-3542.

Recently, we explored the importance of strong customer service in your facility asset maintenance relationships. Whether you use local self-performers for maintaining HVAC/R, electrical, lighting, plumbing, and signage systems, or you partner with an aggregator, it’s clear that customer service in facilities maintenance makes a significant impact on the overall success of your program. Here are a few key reminders why:

• If you don’t have trust with the partner, you won’t have a successful partnership
• You need a dedicated team to turn to when urgent matters arise
• It’s important to know status 24/7/365 — the right partner makes this happen
• They’ll be there to support you strategically to ensure lasting program success

The need for capable service from vendors and partners is more pressing than ever — with facility leaders pulled in multiple directions, ensuring that your organization has the support it needs will not only provide peace of mind but also ensure you and your team are able to focus on other strategic priorities and goals. Here, we’d like to dig deeper into even more advantages that come with strong customer service in facilities maintenance.

The Extended Benefits of Customer Service in Facilities Maintenance

• Reduced administrative workload — How busy would you say your team is right now? Between addressing the various needs of your locations to communicating with vendors, your team is likely swamped at all times — and that’s not even considering the time and effort needed for new objectives and projects for the year. Good customer service from your partners and vendors proactively ensures that your team doesn’t have to continually come back to them for callbacks, complaints, questions, and so on. They work tirelessly to ensure you’re well taken care of and issues or needs are addressed before bringing them to your attention.
• Work order management — Simply managing the day to day work orders for your locations, whether preventive or reactive, is itself a heavy burden that requires attention to detail and consistent follow-through. Again, whether you’re working with self-performers or an aggregator, strong facilities maintenance customer service ensures work orders are processed and managed efficiently and consistently. Additionally, the systems used to manage them are also considered — e.g., does the vendor need to adapt to your current system, or is a new system needed? All of this should be considered to make your program run as smoothly as possible.
• Service vendor consolidation — This one is huge. If you work with self-performers, it’s likely that you have quite a roster of vendors to manage every day. Good customer service ensures that the vendor keeps its place on that roster, or whether it sees itself promptly dismissed. When working with an aggregator, strong service translates into less self-performer management for your team while also holding current vendors accountable for the quality and timeliness of their work.
• Team training support — The amount of knowledge and experience that is about to exit the facilities industry is astounding. More people are retiring than are replacing them. A partner that prioritizes training will offer this educational support for your team members to maximize their knowledge and skill. At CLS, we offer cost-free training to both clients and commercial service vendors to keep their teams skilled and sharp.
• Performance analysis — Last but certainly not least, good customer service knows that it can’t make things better or move the needle further for your organization if it doesn’t understand how work has progressed thus far, what has gone well, and what could stand to be improved.

Get the Reliable Facilities Maintenance Support You Need with CLS Facility Services

For more than 50 years, we’ve been partnering with organizations across multiple industries nationwide — from retail and restaurants to financial institutions, medical facilities, offices, and more — to deliver a better approach to facility asset management. Our preventive maintenance programs proactively assess everything from HVAC/R and plumbing to electrical and lighting systems — and more. Working closely together from day one, our team builds and manages an asset maintenance strategy that delivers countless benefits:

• Resolving asset repair issues before they become costly problems
• Creation of a complete and detailed list of all assets at all locations
• Coordination and scheduling of service vendors across all locations
• Use of your existing work order system, or the use of our free system
• A dedicated team to work with and contact as needed (emergencies included)
• Coverage across all 50 states, ensuring every location is supported
• Support with annual facility management budgeting and strategic planning
• An online portal with 24/7/365 access to all program documentation

If you’ve been looking for a partner with stronger customer service that can support virtually all of your facility asset maintenance needs, our team is ready to help. Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities.

Regardless of the reasoning for those changes, it’s important to have an elite network and strong customer service to ensure jobs are completed in a timely manner for a fair price. This is especially critical during the summer months, when business is on the rise and your retail stores, restaurants, clinics, and storage facilities are seeing more traffic and demand on assets such as HVAC systems.

Facility maintenance work orders seem to be abundant and oftentimes cumbersome during these important months of high business volume. When things break or facility issues arise, you must have a partner you can trust to execute and get the job done smoothly for you. Here, we’ll explore the importance of onboarding facility maintenance partners efficiently and how you can make this process more efficient and effective.

5 Reasons Why Facility Managers Change Their Vendor Network

1. Vendors lack the coverage necessary to service all geographical areas. Related, facility managers need to have multiple strong vendors in a given region to handle key emergencies in a timely manner.
2. Pricing is too high, and costs are negatively impacting facility budgets set forth at the beginning of the fiscal year.
3. Customer service and communication are lacking. Facility managers find themselves having to handle too much communication and jumping through hoops just to get work orders completed efficiently.
4. Quotes take too long and lack detail and consultative feedback, making decisions more difficult and leaving unanswered questions when it comes to making the best decisions for your business.
5. Facility managers’ primary points of contact leave, forcing managers to work with multiple people to get answers and to get work orders completed efficiently.

While there are many facility management companies to choose from, selecting a company with a smooth onboarding process and strong communication is increasingly important — yet simultaneously difficult to find. Vetting new facility maintenance partners can be tedious and time consuming, especially during periods of high work order volume when getting the job done has to be prioritized over selecting new partners.

Unfortunately, continuum becomes an evolving cycle. When selecting a partner, know that there are high standards that can help ensure seamless new partnerships and that the transition can be smooth and helpful to your facility maintenance program. A good partner eases stress for a facility manager — they don’t create it!

5 Steps to Onboarding Facility Maintenance Partners Efficiently

1. Prior to onboarding a new vendor partner, ensure you have the opportunity to meet their entire team. While talking to a salesperson can answer many questions, having a call with the operations team and asking important questions can help facility managers get the answers they need.
2. Set expectations in advance of the start of a new partnership. As a facility manager:
   1. What services are most important to you?
   2. What sort of volume do you anticipate needing from that new vendor in order to succeed?
   3. Demand to have one to two key points of contact to eliminate the “call center mentality.”
   4. Define the procedures that you need in place for communication, quotes, and invoicing.
3. Ask for references to support your decision to onboard a new vendor. A good facility management partner can easily provide multiple references to give you confidence that you’re making the right decision.
4. Following the start of a new vendor partnership, schedule a biweekly touch-base call to review quotes, items of need, and areas where processes and communication can improve.
5. Request biannual business reviews to review costs, key data, and communication in order to ensure success and build a mutual long-term partnership in place.

Experience a New Approach to Onboarding Facility Maintenance Partners at CLS

At CLS Facility Services, we work diligently to paint a vivid picture of the onboarding process before beginning every client partnership. Setting expectations, customizing the right program, understanding communication requirements, and verifying key items of need are critical to how we deliver a great start to every new partnership.

If you’re tired of dealing with breakdowns in communication, constant service failures, unmet expectations, and other issues, our team is here to help. Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities and to build a new facility maintenance program that lasts.

Are you prepared for the reality that, in the next three to five years, the skilled trades will be on the cusp of losing many experienced craftspeople? Unfortunately, this means the retirement — and the loss — of hundreds of skilled HVAC technicians, electricians, plumbers, and other skilled workers who bring their expertise and specialty crafts to the facility maintenance industry.

Alongside the demand for skilled tradespeople is the growing need for ongoing facility maintenance training. Moving forward, it will be crucial for companies — both on the service provider side and for the businesses that manage their facilities — to find new ways to train their staff. This includes endeavoring to support strong technical knowledge so that the facility management industry continues to flourish with skilled and knowledgeable people.

Unravel the current educational challenges in the trades below, and how flexible, interactive, new, cost-free facility maintenance training can begin to make a change in the industry.

A Few of the Top Challenges in Providing Professional Facility Maintenance Training

Many businesses currently find it challenging to provide professional training for their staff due to high costs, employees being “out of office” during training, or training not being prioritized. Regardless of the circumstances, at CLS Facility Services, we have found it highly beneficial to rely on industry partnerships. Strong facility maintenance partners can provide the training needed to help employees improve their technical knowledge, understand quotes and details, and become more educated in making key repair decisions.

How CLS Supports Ongoing Facility Maintenance Training

Facility managers and their teams benefit from the comprehensive training programs in HVAC, electrical, lighting, LED retrofit, and plumbing here at CLS Facility Services. Our internal staff delivers robust technical knowledge, ensuring participants gain a solid foundation in these essential areas.

To further enrich the learning experience, we collaborate with vendor partners who bring additional expertise to our sessions. These partners share realistic scenarios and current field insights, offering practical examples that illustrate the complexities and challenges faced in the industry today. By incorporating their valuable experience, we provide a more holistic and in-depth understanding of the trades.

Shorter, More Frequent Facility Training Sessions

Whether in a classroom or via a webinar, many people — even lifelong learners — find one to two hour training sessions to be cumbersome and tedious. Instead, we have found it very beneficial to offer 20- to 30-minute training sessions on specific trades and industry topics, and to conduct these sessions more frequently.

This new approach allows learners to stay focused, avoid long breaks in their daily schedules, and focus on succinct topics. It also facilitates question-and-answer sessions, making the training interactive. With the interactive nature of the shorter training sessions, our program allows trainees to absorb specific content without feeling overwhelmed and encourages them to ask questions.

We have found that these types of training sessions have been successful both virtually and in person. Best of all, these technical facility maintenance training sessions are cost-free.

Contact the CLS Facility Service Team for Your Training Needs

If your facility maintenance provider isn’t offering you cost-free ongoing education, make sure you inquire. Knowledge is power, and no matter how long someone has been in our industry, there is always new information to learn — from LED technology developments to HVAC control systems, to advances in HVAC filters, as well as identifying new “best practices” in plumbing and other FM trades.

Whether you run an HVAC company, manage a retail store, work as a technician in the field, or serve as a facility manager for a large chain of stores, restaurants, banks, or medical centers, ongoing facility maintenance training is essential.

If we can support you or your team with HVAC, lighting, electrical, LED retrofit, or plumbing training, don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule an educational interactive session today!

If you’re like other facility leaders, your roster of commercial service vendors likely ranges from several to more than a dozen (or maybe even more). Some of these vendors might provide support for multiple disciplines, such as HVAC, electric, and plumbing. While that’s certainly advantageous, it’s likely a benefit only for one or perhaps a few locations. What about the rest? If you have a few dozen locations, the number of vendors you work with is likely extensive. If you have hundreds of locations, the number is undoubtedly staggering.

Now consider all of the various tasks and responsibilities that you and your team carry in dealing with all of these different commercial service vendors:

• Building meaningful long-term relationships
• Setting vendors up and onboarding them
• Managing communications for every service job
• Handling paperwork and financial transactions
• Dealing with service issues and ensuring resolution
• Conducting reviews to ensure reliable performance

And that’s just a sampling of the workload involved with managing commercial service vendors. What facility teams today need more than ever is a solution for vendor consolidation. But how can that be achieved when you have a large number of locations serviced by different vendors?

The solution is a facility management aggregator. Rather than working with dozens or hundreds of self-performers for every location in your footprint, partnering with an aggregator transfers this responsibility to a specialized company that handles all vendor relationships, service call coordination, and asset maintenance planning on your behalf. In doing so, your team can focus on higher priority needs and pursue FM goals — and spend less time dealing with countless vendors for every location. Let’s dive into some of the benefits of vendor consolidation via facility management aggregators.

How Vendor Consolidation with an Aggregator Benefits Your Organization

• Dramatically reduced administrative workload — We’ve already touched on this a bit, but one of the most immediate benefits of venture consolidation with an aggregator is that many of the administrative tasks that you and your team have to handle will be transferred to a different team. Consider what you and your team could accomplish if all of the tasks outlined above were being handled strategically on a daily basis.
• A unified work order management system (WOMS) — Tired of dealing with tech fatigue? You might have your own WOMS, but it’s likely your vendors also have systems that your team has had to learn. Clearly, learning a variety of different WOMS is a painstaking process and is fraught with risk and annoyance. Working with an aggregator for vendor consolidation means that the aggregator team takes on not only the process of dealing with work orders in different systems, but also has experience with most common systems in use today.
• A single point of contact (for emergencies, too) — If you’ve ever had an emergency at one of your locations, this one will most likely resonate deeply with you. The last thing you need to be dealing with when a situation arises is figuring out which company to call and deal with people you don’t know. With the right aggregator, the person you call for an emergency is the same person that manages your account every day. And for non-emergencies, that same contact will be the person you hear from for any other facility asset maintenance needs.
• Clear estimates and invoices — At some point in your career, you’ve likely been caught off guard by an estimate for a repair or new project or even an invoice received after a new installation or maintenance call was completed. When you work with an aggregator for vendor consolidation, all vendors in that aggregator’s roster have been fully vetted and are reliable. Terms, conditions, and expectations are set with the vendor so that all pricing is known upfront as much as possible. Any deviances or changes are communicated with you early on so that you know what to expect.
• Centralized program documentation — There are a variety of documents and resources that come with a facility asset maintenance program. If you’ve had to deal with different vendors for each location in your footprint, managing all of that information and even simply keeping it in one place is most likely bordering on impossible. With an aggregator that uses familiar systems and processes, all that documentation can be easily centralized and made accessible to you and your team 24/7/365.
• Reduced vendor issues and call-backs — Here’s another one that has likely been a thorn in the side for you and your team. Vendor callbacks are a pain, especially when it’s for a location that you rarely hear from and for which you have no idea who the most regularly used service vendors are. It creates complexity and frustration. With an aggregator, the vendors that they work with have proven themselves by meeting key performance indicators over time. You and your team no longer have to deal with these frustrating calls, and best of all, it’s likely that they won’t be happening in the first place.

Achieve Your Vendor Consolidation Goals with CLS Facility Services

partnered with organizations across multiple industries to help them not only realize the benefits of vendor consolidation but also make their facility asset maintenance strategy more proactive and effective. With a full suite of capabilities spanning numerous asset types as well as a proven national network of commercial service vendors, we’re the aggregator partner you need to make your facility management program work better for you.

Connect with us today to learn more about us and how we can help you make the most out of your facility management program.

With temperatures outdoors already starting to rise, the challenges of the winter months are thankfully behind us. However, as a facility leader you know that warmer weather brings its own challenges. Higher temperatures means more demand on rooftop units and separate air conditioning and furnace systems, which in turn leads to a number of subsequent difficulties:

• Key components of HVAC assets experience more wear and can break down
• Entire HVAC systems can shut down — causing closures and sales losses
• Repairs and replacements take time and lead to unplanned expenses
• Higher demand for cooling leads to consistently higher energy costs
• Damaged customer experiences, unsafe working conditions, and more

Tackling this proactively is not necessarily simple or straightforward, and your approach will likely be governed by your situation, resources, and organizational footprint. For example, if you have 25 locations throughout a single region, you’ll likely have a handful of local partners that you can lean on for HVAC asset management, and the workload on you and your team may not be excessive.

However, if you’re a national organization with a couple hundred (or more) locations, that’s a different workload altogether. You’ll need more partners to support different locations. There will be significantly more estimates, invoices, and other documentation to manage. And of course, you’d need to have a team large enough to handle that workload — or a technology solution advanced enough to streamline it.

Grab a copy of our free guide to HVAC asset maintenance and learn how to streamline your current program for long-term success.

Don’t Let Your Locations Fall Behind

But whether you have a smaller footprint or a large one, the fact remains that this is the time when other organizations are ramping up their HVAC asset management work plans. They’re scheduling maintenance, investing in new equipment and installation, and tackling building updates due to the warmer weather. If you’re not already working on your plans for the year, you might find yourself further down on service vendors’ schedules.

To make progress on your HVAC asset management goals, you’re going to need a proactive solution for staying on top of asset maintenance and replacements. It’s not just about “keeping up,” though — understanding historic asset performance and other information will reveal opportunities for your organization to save money. For example:

• If you have a complete list of all of your HVAC assets with related data, you can use that information to determine where older assets may need to be replaced based on the average lifespan of certain models and types.
• Additionally, data related to service calls and technician performance for HVAC assets can identify regions, specific locations, and certain asset categories where vendors aren’t providing the level of service needed.

But the challenge remains: how can you be this proactive on asset management, ensure your organization is getting the attention it needs from vendors, and make the best use of current resources — simultaneously? It is most certainly no simple task, which is why it’s recommended to work with a facility management aggregator.

Why Working with a Facility Management Aggregator Makes Sense for HVAC Asset Management

• Nationwide support from proven vendors — Wherever you have locations, a facility management aggregator will be able to provide support across numerous disciplines, not just HVAC maintenance. The location of each facility is carefully considered as it pertains to asset maintenance as well, as local factors play a role in how assets perform and the type of maintenance needed.
• Quality service vendors work on your assets — When you work with an aggregator, each of the commercial service vendors engaged to work on your assets has been carefully vetted to ensure they’re a quality organization with high standards for service. At CLS specifically, our vendor partnerships have an average tenure of more than 12 years — giving you confidence that you’re working with highly qualified and capable technicians.
• Reduced administrative workload — A significant advantage of working with an aggregator for HVAC asset management is, as we’ve hinted at above, a massive workload reduction for you and your team. With your program managed on your behalf, your team is able to focus on higher value or more strategic priorities.
• Proactive asset maintenance — The foundational benefit of working with an aggregator is that all HVAC assets across your footprint are proactively maintained on a schedule and frequency that is a) ideal for those asset types and b) best for your organization. This mitigates unplanned downtime, breakdowns, and more. And, all maintenance is based on uniform scopes of work — keeping maintenance and costs consistent across all locations and work orders.
• Centralized asset history and information — A significant value-add provided by an aggregator is that a list of all HVAC assets is built, maintained, and made accessible to you online. It contains all model numbers, manufacture dates, serial numbers, performance data, related documentation, and more. This is a huge advantage in that it helps you and your aggregator partner make more strategic decisions about assets that need to be prioritized.
• CapEx budget planning — Last but certainly not least, an aggregator also serves as your partner in facility management strategic planning as well as annual budget planning. At CLS, our CapEx facility management budgeting support helps organizations make strategic investments from CapEx resources to proactively avoid breakdowns and unexpected repairs on aging assets — as opposed to ignoring them and relying on OpEx resources from individual locations.

Work with CLS for Your HVAC Maintenance Needs

With more than 50 years of experience in facility asset management, our team understands your challenges — and what’s needed to overcome them. We offer a full range of HVAC solutions, from preventive maintenance programs to asset installation and more. And of course, HVAC is just part of our overall capabilities. We also support customers with LED retrofits, electrical maintenance, signage maintenance, plumbing solutions, energy management, fire-life safety, and more.

If you’ve been looking to switch from reactive to proactive with your HVAC asset management, it’s time to take action and work with an aggregator partner that can help. Connect with us today to learn more about our solutions.

It goes without saying that energy savings are the driving catalyst behind LED retrofit conversions. New lighting technologies are increasingly cost efficient and can create strong ROIs and impactful utility energy savings. In addition to energy savings, utility rebate programs help to support stronger paybacks on lighting retrofit projects and support even stronger results.

Despite energy savings driving many projects, did you know that both maintenance savings and strong LED warranties can be equally impactful? The ability to rid your facilities of older technologies drives massive additional savings that not only support your facility maintenance budgets, but also create safer buildings, foster eco-friendly results, and allow your facility teams to focus on non-lighting areas of need budgetarily, moving forward.

Case in point — Learn how a pilot LED retrofit program helped this investment firm reduce carbon dioxide emissions, landfill waste, energy utilization, and maintenance costs.

Five Reasons Why LED Retrofit Projects Impact Maintenance Savings & Benefits your Facility Maintenance Budget

1. Ballasts No More! — Ballast elimination is a very large component in converting to LED. By installing new LED technologies, ballasts are eliminated, creating one failure point (the lamps) moving forward. Oftentimes large buildings eliminate hundreds and even thousands of ballasts in a single-site LED retrofit, creating maintenance savings for years to come.
2. Major Increase in Lamp Life — LED retrofits result in the elimination of metal halide, high pressure sodium, T8, T12, T5, and other older technologies. In each case, LED lamps and new LED fixtures have a life expectancy two to five times longer than the older technologies they are replacing.
3. Go Green Impact — The vast majority of older lighting technologies contain significant amounts of mercury, requiring the EPA recycling of those removed lamps and ballasts. Moving forward, LED technologies do not contain mercury, creating greener, more environmentally-friendly, safer buildings.
4. Rock-Solid Warranties — LED retrofits result in replacing a multitude of lighting technologies, most of which are long past their warranty period. A good partner will help you to secure strong 8-10 year industry-leading LED warranties so that you reap the benefit of material and maintenance savings for years to come.
5. Aesthetic and Uniformity — Perhaps the greatest hidden gem of an LED retrofit is the aesthetic appeal of a well-done project and the savings that are associated with that impact. Conversion to LED creates uniform color temperature throughout the space, increases light levels, increases the spread of light, and can even improve employee morale by brightening and beautifying your facilities. Don’t underestimate the cost avoidance of not having to replace dimming lights, redoing lighting to match color temperatures, replacing ballasts that burn out too soon, and adjusting lighting every other year due to dimming light levels with older technologies.

Go deeper into LED retrofits — Explore a variety of insights into retrofit benefits, energy management, sustainability improvements, and more here.

Take Your LED Retrofit Projects Further with the Right Partner

While energy savings are so impactful in converting your facilities to LED lighting, maintenance savings and strong warranties are equally imperative and should be taken into consideration and utilized in calculating returns on investment. As you continue to look at 100% conversion of your facilities to LED, make sure that your facility maintenance partner is helping you to maximize each and every project.

At CLS Facility Services, our turnkey LED retrofit capabilities have helped numerous organizations nationwide achieve significant, measurable results in energy savings, maintenance savings, and environmental and sustainability goals.

But as an aggregator, our value extends far beyond your lighting assets. We also support organizations with HVAC preventive maintenance, plumbing, electrical maintenance, fire-life safety, and more — all with a proactive approach that maximizes asset performance while helping you stay ahead of potential issues. With proven service vendors nationwide, an online asset management portal, and a dedicated team, CLS is the partner you need to maintain your assets and maximize savings opportunities.

Connect with us today to learn more about our LED retrofit capabilities and how we can support all of your locations with a unified scope of work.

Recently celebrating her 10-year anniversary with CLS Facility Services, Stephanie Harmon is the definition of positive energy, responsibility, and leadership. She is an integral part of our team and supports all of our clients—many of whom she has worked with from her very first week at CLS.

Her responsibilities include helping our clients with day-to-day service items, managing our on-call services, customizing in-depth reporting, and leading our account managers to new levels of excellence.

Those who work with Stephanie know she always brings an enthusiastic smile and passion to her work and leadership. She truly shines at setting high standards and getting the job done. For her, the feeling is mutual—Stephanie shared:

“I couldn’t imagine working with a better group of people. This truly is my work family.”

How She Keeps CLS Moving Forward

Through computer skills, informative updates, and elite attention to detail, Stephanie always takes great pride in managing dozens of work orders with innate dedication. She supports our project teams to ensure our vendors produce great results and our clients receive optimal outcomes.

Stephanie is a key part of our Activities Committee, in which she helps CLS plan company events and ensure that our staff is part of a great work environment. She received a well-deserved promotion to Senior Team Leader and continues to thrive!

Making Sure CLS Clients Are Truly Partners

For more than a decade, Stephanie has been a true leader in fostering client success and ensuring CLS brings great tenure to our client and vendor partnerships—but she believes the feeling is mutual:

“We work with a great group of clients. They know we have their back and they have ours. Knowing our value and having a great partnership makes my job simple.”

Many CLS client partnerships exceed 10 and even 15 or more years, and Stephanie is a key part of that trust and success.

A Career of Success and Dedication

While Stephanie continues to leave her footprint here at CLS and helps the company to grow, she is incredibly dedicated to her family. She is a mother of two beautiful daughters, Braelyn and Bryce, and enjoys vacationing in Chautauqua with her family. She also keeps the bar set high for our CLS team when it comes to fitness and enjoys lunchtime workouts every day! She also makes a mean buffalo chicken dip and blesses our team with her culinary skills during our company meals.

Our CLS family is fortunate to have Stephanie as an integral part of our team, and we enjoy working with her and all that she brings to our company!

With the costs of new heating and air conditioning equipment, repair and maintenance services, fuel and energy, and more all increasing significantly in recent years, there’s never been a more important time to invest in HVAC preventive maintenance. On top of ensuring that assets are performing optimally, preventive maintenance helps to offset many of these rising expenses simply by having assets inspected on a recurring basis.

Recently, we explored the advantages of working with an aggregator — a company that manages facility asset maintenance work on your behalf — as your HVAC preventive maintenance partner. If you missed that first rundown, you can read the full overview here — but here’s a quick recap:

• You’re able to make decisions about assets based on their specific locations
• You gain valuable insight into the dynamic energy demands of HVAC assets
• Budgeting for maintenance and replacement becomes more strategic
• Data about all of your assets is centralized in one accessible online repository
• Workflow becomes more efficient thanks to significant vendor consolidation

Here, we’ll continue this exploration of the advantages of working with a national HVAC preventive maintenance partner so you’re fully informed and can make the best decision possible for your organization’s facility asset maintenance needs.

4 More Reasons to Work with a National HVAC Preventive Maintenance Partner

1. One Uniform Scope of Work Nationwide

When you work with self-performing companies, you’re likely getting their own take on preventive maintenance. Multiplied by the number of locations you have across the country, and you’re looking at vastly inconsistent work scopes, varying degrees of quality, mismatched documentation, and more headaches. When you work with an aggregator as your HVAC preventive maintenance partner, all of these administrative hassles are eliminated. Instead, you get a uniform scope of work with clearly defined costs and timelines (more on this shortly) as well as consistent work execution at all of your locations. No surprises, no unknowns — just clarity and peace of mind.

Tired of working with the wrong vendors? Explore 13 questions you should ask before beginning a new partnership.

2. Customized Preventive Maintenance Frequency

This is an important one. Imagine engaging a self-performing commercial HVAC company for maintenance only to realize that their program (which you may or may not be able to customize) involves a specified number of service calls and other unnecessary requirements. Your locations may only have one or two units, but their program is designed for a much larger operation. Or, it could be the reverse — not providing enough service as frequently to support your assets. With the right national HVAC preventive maintenance partner, you’ll collaborate on the right level of service needed and its frequency — ensuring that what you need is exactly what you receive.

Understanding what is being paid for is critical to facility leaders. Learn what else these leaders reported as being essential to their success.

 3. Adapting to Remodels and Store Relocations

Your organization is a living entity that changes with time. Thus, your preventive maintenance strategy should also change as needed. When remodels arise or even store locations change, your partner should be involved in that process and make adjustments as needed. You shouldn’t be pigeonholed into unbreakable agreements for certain schedules or services that no longer apply or make sense based on your store locations and the assets in them. An aggregator will be an active partner in adapting your preventive maintenance strategy to your shifting needs.

Flexibility is just one mark of a great partnership. Learn what else to look for in this overview.

4. Proactively Mitigating Return Trips and Quotes

In addition to maximizing asset uptime and helping to control facility asset maintenance costs, one of the greatest benefits of a proactive national HVAC preventive maintenance partner is the reduction you’ll see in return service calls and quotes. With an aggregator at the helm, every service vendor that works on your assets understands — and commits to — the level of quality expected from them and has already ironed out its respective pricing with the aggregator. The result is great work done correctly the first time and with pricing that’s known from the start. This eliminates wasted time and effort on your end while preventing unexpected costs and delays.

Service calls and the metrics surrounding them are critical to monitor. Learn why here.

The Ideal HVAC Partnership Starts Here

At CLS Facility Services, we work with organizations across multiple industries to assist them with proactive HVAC preventive maintenance programs. Focusing on companies with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations, we not only help maintain HVAC assets but also provide extensive value-adds to maximize your knowledge and overall success:

• We service all of the U.S., ensuring you have coverage wherever you do business
• Our vendors are fully vetted, and we have an average partnership length of nearly 15 years
• An easy-to-use online portal for program management, accessible 24/7/375
• We build detailed asset lists with model, make, serial numbers, age, service records, and more
• We can work on your existing work order management system, and we offer our own
• Your account contact is also the same person you reach out to for emergency service needs

If you’re ready to take your HVAC preventive maintenance program to the next level, our team is ready to help. Connect with us today to get started.

While planning, scheduling, and performing strong HVAC preventative maintenance is paramount, the collection of data is equally influential. In a strong HVAC partnership, companies shouldn’t have to pay additional costs to capture important asset information.

Through a skillfully run HVAC preventive maintenance program, equipment information can be gathered accurately during the PM process. If your HVAC partner does not provide this level of service and detail, know that there are partners who can achieve this for you.

A complete HVAC equipment list isn’t the only advantage of a strong partner: Learn more about what an ideal service provider should prioritize in this guide.

5 Key Elements to Strong HVAC Equipment Management

1. Building a Detailed Equipment List — It is important to capture Make, Model, Serial Number, and Year for all HVAC assets. This helps you to work with your HVAC provider to know the age and condition of your equipment to quote repairs and replacements accordingly and to build a consultative partnership for what is best for your sites.
2. Maximizing HVAC Warranties — A detailed HVAC equipment list makes sure that you are never paying for items that are under warranty. This creates major savings when your vendor partner is quoting compressor, heat exchanger, condenser, and evaporator coil work, and so much more. A diligent HVAC partner will work with the manufacturer to maximize warranties so that you pay $0.00 in material cost for components under warranty.
3. Prioritizing Key Locations — Do you have stores, restaurants or clinics that are your top-volume sites? Do you have sites that have just one HVAC unit, where if that lone unit goes down business could be negatively impacted? Strong tracking of asset management and equipment work history can prevent costly lead times and foster more proactive initiatives.
4. CapEx Planning — When your partner develops accurate equipment list data, detailed work history, and tracks preventive maintenance records intricately, they can help you to budget for HVAC unit replacements proactively, in addition to pinpointing equipment that may require taking a more proactive approach.
5. People are Assets, Too — Building numbers and data are imperative, but a strong HVAC service partner provides people with technical knowledge and tenured experience to help you make key decisions, support your budget needs, and to be consultative in helping you to make important calls on replacing a unit, repairing a unit or holding off until a repair becomes more vital.

Work with CLS to Consolidate Vendors, Streamline Facility Management, and Understand Asset Performance

As a leading facility asset maintenance aggregator, CLS Facility Services offers HVAC equipment list building in multiple formats as part of our complete HVAC asset maintenance program. Our cost-free asset management portal builds an online database of your HVAC assets on a site-by-site basis — detailing make, model, serial number, and year. This data can be presented in a variety of formats for easy viewing and reference.

The advantages of such a list are numerous. Building a thorough and accurate HVAC asset list allows facility maintenance teams to better understand how their assets are performing to streamline program management. This enables teams to budget more precisely, plan more proactively, and have a more definitive approach to HVAC CapEx planning.

Connect with our team today to learn more about our HVAC asset list and other facility asset maintenance capabilities.

Spring and summer will be here in the blink of an eye, and while we all welcome warmer temperatures, that comfort translates into higher energy and maintenance costs for your organization. While the U.S. saw warmer temperatures this past winter season, the colder months still put significant demands on your HVAC assets. Now, with 2024 predicted to be one of the hottest years on record, those demands could be even stronger.

As a facilities leader, you know that an HVAC preventive maintenance program is essential to avoid unplanned expenses and situations. And yet, managing such a program and keeping it moving is no simple feat — especially if it’s an in-house responsibility. Daily challenges and circumstances consume time and resources, leaving little of either available for proactive strategy. This is further compounded if you have numerous locations pulling on you and your team.

While we could explore the advantages of an HVAC preventive maintenance program in-depth, you’re likely already aware of the fundamental benefits. Instead, let’s take a higher perspective and explore how such a program — when executed and managed by a responsible, proactive consolidating partner — can go even further.

Adjacent Benefits of an HVAC Preventive Maintenance Program

When you think of an HVAC preventive maintenance program, what comes to mind likely includes evaluating such assets on a scheduled basis to assess the condition and performance of various components, refrigerants, connections, cleanliness, and so on. This work would absolutely be performed, delivering value by prolonging the life and maximizing the performance of those assets.

These aren’t the only opportunities for a proactive maintenance program to deliver value, however. Here are a few other ways that working with a facility asset maintenance aggregator extends that value.

• Location-Specific Planning — Local climate influences the demand on HVAC systems and thus the level of wear and tear on them. An aggregator will factor this into their evaluation of those assets, the frequency of service, and any long-term recommendations for maintaining those assets. Another example is cottonwood, which can clog up condenser coils and impact cooling capacity.
• Energy Management — While the primary focus of an HVAC preventive maintenance program is on the assets themselves, understanding the energy demands of those assets can reveal important information and help to prioritize maintenance activities. For example, if you don’t already have a cloud-based EMS in place, implementing one gives you insight into HVAC performance across all of your locations and down to the asset level. This helps you prioritize maintenance while also giving you greater control over your overall energy expenses.
• Strategic Facility Budget Planning — Have you ever set your facility management budget only for it to be completely thrown off by a large capital expense that you didn’t see coming? With an aggregator supporting you, insights gained from the program can be used to help inform annual budget planning and strategy. A great example is clearly identifying when HVAC systems — typically a CapEx expense — should be proactively replaced due to age or condition rather than maintaining them with the risk of asset failure always looming.
• Historical Asset Data Collection — Do you have a complete list of all HVAC assets across all locations? Does that data specify model numbers, serial numbers, asset age, performance, and more? Having all of this information consolidated in a single asset list that’s accessible at all times enables a greater understanding of where preventive maintenance is most needed. This helps to reduce overall program costs and ensures your resources are spent in the right place, at the right time.
• Vendor Consolidation — Last but certainly not least, think about the demands on you and your team simply from managing multiple vendors across a variety of disciplines and locations. There’s a significant inherent risk in this, to say nothing of the administrative burden. With an aggregator, those relationships, communications, and workflows are managed on your behalf — and from a network of vendors that have proven themselves year after year. This enables you and your team to dedicate more time and resources to pursuing strategic initiatives and other goals vs. chasing down documents and handling vendor communications.

This is Just the Beginning — Realize More Benefits with the Right Partner Today

If your current HVAC preventive maintenance program is consuming more energy and resources than it should, or if you’re not moving the needle to reduce costs and maximize asset performance, it may be time to consider a facility management aggregator.

At CLS Facility Services, we help organizations nationwide across a variety of industries consolidate, streamline, and improve their facility asset maintenance needs — we can do the same for you. With our experienced and tenured team, easy-to-access online asset management portal, proven network of commercial service vendors, and relentless commitment to helping you move the needle, we’re the partner you need to take your HVAC preventive maintenance program to the next level.

Connect with us today to learn how we can help you.

Strengthen Customer Confidence and Preserve Revenue with Our Self-Storage Maintenance

As a facility manager for a self-storage brand, you know that well-maintained sites are critical to building trust with customers and new clients. Lighting must be bright and in good condition. Temperature for inside storage facilities must be efficient and operational. Electrical systems must be functional to enable access.

It’s a lot to navigate, and managing multiple locations across a regional footprint is no easy feat. Unfortunately, facility teams often must rely on multiple vendors — creating administrative headaches and increasing costs. As an aggregator, CLS Facility Services helps storage facilities consolidate vendors by serving as your single point of contact for self-storage maintenance programs.

We offer proactive preventive maintenance solutions, on-call maintenance, and emergency services for numerous asset types, including HVAC/R, lighting/electrical systems, plumbing, signage, and more. As your self-storage maintenance partner, we also assist with energy- and cost-saving solutions to help you achieve sustainability goals, including cloud-based energy management systems and EV charger installation.

Beyond just your lighting/electrical system needs, we offer turnkey LED retrofit projects for your self-storage facilities. We develop a process of completing site surveys and producing turn-key proposals, which includes LED fixture solutions, energy savings analyses, return on investment analyses, and detailed information pertaining to your lighting asset management, and industry-leading warranties on your LED solutions. CLS manages the survey, rebate, procurement, and LED retrofit projects in full, helping you to prioritize your LED work based upon optimal energy savings, best utility rebates, and strongest ROI.

Multiple Solutions, One Asset Maintenance Partner

When you partner with us, you get more than asset maintenance. We provide a complete solution for managing critical assets across all locations — whether that’s 50 or 500.

• An online asset management portal available to you and your team 24/7/365
• A complete list of all assets at all locations with extensive model information
• Online access to all invoices, work orders, estimates, and other documentation
• Ability to use your work order management system (and we offer our own)
• A dedicated account manager and estimating contact to advise and support you
• Your account manager is also your contact for emergency needs
• A national network of proven vendors to execute work, managed by our team
• A partner that supports you in annual facility budget planning and strategy

Simplify Your Work and Improve Facility Experiences with CLS

Ready to see what we can do for your organization? Connect with us today to learn more about our self-storage maintenance capabilities.

As a facility leader, you likely have a number of prioritized initiatives on your plate ranging from multisite asset installation or replacement to standing up new software to better manage workflow and data about your locations and the assets that keep them running. However, one initiative that should be on your list for this year — if not already addressed — is LED retrofit lighting. The reasons for this are plentiful:

• Sustainability is critically important for organizations — and their customers
• Buildings now account for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions
• To meet the Paris Agreement, the Global North needs to triple its LED retrofit rate
• New regulations are coming that impose carbon emissions from buildings
• First-gen LED lighting solutions cannot compete with the newest LED technology

This is just a sampling of the many reasons facility leaders should prioritize LED retrofit lighting in their sites this year. Coupled with improvements in other asset types, the impact that retrofits can have on both the organization and the world as a whole is both measurable and meaningful. Here, we’ll explore LED retrofit lighting more in-depth and why it must be among your top initiatives for the months ahead.

Key Reasons to Prioritize LED Retrofit Lighting

• Energy Savings — Cost reduction is likely a timely goal for your organization in today’s challenging financial climate. Replacing outdated lighting assets with more advanced and efficient LED solutions brings immediate energy savings.
• Maintenance Savings — LED lighting requires less frequent maintenance than older lighting systems, which results in less expense in service calls, spare parts, total replacements, and downtime.
• Ballast Elimination — A great reason to upgrade older lighting systems (and even older LED retrofit assets) is that ballasts — a device that manages the light output of a lamp — can be removed altogether and the lamp direct-wired into the fixture. This reduces maintenance costs while also extending the burn hours of your lighting. Learn more about the advantages of eliminating ballasts in LED retrofits.
• Energy Management — Energy management systems are a strategic solution for controlling costs, reducing energy utilization, and better understanding energy consumption throughout your facilities. LED lighting solutions have better integration with such tools, allowing you to better control lighting throughout your entire footprint.
• Sustainability — Your organization may have sustainability goals that it wants (or needs) to achieve, either on its own initiative or from investor expectations. Regardless, LED retrofitting of existing lighting is one of the fastest ways to make measurable progress. Learn more about the environmental impact of LED retrofits.
• Illumination — LED lighting disperses and illuminates both interior and exterior spaces better than older lamps and systems. This results in better experiences for customers and employees and can also help with safety.

How to Execute an LED Retrofit Program with Ease

The first step is to determine who will be implementing the LED retrofit program across all of your locations. You might have a team in-house that can handle LED lighting upgrades, but this would likely take a significant amount of time to complete. While you may be able to hire local vendors to support one or more locations throughout your footprint, this would result in significant administrative workload on you and your team.

The best option is to work with a facility maintenance aggregator. Aggregators serve as a centralized solution for all of your facility maintenance needs. Rather than working with multiple vendors for each location, the aggregator uses a nationwide network of proven, experienced vendors to execute LED retrofit programs at your sites for you. Often, retrofits at multiple sites occur simultaneously, ensuring more locations get done faster so you can reap the savings and sustainability benefits sooner. Along the way, you’ll work with a dedicated team of estimating, invoicing, emergency, and account management contacts — not dozens or even hundreds of contacts from commercial lighting vendor companies.

At CLS Facility Services, we’ve been providing aggregated facility maintenance solutions for organizations across multiple industries for decades. Every day, our proven network of vendors is supporting companies with everything from HVAC installation and repair to LED retrofits, signage maintenance, plumbing services, and more.

As your LED lighting retrofit partner, we’ll put our network vendors to work for you to ensure you’re able to realize the benefits of the latest LED technology this year. You’ll enjoy a centralized and complete list of all of your lighting assets made available to you in an easy-to-access online portal, giving you unprecedented insight into your assets and their performance. All program and financial documentation is centrally stored and available to you as well, so you can get the information you need in just a matter of clicks.

Contact us today to discuss your energy and sustainability goals and learn how we can support your success.

The facility maintenance industry — like many other markets — has experienced tremendous transition, turnover, and cost increases in recent years. Inevitably, businesses are concerned with vendor reliability, consistency, fair pricing, and true partnership when it comes to selecting ideal facility service providers for their HVAC, electrical, plumbing, signage, LED projects, and energy needs.

While the facility maintenance RFP and RFQ format has traditionally been the method for vetting pricing and potential new partners, it creates a tremendous amount of work for all parties involved. What are some of the challenges that an RFP can create?

6 Challenges in Formatting, Executing, and Evaluating a Facility Maintenance RFP

1. Response Complexity — Procurement teams must spend significant amounts of time creating a properly-formatted, detailed facility maintenance RFP which meets the needs of their company and simultaneously accomplishes what the facility maintenance department is looking for as well. Learn more about the challenges that go into creating facility maintenance RFPs here.
2. Vendor Selection — Both the procurement team and the facility maintenance team must go through a process of vetting vendors who they wish to participate in their RFP and achieve a commitment from those vendors to participate.
3. Vendor Burden — To complete an RFP thoroughly and competitively, vendors must utilize a significant amount of time and resources to build customized pricing models, gather detailed information, complete lengthy questionnaires, and assure the documentation is all completed in full.
4. Vague or Misleading Intent — Vendors oftentimes feel that regardless of their team experience, added value, strong network, and detailed reporting, the RFP will either result in pricing that factors in a large percentage of the selected company, or that the partner was merely vetting pricing and had no intention of making a vendor change as a result of the RFP.
5. Response Reviews — The procurement and facilities teams must spend hours reviewing RFP responses, evaluating dozens — perhaps hundreds — of different answers to key questions, as well as varying pricing models.
6. Communication Barriers — Oftentimes, communication between RFP creator and RFP participant is limited to email and electronic entry, further eliminating verbal and face-to-face communication and interaction.

Help your team out: Download our helpful five-step checklist for creating successful RFPs.

What are Alternative Facility Maintenance Options to the RFP Format?

While the facility maintenance RFP format offers formal details and written responses, a more informal RFP can often foster stronger results with more detail and stronger feedback. It also allows the RFP creator to more visibly see how potential facility maintenance vendors can customize a business model that best meets what the creator was looking for. While coordinating schedules to conduct virtual meetings may at times be tricky, a 15 to 30 minute call with a prospective facility maintenance services partner may paint a much more accurate picture of what onboarding a new vendor partner entails.

6 Advantages of a Non-Formal RFP Approach in Evaluating New Facility Maintenance Service Partners

1. Process Efficiency — Having companies submit an easy-to-read, time-friendly one-page summary of “why would you be our ideal vendor partner” can help businesses to quickly narrow down a top five vendor candidate list without having to read through lengthy RFP responses or spend hours building the perfect formal RFP.
2. Pricing Integrity — Requesting pricing from companies in their standard format allows businesses to see the level of effort and detail companies demonstrate in building their pricing, avoiding hidden fees, and providing needs. Follow-up questions can always be asked if the business feels the information is lacking.
3. Stronger Partnerships — Setting up a formal 15 to 30 minute virtual call with the prospective vendor allows companies to meet the people they’d potentially work with, have a stronger idea of how important the business is to the (potential) vendor based upon who attends, and to have integral back-and-forth interaction to get questions answered in the moment.
4. Upfront Clarity — The vendor can paint a picture of the onboarding process and demonstrate their experience. RFPs often result in vendors and businesses having an onboarding call after the RFP winner is selected, leading to disappointment in the start of a new partnership.
5. Clear Expectations — Facilities teams can verbally express their pain points, new provider goals, and company initiatives to potential vendors via face-to-face interaction. Businesses can eliminate — and further pre-qualify — vendors as potential fits based upon their trust in the people they speak with and their answers, as opposed to written responses to many questions.
6. Better Onboarding — Face-to-face virtual calls may allow a business to more comfortably onboard multiple partners, create pilot programs and test phases, and further diversify their vendor network and options.

No matter what format a company selects in vetting pricing, in new potential vendors, and in creating change, that process is a tedious and time-consuming one for all parties involved. With procurement and facility maintenance teams being cognizant of their time and resources more than ever, making sure to select the correct vendor partners is integral. Strong back-and-forth, time-friendly interaction with prospective vendors will ultimately yield the best results.

As a nationwide aggregator, we partner with companies in multiple industries to help them proactively manage their facility maintenance needs and solve their most pressing challenges. We emphasize the more informal approach to ensure we’re able to best understand the expectations and requirements of a facility maintenance RFP and determine if we’re the best candidate to participate.

We’d be happy to discuss an upcoming RFP you may be considering and explain our capabilities so you’re fully aware of how we stand above the competition. Connect with us today to get started.

Whether you manage a network of facilities in retail, dining, medical, office space, or any other industry, one of your goals for the year ahead will likely be cost reduction. Depending on your strategy, it may also include aligning your team’s focus with core competencies, high priority objectives, or more readily available resources. For facility leaders, a key way to achieve one or both of these goals will be outsourcing facility management.

Why outsourcing? Does that not increase costs? While outsourcing facility management will result in new expenses, savings in other areas will most likely offset these costs. Just a sampling of these cost savings includes:

• Not having to increase facility department employee headcount
• Reducing time spent onboarding and training new employees
• Reducing administrative workloads on your current team
• Minimizing the amount of risk to which your team is exposed
• Enabling your team to focus on driving value (and revenue)
• More time available to pursue other cost-savings and improvements

Equally important as these opportunities to conserve resources is your choice of facility asset maintenance partner. Not all providers have the same services, industry experience, or value-added benefits. For example, some facility asset maintenance companies also offer property management services. If your organization has a private equity partner, you may be limited on who you can work with.

If outsourcing facility management is on your list of priorities for the year ahead, here are several important considerations to help you make the best decision possible.

What to Consider When Outsourcing Facility Management

Understand the Type of Partner You Need

As mentioned above, facility management partners aren’t 1:1. Some offer more services, some offer services for specific types of customers, some are regionally focused, and so on. When outsourcing, what matters most is that you aim to consolidate. The last thing you need to deal with when trying to reduce costs is handling estimates, invoices, project management, and communications with multiple companies throughout your footprint. Ensure you’re working with an aggregator who will manage commercial service vendors and handle program management on your behalf.

See a real-world example of the cost benefits of working with an aggregator.

Have Confidence in the Team You Work With

You could partner with the largest facility management aggregator in the country and still have a negative experience. It all comes down to the people working on your program. Do they have sufficient experience? Have they been with the company long enough? Does the team supporting you work well together? Additionally, will you have dedicated contacts for account management, financial planning, and emergency needs? Take the time to evaluate these to ensure you have complete confidence in your choice of partner.

Learn more about the importance of working with a great team for your program.

Ensure All of Your Needs Are Covered

An outsourced facility management program that covers 95% of all your needs may seem ideal, but what’s being left out with that 5%? If you have to parse out maintenance on a key asset type to another provider, remember that this will result in more administrative time (and cost), greater risk of things falling through the cracks, and a less seamless program overall. Carefully consider the services needed and balance that with partner capabilities.

Explore the benefits of consolidating your facility asset maintenance program.

Get Complete Asset Oversight and Metrics

You can’t manage — or improve — a facility asset maintenance program without understanding what you’re working with. Often, facility managers lack a comprehensive list of all assets (HVAC, lighting, signage, etc.) at all of their locations. This is truly essential as it will help you understand where the program is succeeding and where opportunities to improve may be. Additionally, it’s important that this asset list be accessible at any time, such as online in an easy to access portal.

Explore a variety of KPIs that can be evaluated with data such as this.

Worry Less about Internal Turnover

Recent years have brought many changes to facility maintenance managers and their teams across retail, restaurant, medical, and all industries. The turnover of facilities teams for businesses places even more importance on the reliability of their facility maintenance vendors. Having an aggregator with an experienced team can help to ease the transitions of employee changes and foster consistency. A strong facility maintenance aggregator can even help to offer training to new team members. Selecting a partner who has your back during times of transition creates full stability and assurance that your facility services program will continue without a hitch.

Take Your Program Further with CLS Facility Services

The considerations we’ve evaluated here for outsourcing facility management are important but they are far from everything that you and your team must evaluate. If you’ve been wondering how you can improve your program for the year ahead, CLS Facility Services is ready to assist you.

For more than 50 years, we’ve been supporting organizations across multiple industries nationwide with extensive facility asset maintenance solutions ranging from preventive maintenance programs and turnkey LED retrofits to emergency services. Along the way, we work closely with you and your team — assisting with budget planning and even CapEx facility management strategy.

Connect with us today to learn how we can support your success and growth.

As you begin to build your facility maintenance budget for the following calendar year, you undoubtedly are or (already have been) receiving  a significant amount of pressure to implement a strategy to reduce costs, provide accurate analyses of facility asset management, and ensure that you have the right partners in place to create trust and success.

Designing a buttoned-up facility maintenance budget amid an ever-changing marketplace can be the ultimate challenge — not only are labor rates and material costs on the rise, but having proper asset management data is imperative in forecasting for and building an accurate budget.

Here, we’ll provide you with several important facility maintenance budget planning considerations and questions that can help you understand what you may be missing as well as identify opportunities to make your facility management program more impactful, cost-effective, and clear for the road ahead.

Six Facility Maintenance Budget Considerations

Some things to consider when budgeting for the new calendar year:

1. Can your facility maintenance partner provide you with a list of your HVAC equipment assets and pricing per location for the upcoming year’s HVAC preventive maintenance program?
2. Do you have the ability to review your total number of electrical, signage, plumbing, FLS, and HVAC service calls placed over the previous year in order to budget for next year? Furthermore, do you know your average invoice cost so that you can project spend for the following year?
3. Do you know which of your facilities have already been converted into LED so that you can budget a spend on LED retrofit projects for the upcoming year?
4. Has your facility maintenance partner helped to create an HVAC CapEx program to help you manage older HVAC equipment assets and properly plan for HVAC unit replacement?
5. Are you able to evaluate the percentage of your service calls that are emergency vs. non-emergency in an effort to reduce emergency service spends and save in the upcoming year?
6. Do you have assurance that your facility maintenance partners are going to control costs and not issue a mid-year price increase of 10% or more?

Transform Your Budgeting Process with the Right Partner

Selecting a facility maintenance company that provides great service is imperative — but selecting a true partner who provides data and asset management is equally important.

CLS Facility Services not only brings 73 years of facility services expertise, but we also dedicate an experienced team with more than 100 years of experience who will help you to customize your reporting, provide industry-leading data, and support facility asset management to ensure budgets are planned for accurately and accordingly.

For the majority of our client relationships, we take a seat at the annual budget planning table — helping them to identify their major cost drivers, opportunities to reduce those costs, and recommendations to further streamline their entire facility management program. We can do the same for you, too.

Additionally, as an aggregator, we take more than facility maintenance budget planning off your plate — we manage and coordinate with all of the vendors supporting your locations. Not only does this greatly consolidate facility management efforts overall but also helps your team realign their focus on your organization’s strategic initiatives.

If you’ve been looking for ways to more effectively budget for the year ahead, or you’re seeking solutions for other areas of your program, connect with us today.

As a facility management leader, this time of year often brings familiar challenges and frustrations: colder weather straining heating systems, increased energy and fuel expenses, and potentially higher lighting maintenance services costs due to less daylight. That’s just a sampler, though — and while you’re dealing with those issues, you’ll also soon be conducting annual facility management planning to establish budgets, set strategy, review partnerships, and plan new projects.

This process is critical for determining the resources you and your team will need to keep all of the locations throughout your footprint running smoothly. However, accurately forecasting and solidifying that budget is far from simple — especially when the unexpected occurs. But even more problematic is how you get the information to build the forecast. It all comes down to how you execute facility management programs:

1. Using self-performing vendors that you manage and coordinate in-house
2. Working with an aggregator who manages the program and vendors for you

With the first approach, you’re working with numerous vendors across several disciplines (HVAC, lighting, signage, etc.) in every city and state where you do business. You may even have more than one vendor per discipline per location. If this is your approach, you’ll already know how complex managing this can be without some kind of facility management technology in place. Even still, facility management planning using this data can be complex unless it already provides trend data by location, service line, time, etc.

With the second approach, all of the challenges mentioned above are handled by a facility management aggregator. This is a single partner organization that manages and executes maintenance work at all of your locations, on your behalf. We’ve covered the many advantages of working with an aggregator before, but for the sake of facility management planning, one rises to the top: centralization. This is specifically true on three fronts:

1. Centralized Communications

• You have one team for every aspect of your facility management program
• You no longer have to store or manage data for multiple service vendors
• Any outreach to service vendors is handled directly by the aggregator
• Requests for any information are routed and handled by the aggregator
• Your emergency contact is the same person that manages your account
• All program status updates, planning calls, and more are with the aggregator
• You gain a partner to support you with critical year-end reviews

2. Centralized Data Management

• A complete list of all assets is built and stored online for 24/7/365 access
• A customer portal is made available for all program documentation
• All vendor invoices, estimates, etc. are managed by the aggregator and stored
• All reporting is managed by the aggregator and prepared for your review
• Critical program KPIs are managed and measured on your behalf
• Your team doesn’t waste time chasing down information from vendors
• You gain complete oversight of your program without any gaps

3. Centralized Financial Planning

• Your program is simplified by having one partner with complete oversight
• Your partner can assist with developing accurate budgets and forecasts
• Your partner can provide strategic recommendations for your program
• The partner can prioritize key asset replacements to save long-term costs
• You gain data and insights faster to accelerate facility management goals
• You are able to shift your program from reactive to proactive long-term

Ready for Better Predictability and Budget Forecasting?

Working with a facility management aggregator is critical, particularly during a time when organizations are seeking to reduce costs and minimize complexity. Even if your organization is expanding its footprint, there’s never been a better time to consolidate your facility asset management needs so you and your team can focus on achieving high priority goals and delivering value to employees and customers.

CLS Facility Services partners with organizations with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations in multiple markets ranging from retail and restaurants to office spaces, fitness centers, small medical facilities, and more. With more than 50 years of experience in providing not only best-in-class preventive maintenance solutions but also strategic guidance and service built on long-term partnerships, we’re the aggregator you need to make your facility management program a success for years to come.

Get in touch with us today to learn more and discuss your program goals.

With year-end rapidly approaching, you and your team will soon be convening to review the past year, navigate any final open items, and discuss budgeting needs and strategy for the road ahead. Lighting maintenance services, among many other facility management priorities, should be on the docket for discussion, as lighting accounts for a significant, consistent portion of facility and energy expenses.

Fortunately, this time of year presents an opportunity to shift your approach to lighting maintenance services from reactive to proactive. Often, it can be difficult to find the time or resources to make this change during the year — especially when lighting is functioning and thus doesn’t take precedence over broken-down assets or other major efforts.

However, another year of outdated ballasts and fixtures (e.g. T8 and T12 lamps), high energy costs, and reactive maintenance will inhibit any other progress you and your team might hope to make. Here, we’ll explore three specific lighting maintenance services that you can put to work right now to make the year ahead better than ever in terms of lighting asset performance, cost savings, and even sustainability initiatives.

Retailers — the need for proactive lighting maintenance is even greater for your brands this season. Learn more and how you can maximize your investment into lighting. 

LED Retrofits: One Investment, Endless Savings

Perhaps one of the greatest lighting maintenance services you should implement in your facility management program for the year ahead is a turnkey LED retrofit program. Replacing old, underperforming, and non-sustainable assets has both an immediate and long-term impact on energy utilization (and thus energy costs) as well as ongoing maintenance costs by delivering reliable performance and product lifespan. Additionally, if your organization is pursuing sustainability goals and metrics, LED retrofits help to reduce carbon emissions and landfill waste while ensuring future recyclability.

Helpful resources on turnkey LED retrofits:

1. Guide to a Commercial Lighting Retrofit Project
2. Turnkey LED Retrofit Yields Dividends for Investment Firm
3. The Environmental Impact of an LED Retrofit Project
4. LED Lighting Solution: Eliminate Ballasts to Save More

Rebate Incentives: Maximize Your Return on Lighting

Utilities, municipalities, and suppliers all offer lucrative rebates (many of which are released in January) to incentivize organizations to reduce their energy consumption and improve sustainability via LED lighting retrofits. Pursuing these rebates isn’t always simple, however. Knowing where to start is often half the battle, followed by gathering the required information and submitting it in the format and timeframe needed in order to receive the rebate. Working with a partner on rebates as part of a proactive lighting maintenance services program will be critical.

Helpful resources for rebates:

1. Maximizing LED Lighting Retrofit Projects & Utility Rebates
2. Why Now is the Time for a Retail Lighting Audit
3. Nationwide Coverage for Retail-Based LED Retrofit Management
4. A Retail LED Retrofit Program with Brilliant Results

Asset Analysis: Identify Your Best Opportunities

Our last recommendation is not a specific lighting maintenance service but rather how you understand and manage the assets at your facilities overall. Right now, would you say you have a comprehensive list of every lighting asset — complete with model number, serial number, age, past service history, etc. — at each of your locations? It’s clear how helpful and essential this information is: with it, you can prioritize replacements and maintenance where they’re needed most, maximizing your budget and program ROI.

Helpful resources for asset management:

1. CapEx Facility Management: A Better Approach to Maintenance
2. The Value of Strategic Asset Management
3. Minimize the Cost of Facilities Management — the Right Way
4. 6 Facility Management KPIs You Should Be Tracking

Make the New Year Brighter Than Ever

Whether you’re just exploring solutions for reducing facility management costs or want to make an existing asset maintenance program more effective, lighting maintenance services from CLS is a proven method for achieving your goals. For more than 50 years, we’ve helped countless organizations across multiple industries build, implement, and measure effective asset maintenance programs that cover lighting, HVAC/R, signage, and more — proactively identifying issues before they become costly problems.

Connect with us today to build your lighting maintenance program.

At CLS Facility Services, everything we do helps our clients transform their facility management approach into a streamlined, proactive, and cost-effective program. While we bring a variety of services and value-adds to the table, our clients themselves are also part of the solution through their communication, length of partnership, innovation, sustainability efforts, and more.

This year, we wanted to recognize those clients that have gone above and beyond in demonstrating their commitment to these areas in their relationship with us. Please join us in congratulating them!

Proactive CapEx Planning Award

Under Armour

CapEx facility management planning is a strategic method that proactively identifies assets that need larger repair or replacement well ahead of eventual breakdowns. It uses CapEx resources proactively versus using OpEx budgets reactively. Our client, Under Armour, utilizes this approach with HVAC assets, thereby modernizing them, fostering energy and maintenance savings with new technology, maximizing warranties, reducing downtime, improving store comfort levels, and budgeting proactively in order to achieve short-term and long-term savings. Under Armour also consistently educates its staff on best practices, new technology, and more.

Team Communication

Salon Lofts

When it comes to organizations with a large number of sites, communication — both internally and with outside partners — is critical to success. Salon Lofts lives out a commitment to strong communication every day. For our partnership, they have always provided clear communication, precise expectations, and constructive feedback regarding our facility management program — particularly during a challenging summer season and despite having a large team with extensive responsibilities across their many locations.

Go Green Initiative Award

Hilltop Holdings

Sustainability is a critical topic in facility management, and opportunities abound for those willing to invest in improvement. Hilltop Holdings and its portfolio company, PlainsCapital Bank, are actively pursuing such opportunities through our partnership. PlainsCapital Bank recently conducted a proactive HVAC CapEx project to replace old HVAC assets before their end-of-life in order to reduce short-term and long-term maintenance costs and increase energy efficiency. The bank also piloted a cloud-based EMS project to reduce utility costs, maximize energy savings, and foster greener facilities. Hilltop continues to explore other energy- and cost-saving opportunities such as LED retrofits and be a strong leader in creating green facilities.

Client of the Year

Destination Pet

As an aggregator, CLS seeks relationships with clients where we can make a significant impact and support the entire facility management program. From day one, Destination Pet has enabled our organization to do precisely that. Their communication, trust, and support of our work have allowed us to execute a variety of facility asset maintenance work orders seamlessly and efficiently. They provided clear expectations and have been fully transparent, which has helped us to support them efficiently and effectively. We enjoy working with them and experiencing their passion for their work.

Legacy Partnership Awards

CLS is proud to have built many long-lasting partnerships over the years with retailers, financial services firms, restaurant brands, and many more. To recognize these organizations for their trust in us, we’ve established the Legacy Partnership Award. This year, we have two organizations to recognize with these awards.

Piada

Throughout our relationship, Piada has consistently provided clear and transparent expectations and requirements as well as a commitment to a long-term partnership. Moreover, they have demonstrated a commitment to growing with us by holding constructive business reviews and implementing new asset management programs to foster short- and long-term savings. We enjoy the passion their team upholds as well as their ongoing effort to stay proactive with facility management.

Cushman & Wakefield – Edward Jones

For more than 12 years, the Cushman & Wakefield Edward Jones team has put proactive facility management as a top priority for their locations. With proactive communication, green initiatives, and investment in their internal team, Cushman & Wakefield team has successfully launched and completed thousands of projects, such as more than 2,000 LED retrofits — helping them realize long-term cost savings. Their consistent tracking of environmental impact, proactive preventative maintenance, and controlled spending make them an industry leader in asset management. They continue to educate their team and update processes to maximize facility management performance.

Thank You from CLS Facility Services

Congratulations again to our clients here on their facility management awards. We are grateful to these organizations and their amazing facility maintenance teams and all of our clients for their trust and partnership over the years. We are fortunate to work with amazing people, and we look forward to supporting them for many more years to come.

If a long-term facility management partnership is something that would benefit your organization, our team is here to help. We’ll help you not only execute reliable asset maintenance services but also plan and budget more proactively, pursue energy- and money-saving sustainability initiatives, and more. Connect with us today to learn more.

As a facilities leader, you face a daunting task: ensure the integrity of all facilities in your organization’s footprint so they deliver the right experience and environment for customers and employees. And of course, you must do it with a budget that’s under constant scrutiny. One of the ways you’re likely responsible for handling this is through careful monitoring of facility management KPIs — metrics and statistics that reveal how well certain aspects of your program are performing.

You may already be tracking a number of facility management KPIs, or this may not yet be a strategic initiative in your organization. Either way, tracking them efficiently requires the use of intelligent asset management systems and other platforms in order to capture data and understand how everything comes together. Additionally, having a complete inventory of all assets across all locations is of the utmost importance as it reveals performance tied to asset type, location, region, and more.

Provided that these systems are in place, let’s explore several facility management KPIs that your organization should be measuring to maximize program performance.

Track These Facility Management KPIs to Better Understand Your Program

1. Service call first-trip resolution vs. follow-up — When you contact a vendor to service a particular asset, you want the job done correctly the first time. One or more follow-up visits means more time that the asset isn’t performing, which translates to higher service costs. Additionally, depending on the asset and the criticality of it to operations, lengthier downtime can mean longer store closures, more time with uncomfortable conditions, lost product, and more. Knowing how many service calls are completed the first time will tell you a lot about the vendors you’re working with and can also reveal details about your locations, such as whether a specific region is seeing longer service times or delays.
2. Service call response time — When an asset goes down, time is of the essence — for multiple reasons. It may mean a location has to close. A broken down asset (such as plumbing systems) can lead to additional damage. It might impact the working environment of the location, or it could lead to spoiled products. Understanding how quickly service vendors are responding to service calls helps you identify locations, vendors, or specific damage types that are causing you the most headaches (as well as those getting high marks).
3. Technician on site duration / time until completion — How long did it take the technician to resolve the issue? Understanding averages by vendor, asset type, problem type, and more can tell you a great deal about performance, or reveal other issues. For example, maybe a handful of locations have a specific type of rooftop cooling unit that is seeing performance problems across all sites — revealing more time needed for repair (and potentially replacement). Perhaps vendors for a key area are taking too long. Having averages and baselines here will help you notice anomalies that can be addressed.
4. Average service call cost — This is a big one. If you’re working with multiple self-performing companies, you’re likely dealing with a variety of rates and costs. Broken down by asset type, location, issue, asset age, and more, understanding trends rapidly becomes virtually impossible. Additionally, there are minor details that can throw this metric off. While you can seek to create a baseline, working with an aggregator that builds this metric out for you and manages it on your behalf will save you significant time.
5. Service call avoidance — From time to time, some service calls turn out to be obvious issues that can be addressed simply by talking to someone at the location (e.g., the classic “is it plugged in?”). A quick call that solves these minor issues prevents a service technician from being dispatched and your organization being charged hundreds or more for that visit, regardless of how simple the fix was.
6. Emergency services metrics — A broad category intentionally, but when the worst happens, performance matters. Understanding how long it took for a service vendor to respond, get on site, address the problem, and report back is essential to knowing which partners you can trust and which you can’t. It helps you understand what is expected when a certain asset type or problem arises and what is normal or not when it comes to fixing it (and the cost to fix it).

Gain Deeper Insight into Your Program with the Right Partner

CLS Facility Services works with organizations in multiple industries ranging from restaurant and retail to medical and fitness to help them build proactive preventive maintenance programs for a variety of asset types. As part of these programs, we help our clients build a strong facility management infrastructure that includes:

• A comprehensive list of assets across all locations
• An online customer portal with all program documentation
• Complete support for facility management budgeting and planning
• Dedicated account, estimating, and emergency contacts
• Flexibility to operate on any work order management system
• Access to a national network of proven, vetted service vendors
• And much, much more

If you’re looking to take your facility asset management program to the next level, our team is ready to work with you. Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities, or book a time to meet with us that works best for you.

While implementing a building energy management system, conducting an LED retrofit program, or proactively maintaining HVAC/R systems all lead to long-term cost savings, it’s important to recognize that facility management expenses come from multiple sources. In reality, the information your team has to work with and the time they invest into managing those facilities and assets make an equally meaningful impact on the bottom line. Leaders looking to minimize the cost of facilities management should dedicate close attention to these areas.

Here, we’ll explain what these entail and provide an example for how proactively gathering, centralizing, and streamlining information and processes can make a measurable difference on a facility asset management program. Let’s dig in.

Understanding What Impacts Facility Costs

There are a number of factors that influence the cost of a facility asset maintenance program. However, just a few higher level aspects that make a far-reaching impact include:

• Asset Inventory — Do you know how many assets you have across all of your locations, and what the concentrations of HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, and other assets are? Moreover, is this information easily accessible for your team? A centralized asset database containing model numbers, serial numbers, service records, warranty information, and other relevant details is essential and saves your team incalculable time because at any moment, they can look up asset details for any system at any location. Additionally, this information allows teams to filter assets by various criteria to make strategic decisions about where to prioritize resources.
• Vendor Base — Unless you happen to have an army of experienced traveling service technicians on staff, you’re likely using vendors near your locations to service HVAC/R, lighting, signage, plumbing, and other assets. And if you are, it’s also likely that you’re spending (i.e., wasting) countless hours managing service calls, estimates, invoices, COIs, payments, and more. This is a significant operational cost for your team — one that, to be direct, is preventing them from doing more valuable, strategic work. Fortunately, there is a solution that we’ll explore shortly.
• Program Design — If you don’t have a centralized asset management solution, you’re likely leaving maintenance in the hands of each location or addressing needs reactively. Both of these approaches put each location’s assets (and much, much more) at risk. The last thing that you need to be dealing with is inconsistent performance and work execution. It opens the door for even more problems down the road, creating an unforgiving cycle in which assets degrade faster, performance suffers, and program costs climb ever higher.

How can you offset these challenges? While you can certainly look to enhance these areas internally, the best way is to work with a facility management aggregator. An aggregator is a company that works with self-performing companies on your behalf to execute an enterprise-level facility asset maintenance program (as opposed to your team working directly with various self-performing companies wherever and whenever needed). The advantages of working with an aggregator are numerous, and you can learn more about them here.

Example: How an Aggregator Helps to Minimize the Cost of a Facility Maintenance Program

Recently, a national chain of 200+ health and beauty facilities approached us to serve as a backup partner for service calls in roughly 10% of their locations. We worked with them to design an HVAC preventive maintenance pilot program for those specific regions. We onboarded the client, their asset information, and location data and successfully completed all preventive maintenance work ahead of schedule — totaling more than 150 service calls. We assigned dedicated team members to the account and kept them apprised at all times on where the program stood.

The client was so happy with the communication and dedicated contacts that the partnership quickly expanded, and we have since completed hundreds more service calls. Now, let’s tie this all back to those three important aspects we mentioned earlier:

• Asset Inventory — By building a complete asset list, we ensured that all asset data was known and were able to more seamlessly execute the program. This information was made available to the client in our easy to use online portal. Their team knew the status of all service calls and work orders at all times.
• Vendor Base — Because we’re an aggregator, our client didn’t have to waste countless hours seeking, coordinating, and managing vendors for HVAC, plumbing, electric, and signage needs for its locations. Thanks to our national network of proven service vendors, we handled everything on their behalf.
• Program Design — Dedicated contacts, uniform scopes of work, consistent and clear estimates and invoicing, and a strategic approach to the program ensured that every case was covered and expedites the completion of work at all pilot locations.

Explore more facility asset maintenance success stories for multiple industries here. 

Remember, if you’re looking to minimize the cost of facilities management, look beyond the cost of the services themselves. Look at how your team is managing this important function. Look at the data and tools being used. Look at the strategy employed to bring it all together. If you notice any gaps, or if these aspects are missing altogether, now is the time to make a change for the year ahead.

Connect with us today, or book a time to talk with our team that works best for you.

While the retail industry experienced a slowdown throughout 2021, it began to rebound throughout 2022 and has continued to grow stronger since. Don’t mistake a slowdown in 2021 for overall worse performance, either — in fact, total retail sales in 2021 grew 14% over 2020 (which itself saw a nearly 8% increase over 2019 despite store closures). Things aren’t slowing down now, either. The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasted that retail sales in 2023 will grow between 4% and 6% over 2022 figures.

With this growth comes new locations, and yet retailers cannot lose sight of current facilities and the assets that make them usable, enjoyable, and comfortable. Lighting assets are some of the most important ones here — they influence everything from how safe and comfortable customers and employees feel to how well retail products sell.

The impact of lighting in retail environments is a science in itself, but so is the impact of that lighting on facility management budgets. Brands with older locations must ensure that those assets are not only working well for their customers and employees but also for their bottom line. Here, we’ll explore several reasons why retailers should consider a retail lighting audit at each of their locations, particularly older stores.

First, What is a Retail Lighting Audit?

A retail lighting audit is a comprehensive survey of all facility lighting (interior and exterior) at all locations in question. The output is a detailed analysis of lighting that provides energy consumption data, asset inventories, maintenance costs, rebate opportunities and tax incentives, recycling and equipment costs, sustainability improvements, and warranty opportunities. This information allows facility managers to identify and prioritize locations that could benefit from LED retrofits, lighting maintenance programs, and other cost-saving solutions. Go deeper into the benefits and processes of a commercial lighting audit here.

Strategic Benefits of a Retail Lighting Audit

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, there’s never been a better time to take a more proactive approach to managing lighting assets in your facilities. With a retail lighting audit, your retail organization benefits from:

• Improved Sustainability — The heat is on for retailers to demonstrate their efforts to reduce their impact on the environment. Whether as part of a larger ESG strategy or an effort to connect with consumers, the opportunities for improving sustainability in facility management are many. A retail lighting audit is a strategic way to identify the best, most impactful energy-saving opportunities such as LED retrofits, and implement an action plan. Learn more about the environmental impact of solutions such as LED retrofits here.
• Elimination of Ballasts — A retail lighting audit identifies lighting assets that may benefit from direct-wiring versus using ballasts. While not a newer concept, ballast elimination significantly reduces overall asset and maintenance costs. By not having to replace or maintain ballasts, companies save on equipment costs such as lifts, overinvestment in unnecessary assets, work crew labor, and much more. And because LED lighting offers much longer “burn hours,” facility leaders benefit from further maintenance and asset cost savings.
• Stronger Financial Planning — All too often, facility leaders are simply struggling to keep up, and those who do LED surveys end up doing so too late in the game. With a retail lighting audit, leaders receive all of the information needed to make more proactive decisions on improvement, resource allocation, forecasting, and budgeting. Proactive solutions such as these allow facility leaders to develop stronger approaches to paying for facility management as well.

Implementation is Just as Important as Identification

A retail lighting audit is just one component of a larger facility asset maintenance program. Facility leaders will know how challenging managing multiple locations can be, which is why partnering with a facility management aggregator is the way to go. Rather than connecting with separate self-performing maintenance vendors across countless cities and states, facility leaders benefit from working with a single partner that uses established relationships with vendors and manages maintenance work on their behalf.

CLS Facility Services has supported countless retail brands across the country with retail lighting audits and broad-scale preventive maintenance programs for more than 50 years. As an aggregator, we lean on partnerships with thousands of proven vendors nationwide. Our relationships with these vendors have an average tenure of more than 12 years, ensuring that the experts doing the maintenance work at your locations are truly experts and have proven themselves to us time and time again.

Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities, or book a time to meet with our team at your convenience.

Are you a lighting systems vendor looking to grow your business? Learn how we can help.

Global circumstances, politics, energy supply concerns, rising rates, and increasing regulation are just some of the many reasons why energy prices have been consistently increasing. The clean energy solutions — which regulators are pushing for yet economic factors are hindering — that many companies are pushing for as part of their strategic initiatives are also seemingly falling out of reach.

For facility managers facing rising costs for energy, this presents a tricky situation. How can you reduce energy utilization and increase cost savings when rising energy prices and bills eat away at resources? All the while, that energy is critical to business operations, sales, safety, and more. While there are a few ways that facility managers can focus on becoming more sustainable, organizations with anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred (or more) locations should consider implementing building energy management systems to get a handle on energy costs throughout their footprint.

Understanding Building Energy Management Systems

While there are different types of building energy management systems, the key for facility leaders looking to drive organization-wide energy and cost savings is enterprise-level control. This is best achieved with a cloud-based energy management solution. Just as it sounds, a cloud-based building energy management system brings data about all of your assets into a centralized online system for easy control, changes, and management. These systems consist of sensors that are applied to specific assets (HVAC/R, lighting, etc.) and in facility spaces. Using tools like these enables a number of benefits:

• Prevents wasted energy and costs due to unchanged interior temperatures
• Enables more consistent energy use across all locations
• Reduces energy utilization during periods of peak energy demand
• Prevents energy being used in spaces that are not currently occupied
• Measures individual asset performance and identify underperforming assets
• Clarifies environmental impact and facility management ROI

Go in-depth into building energy management systems in this free ebook.

How the Implementation Process Works

Designed for organizations with multiple locations, our cloud-based building energy management systems can be implemented in short order once the program scope has been designed. Technicians will visit your facilities and change out the thermostat and other related systems to a cloud-based solution that can be controlled remotely. Consisting of an easy-to-use interface, our systems enable corporate facility managers — as well as site leaders if given access — to do the following:

• Set location-specific temperature schedules based on time, date, and more
• Deeply customize each schedule to maximize savings opportunities
• Set temperature monitoring and alerts by location and/or asset
• Customize and schedule detailed reports by site or overall program
• Enjoy peace of mind thanks to a strong system warranty

The benefits don’t end there: Learn how they reduce emergency calls and help validate preventive maintenance programs.

Partner with the Facility Cost- and Energy-Saving Experts

Whether you’re looking to reduce your overall energy utilization as part of a larger sustainability initiative, gain greater control of and insight into location-specific energy use, or simply reduce facility management costs (or a combination of these), CLS Facility Services is the partner you’re looking for. With more than 50 years of experience supporting companies in multiple industries, we offer the capabilities and services needed to achieve your goals.

As an aggregator, we partner with proven, reliable service vendors across the country to execute large, strategic facility asset management and preventive maintenance programs. Our vendors have an average tenure of more than 12 years with us, giving you the confidence that the teams working at your locations have the expertise and follow-through needed to get the job done and done well. Along the way, our team will partner with you at the strategic level, helping you effectively plan budgets, manage asset inventories, and proactively stay ahead of challenges to make the best use of your resources.

Connect with our team today to get started, or schedule a meeting at a time that works best for you.

Are you a vendor with experience in building energy management systems? Connect with us today to learn how we can work together.

One of the Leading Causes of High Energy Costs is Unregulated Temperatures

With each facility responsible for managing HVAC/R, it’s common to see locations maintaining one temperature throughout the day, during peak energy demands, and when no one is using the facility — resulting in significant and unnecessary energy expense. At CLS Facility Services, our cloud-based energy management systems provide organizations seeking corporate control of HVAC/R, lighting, and more with the technology needed to better control this expense throughout their footprint.

How Our Cloud-Based Energy Management Systems Work

Our energy management systems consist of sensors installed on assets and in key spaces throughout your sites. Corporate facility managers and/or site leaders are provided with an easy-to-use interface that enables extensive benefits:

• Set temperature schedules based on time, date, location, holidays, and more
• Benefit from temperature monitoring and alerts, by asset and/or location
• Customize in-depth location schedules to maximize savings opportunities
• Allow all or certain locations to manage their own temperature systems
• Customize and schedule detailed reporting by site or overall program
• Enjoy peace of mind thanks to a strong system warranty
• Temperature schedules and reporting set up for you by the CLS team

Utilizing cloud-based energy management systems is often a more cost-effective solution than upgrading existing assets. By utilizing sensors and centralized technology, facility managers can better understand asset performance, more accurately identify underperforming assets, and better measure environmental impact. And with an ROI that can be realized anywhere from six to 18 months, there’s no better way to mitigate unnecessary energy costs.

How to Get Started

The first step is to get in touch with our team to discuss your situation and goals. Often, we’ll begin by piloting a cloud-based energy management system at a portion of your overall locations to allow time for measurement and training. Our team will work with you to identify the right temperature set points, schedules, and other details and create the most effective-cost-saving program for you.

Reach out to us today to request a demo of our cloud-based energy management systems and to learn how they can help you achieve your goals.

Empowering Companies to Make a Difference

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives are a growing focus for organizations worldwide. Whether your organization is seeking to enhance its current practices or increase investor and customer awareness, CLS Facility Services can support your ESG facilities management goals.

For more than 50 years, our facilities management services and strategic value-adds have helped our customers — from retailers and restaurants to financial services and industrial facilities — better manage and measure the performance and costs of their critical assets. Today, we support clients’ ESG facilities management goals through a variety of services:

• Proactive preventive maintenance programs
• Turnkey LED lighting retrofits
• Cloud-based energy management systems
• Electric vehicle (EV) charger installation
• Numerous other asset maintenance capabilities

How We Support ESG Facilities Management

Environmental

Our facility maintenance solutions help our clients to reduce landfill waste, improve recycling practices, minimize their carbon footprint, reduce energy consumption, and better manage the daily usage of energy in their facilities.

Social

As a national facilities maintenance aggregator, we partner with vendors from multiple disciplines. We emphasize diversity in our approach — helping our clients to demonstrate their social impact in supporting these businesses.

Governance

We measure, analyze, and report on all of our preventive maintenance solutions and provide online access to all asset history, financial documentation, and more to help clients increase transparency and trust.

Case Study: LED Retrofit for Investment Firm

Our client is a nationwide financial services and investment management firm with more than 8,000 locations across the United States. With its facilities containing outdated lamps, our client faced two challenges: high energy costs and equipment that was not environmentally friendly or sustainable. Learn how our pilot LED retrofit program helped this company mitigate significant landfill waste, reduce its carbon footprint, and significantly reduce its energy consumption (while reducing other associated costs).

Sustainability Blogs

Green Facility Management: How Multi-Location Operations Drive Environmental Impact

Green facility management transforms multi-location operations through strategic programs that deliver environmental and financial returns.

Why Now is the Time for a Retail Lighting Audit

A retail lighting audit is a proactive way to identify operational and financial improvements that result in significant savings.

How Building Energy Management Systems Control Costs

Building energy management systems are a strategic solution for gaining greater control of and insight into your locations’ energy usage.

Let’s Discuss Your ESG Goals

Connect with our team today to learn more about our facilities maintenance solutions and how we can help you make meaningful progress in your ESG efforts.

Organizations today are being called upon not only to be more conscious of their energy utilization but also of their impact on the wider environment. This applies to more than an organization’s direct impact — it also applies to the impact made by working with certain suppliers or partners. It’s all part of a greater focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives that has been accelerating over the past few years.

With organizations seeking to make a positive impact on people and the planet while also looking to improve bottom lines, there’s never been a better time to evaluate how yours is approaching sustainable facilities management. Unfortunately, many facility management teams today are still dealing with labor shortages — meaning capacity is often restricted to dealing with what’s in front of teams on a given day and not for forward-thinking initiatives.

Working with a facility management aggregator can help in these situations. Rather than managing facility assets internally and by location whenever situations arise, partnering with an aggregator puts proactive preventive maintenance, asset replacements, program management, work orders and estimates, measurement and reporting, and more in the hands of the aggregator, who works with proven vendors to execute scopes of work.

Whether you choose to partner with an aggregator or tackle sustainable facilities management internally, here are a few key ways your organization can make a meaningful, measurable difference on your bottom line — and the health of the world we all share.

Three Sustainable Facilities Management Solutions to Consider

1. LED Retrofits

LED retrofits are nothing new when it comes to sustainable facilities management, but you’d be surprised how many facilities still utilize outdated lighting systems. These assets not only use more power but also produce greater heat — leading to higher HVAC costs to keep spaces cool. Additionally, outdated lighting assets often end up in landfills instead of being properly recycled, leading to higher levels of landfill waste. Replacing these systems with high-efficiency LED alternatives reduces power utilization, operating temperatures, landfill waste, and carbon emissions.

• Learn how LED retrofits at more than 200 locations helped this financial services organization achieve significant reductions in energy costs and emissions.

2. EV Charger Installation

Electric vehicles (EVs) and the infrastructure needed to support them are growing in demand nationwide. With 70% of the country incentivizing EV charger installation, organizations looking for sustainable facilities management solutions should strongly consider this avenue. Numerous rebate programs are available, both locally and federally, to make installation more accessible for businesses. EV chargers are also known to help increase sales and customer loyalty, helping to offset their upfront costs.

• Learn more about EV charger installation rebates, the types of rebates available, and how the right partner can help you accelerate the process.

3. Cloud-Based Energy Management Systems

Intelligently managing how assets are used in your locations has been an effective strategy for some time, and cloud-based energy management systems (EMS) add further sophistication. Managing energy at multiple locations is all but impossible without a centralized, interconnected control system, and there are far too many variables involved for one person or even a small team to handle. With cloud-based energy management systems, control over energy-consuming assets such as lighting, signage, and HVAC/R is all control based on key inputs and data. Lighting controls, occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting, automated dimming, and more are all possible with a cloud-based EMS.

• Learn more about energy management systems and the many benefits they provide for organizations looking to become more sustainable.

Partner with CLS Facility Services to Enhance Your Sustainability Initiatives

With more than 50 years of experience in helping organizations implement solutions that make more effective use of energy, CLS Facility Services is the team you need to drive greater sustainability. Whether it’s part of your organization’s push toward a stronger ESG strategy, or you’re simply looking to enhance your control over your footprint, we’re ready to work with you on any of the above solutions.

We partner with companies with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations across the U.S. and Canada. As an aggregator, we have built a reliable, high-performing network of vendors in lighting, HVAC/R, energy management, signage, and more — enabling us to serve your locations wherever they are. Our highly experienced team prioritizes service and communication above all else, and thanks to our helpful client portal and flexibility in working with nearly 20 different work order management systems, we can seamlessly fit into your facility management program while helping to take it to the next level.

Connect with us today, or book a meeting with our team at a time that works for you.

There are countless assets and systems that are critical to keeping those locations operating, comfortable, and usable for employees and customers. Plumbing is one of the most critical — and risky. Signs can be turned off. Lighting systems can be disabled for unpopulated spaces. HVAC systems can adjust by time and ambient temperature. But plumbing is always “on.” When it’s not working properly, neither are your facilities. That’s why commercial plumbing maintenance is so important.

When it comes to plumbing assets, even one failure or the slightest bit of damage — from a leaky pipe to a malfunctioning toilet — can result in a number of challenges ranging from messes and mold build-up to health and sanitation concerns. That’s to say nothing of larger issues, such as backflow pressure problems, underperforming water heaters, sump pump malfunctions, and more. And depending on your industry, plumbing may play a more critical role in your day-to-day operations.

Clearly, commercial plumbing maintenance should not just be a one-off, reactive function — especially today when facilities managers must be looking at more than just keeping assets running and in good order. Here, we’ll explore the many advantages of including plumbing in a larger preventive maintenance program.

1. It’s Important During Challenging Times

Facility costs are rising across the board, as are broader risks impacting facilities. Rising interest rates and a difficult economic environment overall make maintaining facilities harder than ever. More weather-related events are causing damage — leading to rising insurance premiums. Being proactive with your assets — especially assets such as plumbing that can cause widespread facility damage if improperly maintained — helps to offset both the risk of asset failure as well as the need to spend on costly replacements.

2. It Supports ESG Initiatives

Organizations in virtually every industry are being called upon to outline, explain, and measure their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and demonstrate what they’re doing to contribute toward positive change. Commercial plumbing maintenance, along with preventive maintenance on other energy-demanding assets such as lighting and HVAC/R, plays a valuable role in ESG efforts by helping to mitigate excess consumption due to underperforming assets and overall water waste.

3. Plumbing Can Be Measured

One of the key challenges facility managers face when dealing with assets across a large footprint is understanding exactly what those assets are. How many plumbing assets are at stake? What is the age of those assets? What is their maintenance and repair history? Knowing that information — and by location — can reveal significant insights about where to prioritize resources. A commercial plumbing maintenance program builds an asset repository for your organization, providing location, brand, model, age, work order history, and more to help you make informed decisions about where to dedicate resources.

4. It Supports Planning and Budgeting

Closely related to the above, including commercial plumbing maintenance in your overall facility management strategy provides you with data that can be used for future budget planning. For example, if during a preventive maintenance cycle it’s discovered that assets at a handful (or more) locations are not performing or are reaching a common failure point, that knowledge can be used to prepare budget recommendations for the next fiscal year. A preventive maintenance partner can also help with CapEx budget planning, where larger replacement efforts are funded at that level proactively instead of using OpEx funding reactively when the asset fails.

These Benefits Are Just the Beginning of What Proactive Commercial Plumbing Maintenance Can Do

We’ve stayed fairly high level with these commercial plumbing maintenance advantages, but they extend much deeper into day-to-day management. The best approach is to partner with a national facility asset management company — also referred to as an aggregator — to manage this function on your behalf rather than managing it yourself. Even if you have a team in place, navigating the countless tasks, details, and information of a multi-location preventive maintenance program can be overwhelming and inefficient.

Leaning on an aggregator gives you access to thousands of highly vetted, high-performing vendors in plumbing, lighting, HVAC/R, signage, and more to execute your maintenance at each location — reducing risk internally for you and your team while helping you prioritize other work yet still having complete insight into and oversight on asset maintenance at your facilities.

CLS Facility Services partners with organizations in multiple industries nationwide to help them with commercial plumbing maintenance and other preventive maintenance solutions. With more than 50 years of experience, a highly tenured team, efficient asset management technologies, and more, we’re the team you need to streamline this aspect of your work and position your business for growth and success in the years ahead.

Connect with us today, or book a meeting with our team at a time that works for you.

Every organization is different, but eventually you’ll come to that point in the year when it’s time to start planning your budget for the road ahead. A variety of elements go into facility budgeting and planning, and a great deal of those elements are known to you as a facility leader. You likely already know:

• Facility and asset costs based on previous years
• The specific costs and needs of each location
• Ongoing requirements that can influence those costs
• Planned asset maintenance, improvements, or replacements
• Larger strategic initiatives that can influence all of the above

But just as you already know or have access to the above information, there are just as many factors, variables, and situations that you can’t plan for:

• Site-specific incidents (e.g. storms, fire, etc.)
• Unexpected asset downtime, damage, or failure
• Unidentified wear and tear on key assets
• Unplanned shifts in company policy or strategy
• Unforeseen shifts in budget or resources

While we hope none of the above occur, some of them are almost certain to make an unexpected appearance. After all, assets such as HVAC/R systems, lighting systems, electrical equipment, signage systems, fire & life safety systems, and more are all physical assets that experience usage, wear and tear, and exposure to the elements. Time of year and geographic location matter here as well — in the Midwest for example, Cottonwood can significantly impact the performance of commercial cooling equipment.

We can’t prevent the unexpected, and unfortunately we can’t pad our budgets with enough resources to offset whatever may come. However, what we can do is leverage a few best practices to start each fiscal year with the best possible budget based on accurate data and implement solutions that prevent unwanted situations or minimize their impact. Let’s dig into some of these best practices now.

Consider a Different Approach to Funding Asset Management

While this largely depends on your organization and its financial practices, consider evaluating larger asset needs and funding them from CapEx resources. For example, outdated or underperforming cooling systems present a significant risk in that, if left unattended, they could go down — forcing locations to close and lose significant revenue. When navigating facility budgeting, weigh the costs: is it better to address older assets now proactively, or address them only when an issue arises and leave the location open to risk?

• Go deeper into the CapEx facility management planning approach here.

Dig Into Program Data to Identify Trends and Opportunities

A common challenge in facility management is a lack of data and accurate metrics to measure a program proactively. Recently, we explored this topic in-depth — emphasizing the need for a strategic asset management partner that provides the tools and expertise needed to help you best understand your efforts. For example, are you able to assess your investment into certain assets — lighting, for example — at each location, over a specific time, and compare that against past time spans to identify trends or opportunities? If not, it may be time to take your facility management efforts to the next level.

• Learn more about the value of a strategic asset management partner here.

Prioritize Improvements for Assets with a Long-Term Impact

While you have a number of assets to consider in your facility budgeting process, there’s one thing that’s consistent across every single location: lighting. From indoor lighting to exterior building illumination and parking lot lighting, there are dozens — if not hundreds or even thousands — of lighting assets at each of your locations. Lighting is often one of the largest contributors to energy expenses, so it is always worth evaluating this specific asset to understand if some locations are due for retrofitting, illumination surveys, and other necessary maintenance. Investing in lighting early will yield long-term rewards and help to improve sustainability efforts as well.

• Learn more about the impact of LED retrofits for real companies in our most recent case studies.

Never Underestimate the Value and Input of an Experienced Partner

If you’re not managing your assets through a facility management aggregator, you’re missing out on a number of operational and financial benefits. First, the obvious: an aggregator manages virtually every aspect of your program, helping you to consolidate service vendors, reduce administrative headaches, and ensure consistent quality. But an equally valuable benefit is that the right partner will participate in facility budgeting and strategy planning to ensure your organization is prepared and ready to make the most out of those dollars.

• Learn more about how the right aggregator adds significant value to your FM program and business.

Let’s Improve Your Bottom Line, Together

CLS Facility Services has been partnering with organizations across multiple industries for more than 50 years. As a facility management aggregator, we work with leaders just like you to help them plan more strategically and execute programs more efficiently. As your facility budgeting partner, we’ll assist you every year with analysis and reporting on how assets are performing by location and provide insights and recommendations to help you make the best use of your facility management budget as possible. Don’t leave this important part of the facility management function to chance — work with a team that’s committed to your success 24/7/365.

Get in touch with us today to get started.

Whether you’re a facility leader for a retail brand, a veterinary group, a fitness organization, a medical provider, a restaurant chain, or any other industry, it can be extremely challenging to identify, track, and measure facility management metrics. However, that must be done in order to control costs, reveal trends, report on progress, and effectively manage assets across multiple locations.

This is a common issue in facilities management, with many leaders often realizing that they lack the right data, have been relying on the wrong kind of metrics, or are using metrics that aren’t specific to their organization. With facilities leaders busier than ever, working with a strategic asset management partner can help right the ship and fill in the gaps to arm you with the data you need to achieve your facility management goals.

First, What is a Strategic Asset Management Partner?

All too often, facility leaders are left to manage HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, signage, and other asset types at dozens or even hundreds of locations. This creates all kinds of inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Just as important, it prevents you from being able to fully understand and measure your efforts. Rather than navigate this function alone, partnering with a service aggregator provides you with exponentially greater capacity, expanded capabilities, streamlined project management, and program analysis and reporting.

Here, we’ll explore several examples of useful data points and resources that a strategic asset management partner can provide.

A Few Common Metrics and Reports That Become More Accessible with a Strategic Asset Management Partner

Service Spend by Trade

Each of your locations houses a large number of assets ranging from HVAC/R systems and signage to exterior/interior lighting and fire & life safety systems. Each of these assets requires consistent, proactive maintenance (and occasionally, proactive replacement). But are you aware of your organization’s investment in each of those assets by trade? For example, do you know how much you’ve spent on HVAC/R versus lighting and electrical maintenance? Understanding this can reveal key trends or expose situations that may need to be addressed (e.g. are outdated lighting systems in need of a retrofit?).

Average Work Order Cost by Site

In addition to understanding asset maintenance costs by trade, what is the average work order cost at each location? Consistently high work order costs tied to a single location could reveal a number of issues — potentially with the equipment brand, how those assets are being used, or something else. Additionally, are you able to break this down further by trade, similar to above, at any time? Are you seeing repetitive work orders for refrigeration system maintenance at a certain location, or perhaps signage repair that’s unusually frequent? Working with a strategic asset management partner to easily access this level of reporting will help you stay informed and make the best decisions possible.

Spend Breakdown Comparisons

While understanding your spend by trade and facility location is crucial, trends and remediation decisions more accurately stand on long-term data. This is best realized by comparing the above metrics and data for a certain time period over another and refining that data even further. For example, looking at HVAC/R maintenance costs by location year-over-year for a few years can give you insight into whether that system needs more consistent maintenance or needs to be replaced entirely. Comparing trends quarter-over-quarter or half-years can also reveal useful, actionable information.

Leverage Technology and Your Strategic Asset Management Partner for Maximum Value

While we can say that you should use these metrics and data points to improve your facility management program, the reality is that extracting and analyzing them cannot be a manual process. If you don’t currently have facility management technology solutions in place, working with a strategic asset management partner can help. In addition to gaining access to their project management and service capabilities, you’ll also be able to use their tools to rapidly understand where your program stands at any time.

At CLS Facility Services, we provide our clients with an online asset management portal that gives 24/7/365 access to a variety of information, all in a matter of clicks:

• Complete asset lists organized by type and location
• All estimates, quotes, and invoices for financial tracking
• Asset performance information based on latest maintenance cycles
• Work histories based on asset and location
• All work orders along with their status
• Asset warranty information and resources

With more than 50 years of experience in helping organizations in multiple industries across the country more effectively build and manage facility asset management programs, we’re the strategic asset management partner you need to streamline your program, report on progress, analyze asset performance, and more.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our capabilities.

Case Study: How We Helped an HVAC Vendor Grow Its Business

About Our Vendor Partner

Our partner is an HVAC and plumbing vendor serving all of Michigan, Northwest Ohio, and a sizable radius around Denver, Colorado.

How Our Goals Aligned

The vendor was looking to expand their business with HVAC and plumbing work and was exploring the possibility of a partnership with a national facility management service provider. Another vendor kindly referred them to CLS Facility Services.

As an aggregator, CLS Facility Services fit the bill — rather than executing our own facility management and maintenance work, we partner with vendors just like this HVAC vendor to execute a variety of proactive maintenance, replacement, and installation work nationwide. You can learn more about the differences between self-performers and aggregators here.

As we were looking for additional service providers in the areas that this HVAC vendor covered, a partnership between our companies made perfect sense. We began with having them conduct preventive maintenance programs at a handful of client locations, and within a matter of a few months, we’d expanded their work to include dozens of client facilities.

Why We Love Working with This Vendor

It’s been 14 years since our partnership with this plumbing and HVAC vendor began, and we have nothing but great things to say about their work and our partnership overall.

The vendor has been outstanding at routing our preventive maintenance work and completing all services within the required timeframe — regardless of the month. They are highly efficient and provide exceptional service to both our team and our clients — something we put significant emphasis on for every partner we add to our national vendor network.

One thing we particularly enjoy is that the vendor provides same-day email completion reports along with findings from reactive service calls. While close, frequent communication is a necessity in our vendor network, their commitment to keeping us informed so that we are then able to efficiently manage the relationship overall is valuable.

The CLS vendor relations team has enjoyed its partnership with this vendor, and we look forward to continuing to grow our business with them and supporting their growth in turn.

Experience the Value of Partnership with CLS Facility Services

Whether you provide HVAC, refrigeration, lighting, signage, plumbing, or any other type of facility asset maintenance service, partnering with an aggregator such as CLS Facility Services is a great way to add a new revenue stream to your business.

Not only are we able to connect you with major brands across multiple industries, but we will rely on you for frequent, consistent preventive maintenance projects — helping to support the growth and success of your business.

It all starts with building a transparent relationship founded on service and trust. Once established, we will be your partner for years to come. That’s reflected by the fact that we have an average relationship tenure with our vendors of more than 12 years.

If you’d like to learn more about the opportunities available to your service business, check out our vendor resources to get insights into the value of working with an aggregator.

When you’re ready, apply to become a vendor here. We look forward to hearing from you!

Demand for commercial maintenance vendors in HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, signage, electrical, and more can ebb and flow depending on the industry being served and broader economic factors. But when shifts occur, it’s important to take note and pivot where possible to identify new sources of revenue — whether it’s service work on existing assets purchases and installation on new assets.

In today’s climate, various trends in the commercial service industry, the U.S. economy, and even adjacent industries have come to the forefront as opportunities for commercial service vendors to potentially increase their revenue. However, there is a key must-have that will make all the difference. But before we get into that, let’s explore these trends and why they’re opportunities for vendors looking to grow their businesses.

1. Transition to New Refrigerants

The push to reduce reliance on global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants is picking up, with an upcoming 40% reduction in hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) substance production. Facilities with equipment that uses high-GWP refrigerants such as R-404a will eventually need to transition to a lower-GWP option — ideally via retrofitting equipment as opposed to continually sourcing existing refrigerants. As time passes and facility managers transition their systems to more environmentally friendly options, they will rely on commercial maintenance vendors for assistance and expertise.

2. Energy Efficiency Incentives

The Inflation Reduction Act offered incentives for commercial building owners and managers to claim tax benefits — up to $5 per square foot — for improving energy efficiency. This presents a great opportunity for building owners and facility managers looking to upgrade aging systems, but expertise will be needed for implementation. Commercial maintenance vendors have an opportunity to assist their clients with taking advantage of this tax credit and making their facilities current with HVAC equipment.

3. Industrial and Retail Commercial Facility Growth

While the commercial real estate industry overall has been struggling, a couple specific asset classes have seen considerable growth and popularity. After trudging through the pandemic, retail facilities made a comeback with store openings outpacing store closures. Additionally, the adjacent industrial asset class (warehouses, distribution centers, etc.) saw explosive growth with companies needing more space for storage and production. Many companies have reshored production as well in order to avoid the supply chain and logistics challenges of recent years. Commercial maintenance vendors have an opportunity to support the construction and revitalization of these facilities.

And Now for the Must-Have: An Aggregator Partner

As a commercial maintenance vendor, you could certainly support existing customers with these trends and needs as they arise or pursue them in your respective market. But getting access to new opportunities can be time-consuming and costly. Fortunately, partnering with a facility management aggregator serves as a faster alternative — and one with greater long-term reward.

An aggregator works with self-performing service companies such as yours to execute preventive maintenance and other programs for clients in multiple industries across the country. There are numerous advantages to working with an aggregator, which you can explore in-depth here. But at CLS Facility Services, we rise above the rest through a relentless commitment to each of our vendor partners. We don’t just look for partners to execute preventive maintenance — we look for long-term relationships where we can add value to the vendor’s business and they can add value to ours.

With that approach, we have successfully established partnerships nationwide with vendors in HVAC/R, lighting, signage, electrical, plumbing, and more — all with an average relationship tenure of more than 12 years! We’re always looking to welcome more vendors to our family, so if you’re interested in how you can grow your commercial maintenance business with an aggregator, explore our resource center here or start your journey by applying to become a vendor with us.

Whether you’re in a standalone building, a strip mall, or part of a larger facility, it’s likely that the structure is using commercial rooftop units for cooling and ventilation. Over time and as the seasons change, these units are subject to a variety of harsh conditions and elements that can dramatically impact their operation and longevity. As spring turns to summer, it’s important to prioritize starting up commercial cooling properly to avoid damaging these units and to keep long-term maintenance costs down.

Here, we’ll explore what should be considered when starting up commercial cooling for the summer months. But first, what exactly goes into starting up commercial cooling?

A Commercial Cooling Startup Overview

Starting up commercial cooling is a preventive maintenance process typically handled by an experienced commercial HVAC/R vendor. Every program is different, but at CLS Facility Services, this service includes a breadth of proactive measures such as:

• Replacement of air filters
• Inspection of the condenser coils, belts, drains, fan blades, and motors
• Inspection of refrigerant pressures and checking for leaks
• Checking and cleaning electrical connections
• Verifying amp draw against manufacturer specifications
• Measuring air supply and return temperatures
• And much, much more

Must-Haves for Starting Up Commercial Cooling Units

Proactive Belt Changes

While belts are just one component of a commercial rooftop air conditioning unit, they are absolutely essential — without a functioning fan belt, there is no air conditioning. They should be checked during every maintenance cycle. More importantly, they should be proactively replaced when starting up commercial cooling.

Over time, belts can become loose, worn down, or even cracked. Proactively replacing belts when transitioning from heating to cooling avoids dealing with older belts that have wear and tear, reduces the need for more frequent belt tightening, and ultimately ensures a higher-performing unit. Belt replacement also helps prevent wear on the unit itself, which over time can lead to a much more costly problem.

Condenser Coil Chemical Cleanings

Over time, the coils in a commercial rooftop unit can collect dirt, debris, and other unwanted elements that can impact performance. A common example of this is cottonwood, which comes off trees and can collect on the condenser coils on the exterior of the unit — reducing its efficiency, operating pressure, and overall cooling capacity.

Proactive chemical cleanings help to clean out the small spaces between the condenser coils, eliminating the debris and residue buildup in these tight spaces. Doing this proactively when spring turns to summer — and not skipping a year or two between cleanings — ensures that your systems are performing as optimally as possible, without a negative impact to pressure or efficiency.

A Consistent Scope of Work

This doesn’t pertain to the units themselves, but if you have anywhere from a few dozen to few hundred locations to manage throughout your footprint, the last thing you need to be dealing with is inconsistent cooling system performance at random locations. This can happen when separate locations are managed individually, or when service providers are engaged reactively as opposed to proactively.

When you work with a single service provider that specializes in supporting organizations with a large footprint, the scope of work is structured so that consistent, uniform service is executed at each location, on each asset. This helps to avoid variations in service quality; differing maintenance techniques; and even administrative issues that can cause delays, frustration, or missing information.

Ultimately, it’s best to work with a facility management aggregator when starting up commercial cooling because you work with a single company for all of your preventive maintenance needs. The aggregator in turn works with a nationwide network of experienced, vetted service vendors who execute a preset scope of work on all assets.

All estimates, invoices, and reports are managed by the aggregator, which makes that information available to you in an easily accessible online portal for review at any time. No missing documents or files, no communication issues, and no inconsistency in service — just a commercial cooling start-up program that you — and your customers — can rely on for comfort all summer long. Learn more about the advantages of working with an aggregator for your facility management needs here.

Keep Your Cool This Summer with CLS Facility Services

For more than 50 years, we’ve partnered with companies in multiple industries for all of their asset maintenance needs. If you’re tired of underperforming cooling systems, are experiencing issues with service inconsistency, or are struggling to manage service needs at multiple locations, our team is here to help.

Connect with us today to learn more about our preventative maintenance capabilities.

Case Study: Proving the Value of an Investment in the Latest LED Technology for a Brighter Tomorrow

About Our Client

Our client is a nationwide financial services and investment management firm with more than 8,000 locations across the United States. The client was seeking a solution for outdated lighting systems in its locations, which were costly and not environmentally sustainable.

The Problem: Need for Energy Savings While Also Reducing Environmental Impact

With a large number of locations containing outdated lamps, our client faced two significant challenges: high energy expenses and equipment that was not environmentally friendly or sustainable for the future.

• Our client’s branches contained outdated T8 and T12 lamps, both of which contain mercury — a pollutant that is toxic to the environment.
• The client was looking for a solution that would be recyclable per EPA regulations, help to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, and mitigate landfill waste.
• The client was also looking to reduce its overall energy consumption and expenses, which were significantly higher due to outdated lamps.

The Solution: Lighting the Way to a More Sustainable Footprint

Before proceeding with LED retrofits at all 8,000 locations, CLS Facility Services executed our LED retrofit pilot program at 230 locations throughout the state of Missouri. Working with our national vendor network there, we efficiently and successfully:

• Recycled the older T8 and T12 lamps to prevent them from entering landfills where they risked contaminating the environment.
• Implemented mercury-free LED lamps that are brighter and have a significantly longer lifespan that is 2–5 times that of the older lamps.
• Ensured long-lasting lighting results thanks to the new LED lamps carrying an industry-leading 10-year warranty.

The Result: An Immediate Impact — Environmentally and Financially

Our LED retrofit pilot program set the stage for a much greater effort yet produced measurable results right away for the branches serviced.

• Mitigated more than 6,900 pounds of old T8 and T12 lamps from entering landfills.
• Achieved a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions through LED conversion.
• Reduced watts of electricity used from an estimated 386,400 to 144,900 thanks to LED (a 62.5% energy savings). In instances where branches had T12 lighting, conversion to LED resulted in an even greater energy savings of 78.8%.
• Helped to reduce supporting utility costs thanks to the LED conversion, which reduced lighting heat load by 95%.

Invest in Energy and Sustainability Improvements with CLS Facility Services

Our turnkey LED retrofit capabilities have helped countless companies nationwide with anywhere from 50 to 500 locations achieve significant energy savings and chart a course to a more environmentally sustainable future. In addition to LED retrofit solutions, we also offer EV charger installation, proactive HVAC/R maintenance, lighting maintenance, electrical maintenance, signage maintenance, and more — all of which can contribute to reduced energy costs. We are also experts at identifying, pursuing, follow-up on, and securing valuable rebates from utilities and government agencies, which help to incentivize improvements and offset their related costs.

As your facility asset management partner, we’ll work closely with you to outline a program that works best for your locations, budget, and timeline. Along the way, we’ll report on progress via a dedicated account management team and an online portal containing everything you need, accessible to you 24/7/365. Rely on our highly experienced team, relentless commitment to service, and dedication to ensure the success of your facility asset management program.

Serve Your Customers, Reap the Rewards

Electric vehicle (EV) chargers, also referred to as electrical vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), are growing in demand as more and more consumers adopt EVs across the country. There are more than two million EVs on the road today in the U.S., and recent data shows that more than 70% of drivers would consider buying an EV in the future.

However, the ratio of charging stations to gas stations stands around 1:4 nationwide. Whether you’re in retail, financial services, the restaurant industry, or any other consumer-facing sector, EV charger installation represents a significant opportunity for your business — not only to provide this critical service to your customers and build brand loyalty, but also to take advantage of the many rebate programs and incentives available.

There are currently more than 500 active rebate programs for EV chargers, and additional Federal tax credits may be available for EV charger installation. As a leading facility asset management company with nationwide coverage and in-depth expertise in obtaining energy rebates, CLS Facility Services can help you maximize this opportunity for your organization.

Why Work with CLS Facility Services for EV Charger Installation?

For more than 50 years, we have partnered with organizations in multiple industries to provide strategic, value-focused facility asset management and maintenance services that drive bottom-line results. We don’t just executive maintenance programs — we partner with you from the start to build lasting partnership that continues to deliver value, save money, improve operational performance and asset uptime, and more.

• We operate with 54 years of experience with electrical services nationwide.
• Our vendors have an average tenure of 12.5 years working with CLS.
• We assign a highly-experienced project management team for all national rollouts.
• Our account managers have an average tenure of 14 years.
• In addition to our cost-free web portal, we operate on nearly 20 work order management systems.
• We manage projects turn-key, including surveys, material procurement, installation scheduling and execution, rebate management, follow-up, and “go green” analyses.
• We build customized case studies to recap your project successes, green summary, and environmental impact.

Empower Your EV Charger Strategy

If you’re considering EV charger installation for your organization, our team is ready to discuss the opportunities and pursue all possible rebates available to your locations — whether you have 50 or you have 500. Get in touch with us today.

Which is why it’s critical that your business consider ways it can leverage them. Electric vehicle (EV) chargers — also called electrical vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) — represent a multifaceted opportunity for your organization — from helping to increase brand loyalty to contributing to in-store revenue growth. Additionally, there are money-saving opportunities in the form of EV charger rebates, which can help to offset the costs of using EV chargers.

We’ll explore these rebates in depth in this post, but first, it’s important to clarify why EV chargers are worth your consideration.

Why Invest in EV Chargers?

Consumer interest in EVs has been slow to start, but as charging stations have become more available and the incentives to own an EV grow, the rate of adoption has accelerated. Recent data shows that more than 70% of drivers in the U.S. would consider buying an EV in the future. Additionally, one-third reported being interested in purchasing an EV as their next vehicle. Organizations looking to increase their connections with customers and provide reasons to visit their facilities would be wise to consider EV charger installation to support this growing demand. Here are a few more reasons to consider EV chargers:

• There are an estimated two million EVs on the road today in the U.S.
• The demand for EV chargers is high (the U.S. has 168,000 gas stations but only 44,417 public EV charging stations)
• 70% of the U.S. has EV charger rebates available to incentivize installation
• There are currently more than 500 active rebate programs for EV chargers
• Additional Federal tax credits may be available for EV charger usage

What Types of EV Charger Rebates are Available?

There are a few different types of EV charger rebates that organizations can take advantage of depending on the situation, facility type, and other key factors. It’s important to understand that not all rebates are available in all areas; it depends on where you are, what type of structure the charger is being installed in, which manufacturer you’re working with, the local utility, and more. Below are some of the most common EV charger rebates available:

• Prescriptive/Standard — The most common option, prescriptive rebates make up the majority of rebates nationwide and are structured as a fixed dollar amount per unit of measure (such as by charger or by port count).
• Make-Ready — These rebates don’t cover the charger itself but will help offset the costs of making a space ready for chargers, such as the utility-side costs or the actual cost of building out the space. Consult your provider for more details.
• Midstream — Unlike the above rebates which typically issue a check or utility credit after installation, midstream rebates (also called instant or point of purchase) simply take a portion of the cost of the charger off the top, right when it’s purchased.
• Turnkey — These rebates are offered through a provider, such as a utility. The provider handles the full process from start to finish and typically deducts the cost of the charger from the total invoice.

Other rebate types and programs are available on a case-by-case basis. It just depends on where you are, what programs are available, and what you’re looking to accomplish. Additionally, funding for EV chargers may be available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

Work with the Experts on EV Charger Rebates

CLS Facility Services offers EV charger procurement and installation solutions. Available nationwide and through our proven vendor network, we can partner with you to implement EV chargers at your locations — whether you have a few dozen or a few hundred. Additionally, thanks to our expertise in energy solutions, we can support you with pursuing the best EV charger rebates for your location, equipment, and more.

When you work with us for EV charger rebates and installation services, you’ll benefit from more than 50 years of facility asset management expertise. Our experienced and tenured team understands the intricate requirements of this program type and will work closely with you upfront to outline all program costs, build a list of all assets, coordinate installation and maintenance with our national network, and provide ongoing reporting and strategic budgeting assistance to maximize your investment.

Get in touch with us today to learn how we can support your sustainability goals.

Are you an EV charging solutions provider? Learn more about working with CLS.

While it has been in use for some time, LED lighting remains a significant opportunity for businesses looking to reduce not only their energy expenses but also their impact on the environment. LED retrofits are a great way to implement them fairly quickly, but many organizations are still using outdated lamps and systems — indicating that the environmental impact of an LED retrofit may not be fully understood.

With environmental, social, and governance (ESG) demands adding pressure for organizations nationwide to report on their impact, there’s never been a better time to grow your knowledge on the environmental impact of LED retrofits and pursue this for your business. Here, we’ll explore the value of LED lighting and share a real-world example of how retrofitting existing assets can help you achieve sustainability goals.

The Impact of Outdated Lighting Systems

Whether you have a few dozen or a few hundred locations, energy use and maintenance is likely a leading cost for your business. The primary culprit here is outdated lamps, such as T8s and T12s. For many interior and exterior lighting applications, this includes Metal Halide lighting as well. These lamp types pose a number of financial and environmental challenges:

• Higher wattage, and thus higher energy expense
• Higher operating temperatures leading to higher cooling costs
• Higher maintenance costs due to more frequent replacement
• When lamps are replaced, they typically end up in landfills
• The lamps contain mercury, a toxic environmental pollutant
• Shorter warranties, creating the risk of additional costs
• Contribute to higher carbon dioxide emissions

Why Use LED Lighting?

The financial and environmental impact of LED lighting, once implemented, can be significant — both immediately and over the long term. Below are some common results of conducting LED retrofits.

• Wattage is reduced, leading to lower energy costs over time
• LED lamps have lifespans of two to five times that of outdated lamps
• Longer lamp lifespan reduces landfill waste by 400%
• LED lamps are free from mercury for environmentally friendly disposal
• A lower heat load reduces reliance on other utility services
• LED lamps have significantly longer warranties to ensure lasting performance
• LED reduces CO2 emissions (lighting is responsible for 6% of global emissions)

Learn more about the value and importance of LED retrofits for your business.

Example: Early Investments in LED Yield Significant Returns

Recently, a major financial institution partnered with CLS Facility Services for support with a major LED retrofit initiative at more than 8,000 locations. We began with a pilot initiative in a single state, managing LED retrofit projects at 230 branches. Each branch averaged 15 fixtures requiring retrofitting. Replacing each of those throughout the pilot program resulted in:

• Nearly $76,000 in annual energy savings
• Ecological recycling of around 13,800 lamps containing mercury
• Replacement with mercury-free LED lamps, creating green facilities
• Avoidance of 6,900 pounds of lamps from entering landfills
• A 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions through conversion
• Reduced branches’ watt usage from 386,400 to 144,900 (62.5% energy savings)

Ready to Reduce Your Impact and Your Energy Expense?

CLS Facility Services works with organizations nationwide in multiple industries to help them understand, implement, and benefit from the environmental impact of LED retrofit services. For more than 50 years, we’ve been helping leading brands reduce their energy demand and make meaningful progress toward their environmental and sustainability goals. Learn more about our work on this front in our case studies.

With our national vendor network, experienced and tenured team, proactive approach toward asset maintenance, and countless other benefits, we’re the team you need to achieve your goals. Get in touch with us today to learn more about LED lighting and how our turnkey LED retrofits can benefit your organization.

Are you an LED lighting service provider? Learn more about working with CLS.

Get Insights and Tools to Grow Your Business as a Facilities Management Vendor

CLS Facility Services works with service providers in HVAC/R, lighting and retrofitting, plumbing, electrical, signage, fire-life safety, and more. As part of our national vendor network, our vendors benefit from consistent scopes of work with our clients for preventive maintenance, asset replacements and installation, and more. We place great value on our vendors and look to build lasting partnerships, ensuring best-in-class service for our clients while also helping our vendors grow their businesses. Explore our resources for facility management vendors below. If you have any questions or would like to become a vendor with us, get in touch with our vendor relations team below.

Latest Vendor Insights

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A number of trends in facility management are presenting growth opportunities for commercial maintenance vendors. Learn more here.

Helpful Guides and Tools

eBook: How to Grow Your Service Business with an Aggregator

Important Forms and Documentation

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Sign up to get on our vendor list and receive periodic insights and updates from the CLS vendor relations team.

Grow with CLS Facility Services

Ready to become a vendor with us? The process is simple, and we just need some details about your organization to get started. Once you’re up and running, you’ll receive FM assignments for our clients in your service territory — helping you grow your revenue and your business.

A common issue in facilities management is dealing with unexpected costs arising from assets breaking down or needing to be replaced reactively. It can be easy for facility managers to find themselves in this situation, and sometimes it is intentional (as with an RTF maintenance strategy, which is discussed later on in this post). However, organizations that want to better control costs, maximize uptime, deliver positive experiences, and avoid the unexpected would be wise to consider a CapEx facility management strategy.

Understanding CapEx Facility Management

CapEx facility management is an approach to funding asset maintenance, replacements, installation, and other related needs in an organization. Rather than paying for these needs from OpEx budgets or requiring separate facilities to pay their own facility management costs, some organizations will utilize funds for facility management from CapEx budgets.

It stands in contrast to a run-to-failure (RTF) asset maintenance strategy, in which assets are allowed to operate until they fail or break down entirely. While RTF is intended to reduce maintenance costs, it can lead to a variety of problems including location shutdowns, uncomfortable conditions and temperatures, lost/wasted products, higher costs for temporary replacements, higher energy costs, and more.

Every organization is different, however, and ultimately the decision on how facility management is paid for is influenced by:

• The number of locations that the organization operates
• Where the locations are throughout its footprint
• What types of assets and maintenance are needed
• Historical data about past asset maintenance costs
• How organizations structure their accounting systems
• What individual locations are responsible for financially
• How organizations report on facility management
• What service providers are involved in FM programs
• The organization’s long-term financial strategy

The Advantages of a CapEx Facility Management Approach

Using a CapEx facility management approach to asset maintenance and related needs provides organizations with a variety of benefits (additionally, aggregators that use a CapEx strategy simplify work and reduce complexity for the vendors that execute the work):

• Proactively satisfies a wide variety of facility management needs
• Gives organizations a better sense of their overall annual FM costs
• Prevents unplanned expenses by not allowing assets to run till failure
• Avoids supply chain/logistics delays on asset repair or replacement
• Prevents locations from experiencing uncomfortable conditions
• Prevents lost revenue due to site closures or lost products
• Maximizes uptime as assets are proactively repaired or replaced
• Prioritizes replacement of aging/underperforming assets first
• Mitigates higher energy costs on temporary asset placements
• Operates off a consolidated, highly detailed list of assets

How to Get Started with This Approach

While you can certainly manage a CapEx facility management strategy internally, many companies find that it makes more sense to partner with a nationwide facility management partner and bring them to the table during annual planning. Doing so ensures that your FM teams and other leaders have access to specialized knowledge and experience about the process and advantages of a facility management and asset maintenance.

From there, the partner will work with you to develop an implementation plan that addresses the greatest areas of need first. The replacement assets will be ordered and installation will be scheduled. If preventive maintenance is critically needed at any locations, this will be scheduled as well and can be handled before other locations are serviced or in tandem with that service — whatever makes the most sense financially and operationally.

CLS Facility Services partners with our clients on CapEx facility management planning, ensuring that they enjoy all of the proactive benefits outlined here. Our nationwide vendor network ensures that we can cover all of your locations, wherever they are and whatever asset maintenance is needed. With a broad portfolio of capabilities and a relentless commitment to service and trust in every partnership, we’re the facility management aggregator you need to maximize your facility management program.

If your organization has experienced unexpected costs due to aging or failing assets and is ready to take a new approach, connect with our team today.

As an HVAC service company, you’re already deep into scheduling preventive maintenance, repair, and installation for your customer base. And while it is indeed the season for companies to be seeking asset management companies for HVAC, economic concerns mean facility management budgets are under more scrutiny than ever.

It’s a complex time with the need for HVAC support increasing — yet companies are more concerned about their spending than usual due to recession fears, budget cuts, and less capital investment. As a result, HVAC service providers looking to continue growing should consider additional revenue stream options to their current growth plan.

A strong solution is to partner with a facility management aggregator. Whereas self-performing companies execute the work using internal personnel, aggregators partner with service providers and provide them with contracts. Depending on the client and the number of locations, aggregators will leverage multiple partnerships with service companies in different regions to keep all of the client’s locations supported.

• Learn more about how to become a vendor for facility maintenance needs.

Advantages of Working with Asset Management Companies for HVAC

Established Relationships

Perhaps one of the best reasons to start working with asset management companies for HVAC opportunities is the fact that they have relationships already in place. Nationwide aggregators in particular have relationships with large brands that have anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred locations. This means there’s plenty of work to be had, especially with proactive HVAC preventive maintenance. You’ll gain access to consistent cycles of maintenance work to bring more revenue into your business.

• Relationships are just one way aggregators add value. Explore more ways here.

Technologies

A common barrier to establishing a new relationship is the technology used by the client and the service provider. Often, the two use separate (and disparate) systems — preventing services from moving forward. But by working with asset management companies for HVAC, you can focus on doing your work while the supporting information and financial details are channeled into the work order management system and portals that are already in place between the asset management company and the client. This means you don’t have to waste time learning and adopting a new system — you’re able to focus on execution and growth.

• Technology is a key trend for facility management professionals — learn why.

CapEx Approach

This is dependent on the asset management company you work with, but some companies support their clients with CapEx budgeting and planning. Rather than wait for HVAC assets to experience downtime or break down completely, they help their clients proactively order replacements according to a prioritized list of locations that are at the most risk. The upfront investment is planned at the CapEx level, avoiding unplanned OpEx expenses for the client. The advantage for your business is that you’re not only provided with opportunities to execute maintenance work but also order new equipment.

Build a Partnership and Grow Your Business with CLS Facility Services

CLS Facility Services works with a variety of vendors nationwide for HVAC, lighting, signage, plumbing, fire and life safety, and more. On average, our partnerships with these organizations have been in place for 12 years — meaning that when you work with us, we’re in for the long haul. Just as you commit to executing reliable work for our clients, we commit to you — helping you grow your business and supporting you with each and every contract sent your way. Our experienced, tenured team prioritizes communication and service in all that we do for our clients, and that same focus applies to our relationship with our vendors.

If you’ve been considering ways to bring in new commercial revenue to your business, we’d enjoy an opportunity to speak with you. Getting started as a CLS vendor is simple — just reach out to us here and provide some information about your business. Our vendor relations team will get in touch with you right away to learn more, explain how we work, and finalize the details. We look forward to working with you!

The pressure is on for facility managers and other operational and financial leaders to give greater attention to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects of their facilities. While identifying ways to make progress in this area has often been complex and unclear, one immediate area that facility managers can influence is the energy consumption of their facilities and the many assets operating in them. HVAC facilities management in particular is one segment where leaders can take a proactive approach.

Here, we’ll explore a few recommendations that your organization — whether you’re a retailer, medical services provider, office space, restaurant brand, or any service provider — can make that will put you in a stronger position to reduce your impact — and costs.

1. Consolidate your assets into a list.

How does building a list of your HVAC/R assets help you reduce costs? While the list itself won’t help you cut costs, it’s what you can do with that list that will help. Right now, and depending on how many locations you have, there are hundreds or even thousands of HVAC/R assets throughout your facilities. Thinking about them, would you say you know:

• Which specific assets are aging or are approaching obsolescence?
• Which assets are beginning to need frequent maintenance and repair?
• The concentration of certain brands or models?
• Which assets have had the most costs tied to them over a period of time?

Building a detailed list of all HVAC/R assets at your locations will provide you with this level of insight into your inventory and how it’s currently performing. But above all, it will show you where your greatest risks — and opportunities — are so you can make the best decisions about maintenance and replacement. In the long run, having this list will help you avoid costly issues like closures or lost sales due to temperature issues, spoilage, etc.

2. Implement a preventive maintenance program.

If you want to avoid the costly issues just described (and many others), getting proactive in your HVAC facilities management program is a must. Even a smaller footprint such as 50 stores (as opposed to 500 or 5,000) can still financially benefit from a preventive maintenance program. Avoiding unexpected costs such as heating and cooling system replacements or having to rely on temporary HVAC systems is well worth the investment in preventive maintenance.

Preventive maintenance shouldn’t be a one-time or infrequent effort, either. A consistent program should be developed and put in place to ensure all HVAC/R systems are working and in good condition. Cleanliness, connections, pressures, supply lines, components, and countless other details are all considered and evaluated in a preventive maintenance visit, ensuring that nothing goes unchecked and you avoid the far more costly issues that come with not doing preventive maintenance.

3. Get proactive with asset replacement.

While you undoubtedly don’t want to invest thousands into brand-new commercial HVAC/R systems, consider the alternative that comes with having an HVAC/R system fail. The average retail store brings in slightly more than $31,000 per month, or about $1,000 per day. Imagine if one store’s HVAC system went out completely, necessitating a replacement.

The average commercial HVAC system cost varies based on a number of stats, but let’s put it at $10,000. With today’s lead times, it’s unlikely that you’ll have a full system delivered and ready to be installed quickly. So you’re losing $1,000 per day due to the closure or having to pay much higher energy costs to use a temporary system. Wouldn’t it have been better to invest in the new system early on to avoid the situation entirely?

Working with the right HVAC facilities management partner, you can more strategically plan for these costs — using the consolidated asset list from #1 — and pay for them from CapEx funds as opposed to OpEx funds.

Work with CLS and Get Strategic with Your HVAC Facilities Management Program

As a leading facilities management company serving all of the U.S. and Canada, CLS Facility Services is uniquely suited to help you develop and implement a proactive HVAC preventive maintenance program that reduces your cost, financial liability, and ultimate impact on the world. We’ll work with you to:

• Build a complete list of all of your HVAC/R assets for all locations
• Develop a consistent, uniform scope of preventive maintenance work
• Manage the program using our proven national vendor network
• Maintain constant communication via your dedicated account team
• Provide 24/7/365 access to information in our online client portal
• Manage every detail by using your work order management system

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our capabilities, or book a meeting at a time that works best for you!

If you own a service business — whether HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, or signage — you know that getting high-value commercial jobs can take time. While facility asset maintenance is a consistent need across multiple industries (can’t be open for business without heating, cooling, and lighting after all), finding those new opportunities — especially ones with consistent, reliable work — is challenging.

What vendors need today are FM supplier partnerships that add new revenue streams and help them consistently grow their businesses. The best way forward is to partner with a facility management services aggregator. 

An aggregator is a single business that specializes in facility maintenance services but does not self-perform those services. Instead, aggregators rely on a network of vendors, suppliers, and contractors to execute maintenance work at their clients’ locations. Depending on the number of locations and where the client operates, an aggregator may leverage multiple FM supplier partnerships to ensure all locations receive the service and support they need.

CLS Facility Services is Actively Seeking FM Supplier Partnerships

For more than 50 years, CLS Facility Services has been supporting some of the largest, most recognized brands across multiple industries ranging from retail and finance to office spaces, medical, and fitness. You can learn more about the type of work we do and who we work with in our case studies.

In particular, we work with organizations that have anywhere from 50 to 500 locations throughout their footprint. Through our national vendor network, we are able to offer a complete portfolio of facility maintenance services that include:

• HVAC/R preventive maintenance and installations
• HVAC air scrubber installations
• Lighting maintenance and turnkey LED retrofits
• Signage repair and maintenance
• Plumbing repair and maintenance
• Fire-life safety systems maintenance
• And more

Our clients choose us over other facility maintenance aggregators for a number of reasons, just some of which include:

• Our extensive history and reach that includes U.S. and Canada
• A dedicated team with an average tenure of 12+ years
• Strong vendor partnerships that have an average tenure or 14+ years
• The ability to work on numerous work order management systems
• We create a consolidated, online list of all assets with related information
• We do more than execute FM; we also help with budgeting and planning
• Our proactive approach prevents downtime and unexpected costs
• We provide a consistent, uniform scope of work for all locations
• Our online tools allow for seamless program tracking 24/7/365

How to Start an FM Supplier Partnership with Us

We are actively seeking new FM supplier partnerships to support our clients across the country. If you’ve been looking to add a new revenue stream for your business, we would enjoy the opportunity to meet you and learn more about your business and capabilities. You can start the process here.

Here’s what you can expect to provide during the vendor application:

• Capabilities — what service lines you offer
• Pricing — we’ll need to know your rates
• Regions — let us know where you operate
• Team — let us know how many technicians you employ
• Fleet — if applicable, tell us the size of your fleet

Additional information will be gathered when our team reaches out to you. Please note that we have certain service level requirements for our vendors. An example is that we require estimates and quotes to be provided within 24 hours. Depending on the nature of the work, we may require faster turnaround — such as for emergency services.

With a bit of upfront work, you’ll be up and running as a CLS Facility Services vendor!

What Happens Next?

Once your vendor application is complete and our team has connected with you, we’ll begin working with you on preventive maintenance scopes of work and other programs based on our clients’ facility maintenance needs.

Currently, we have an immediate need for vendors in key areas of the country and for specific service lines, so fill out our vendor application form today to start building your FM supplier partnership with CLS Facility Services!

Your costs as a vendor or supplier have increased. The assets you service and install have all increased in price along with their parts. The cost of finding and retaining technical talent to do that work is higher due to the labor shifts of recent years. Administrative costs are increasing, taking away your hard-earned resources simply to keep the business running. Inflation and rising interest rates are impacting you and your customers as well — delaying key asset purchases and causing reduced spending and hiring. Clearly, rising facility maintenance costs are a top concern for everyone.

While your customers will still have to invest in facility maintenance in order to sustain operations, we recently noted that they’re going to be looking for ways to offset that cost and consolidate where they can. Your customers will expect vendors such as yourself to deliver more and more value in the months and years ahead amid these rising facility maintenance costs. One of the most immediate ways to achieve that is by partnering with a facility management aggregator company.

Here, we’ll explore a few ways that such a partnership enables you to reduce your costs and add value to customers in need of your support — whether that’s HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, signage, or any other facility maintenance discipline.

How Working with an Aggregator Helps You Mitigate Rising Facility Maintenance Costs

1. A New Revenue Stream

One of the most immediate advantages of working with an aggregator to reduce facility maintenance costs is the fact that it opens up a new source of revenue for your business. Depending on your location and the opportunities available, you’ll be connected with recurring facility maintenance work in addition to your current clientele. Most often, aggregators have relationships with larger brands with multiple locations, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to support them in managing their assets and locations.

2. Program Management

Another reduction in costs comes on the administrative side thanks to your team not having to devote so much time to coordination and communication. If you were to grow apart from an aggregator relationship, you’d eventually need more admin-level support for scheduling calls, coordinating workflow, dealing with suppliers and customers, and so on — adding to your overhead. Instead, your aggregator partner will handle this for you using a variety of account management and technology solutions that keep everything moving.

3. Uniform Scopes of Work

Unexpected situations and service calls as well as scope creep in general can lead to delayed project completion and thus delayed revenue. While situations and emergencies will always happen, working with an aggregator helps to reduce this because it develops consistent, uniform scopes of work across all locations to be serviced in a client’s footprint. As a vendor, you’d be assigned consistent work such as preventive maintenance on HVAC/R systems or lighting system upgrades. Unless otherwise specified, this would be the work that you’d execute at all assigned sites — keeping your costs down thanks to known products and parts, no need for additional expertise, and no delays in project time.

4. CapEx Asset Replacement

Another way that working with an aggregator helps to reduce your facility maintenance costs comes through CapEx asset replacement. This is another net-new revenue opportunity that helps to offset rising costs because it brings more money into your business. Rather than reactively replacing units at clients’ locations when they break down or need extensive repair, the aggregator will work with the client at the start of a program to proactively replace outdated or underperforming assets using CapEx resources. This gets all assets ordered in one go and ensures that the client isn’t likely to suffer any issues due to aging or damaged assets.

Become a Vendor for CLS Facility Services

As a leading facility asset management aggregator in the U.S. and Canada, CLS Facility Services works with vendors such as yourself to provide a complete portfolio of capabilities to companies across multiple industries. For more than 50 years, we’ve helped some of the largest brands maintain high-performing assets and facilities thanks to a wide network of partners with whom we have an average relationship of more than 12 years.

If you’re looking to reduce your costs this year and are looking for new ways to grow, we’d enjoy the opportunity to meet with you and learn more about your business. Getting set up as a vendor with CLS Facility Services is an efficient process — we just need some information about your business and a commitment from you to maintain certain service timelines.

When you’re ready, you can learn more about the process and get started here. We look forward to partnering with you!

Whether you’re in signage, lighting, HVAC/R, plumbing, or any other facility services discipline, you’ve likely already seen how the wider industry has been affected by today’s myriad challenges. The labor shortages and economic issues of recent years are just the tip of the iceberg — other matters with greater longevity are continuing to keep service companies and customers on their toes. As a service vendor, it’s important to stay on top of facility management trends and data so you’re able to adapt and respond to continue meeting your customers’ needs.

Here, we’ll explore a few leading facility management trends, what they mean for your business, and why it may be worth taking a new approach as you look to grow your business in the years ahead.

If growth is a focus for your business, consider partnering with a facility maintenance aggregator. Learn why here. 

What to Watch For as a Facility Services Vendor

1. Companies are re-evaluating their facility management programs.

Many of the challenges outlined above have led companies to strategically analyze the benefits of outsourcing and insourcing certain facility services functions — primarily to maximize value creation. This means they’re laser-focused on what will make them more productive, help them to reduce costs, and help them be more efficient. For example, maintenance activities on key equipment may be insourced if a company feels they will have better control or perhaps faster repair times. Conversely, maintenance may be outsourced if the company feels it lacks the talent, capabilities, or time to handle it.

• How this affects your business — Scrutiny of your services and value is only going to increase. You’ll need to find ways to maximize your value to customers, along with ways to deliver that value sooner in the relationship.
• Something to consider — Partner with a facility management aggregator that can integrate you into an existing relationship where value and trust are established. You get a new revenue stream, and the pressure to create value is already done.

2. Technology adoption and utilization is changing.

Companies today are looking to reduce costs, and one way they’re doing that is consolidating their tech stacks. This includes facility management technologies (such as work order management systems), which historically have been lagging behind other industries for a number of reasons. While the tools are available, companies are either going to use their own solution or look for one that’s established and will add value to their facility management operations right away.

• How this affects your business — Your clients are going to expect you to use their systems or provide a proven solution. You’ll need to learn their system or implement a tool for program tracking, asset management, etc. This can be time-consuming and expensive on both fronts.
• Something to consider — Working with an aggregator for facility maintenance means you’ll have access to a number of common work order management systems and other tools that you can leverage to track project status, provide documentation, and ultimately deliver the experience clients expect.

3. Proactive Asset Maintenance and Replacement

It may seem obvious to proactively replace assets and systems in facilities before they completely fail, but the reality is that many organizations err on the side of repairing assets and keeping them in place to avoid total replacement costs. This may have short-term cost savings, but the risks quickly outweigh the benefits. The assets will need to be replaced eventually, creating uncomfortable conditions or forcing facilities to shut down entirely. Additionally, unexpected replacements mean companies are forced into unplanned spending, and lead times on replacements are extensive currently. Overall, not being proactive means companies are likely to find themselves in a more challenging situation later than if they’d proactively invested in replacements paid for via CapEx funding.

• How this affects your business — Inconsistent asset replacement coupled with unplanned maintenance or repair means you’re unable to accurately forecast work and revenue. It can also stress your relationships with clients when you’re not able to respond immediately or provide a replacement asset due to extensive lead times.
• Something to consider — Aggregators that take a strategic, program-level approach as opposed to one-off maintenance and replacements will partner with their clients to plan out larger, proactive replacements that are paid for from CapEx funds, meaning that the assets are budgeted and known vs. being unexpectedly replaced from OpEx budgets. While there is more cost to the client upfront, the long-term savings from avoiding downtime and repairs is significant. Consider partnering with an aggregator that takes this approach so you have more consistent revenue and fewer unexpected service/replacement calls.

Aggregate to Accelerate — Grow Your Business with CLS Facility Services

As one of the leading facility management aggregators serving the U.S. and Canada, CLS Facility Services has built a 50-year legacy of making facility asset management and maintenance programs simple yet powerfully effective for our clients. Key to this is our national vendor network. We have partnerships with vendors such as yourself across a variety of facility services disciplines, and we’re always welcoming more to help us expand our coverage and best support our clients. On average, we’ve built strong 13-year relationships with our vendors, and we’d enjoy the opportunity to do the same with you.

Connect with our vendor management team today to get started.

Whether you’re a commercial HVAC company, plumbing services provider, lighting service company, or a signage installation and repair firm, it’s no secret that working with a service aggregator can greatly benefit your business. The amount of opportunities that can be funneled to your business can expand your customer base and your revenue.

While growth is one of the leading reasons asset maintenance companies partner with aggregators, the value that a service aggregator provides extends beyond the financial sphere. There are significant benefits that many often don’t consider because they follow as a result of a consistent, long-term relationship. Let’s dig into several of these value-adds to help you decide if working with a service aggregator is right for your business.

Need a refresher on just what a service aggregator is? Learn the difference between aggregators and self-performers here.

They Reduce Your Operational and Business Development Complexity

Generating business throughout your footprint takes significant time. You have to market, deal with RFQs and proposals, maintain communications with prospects and customers, and more — to say nothing of actually managing the work and the associated information that comes along with it (such as quotes, invoices, etc. from suppliers). With a service aggregator, much of this work is done for you. Imagine growing your business without having to do more paperwork and data management. Sounds like a dream!

• Learn more about aggregators’ business development advantages.

They Connect You with Larger Accounts and Build Your Expertise

Because they operate on a national scale, aggregators’ clientele are typically larger brands with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of locations. It may be difficult to break into these clients if you’re a local/regional business that they erroneously deem too small to support their needs. However, as a part of a service aggregator’s national vendor network, you’d be connected with these opportunities and can put your best foot forward — allowing you to showcase your work for and build experience with larger name brands.

• Learn more about the advantages of being part of a vendor network.

They Bring More Advanced Technology to the Table

You likely have a project management resource or other management technology in place, but do you ever wish it could do more for your business? Perhaps it’s limited on features, or you can only use it for certain types of projects or assets. Modifying such tools is often difficult without paying enterprise-level fees. As a vendor partnered with a service aggregator, you’d have greater access to asset management technology, allowing you to better organize and report on your customers’ work while also streamlining information management for resources such as invoices, estimates, work orders, and so on.

• Learn how to find the right aggregator for your business.

They Help Build Your Team

This one might be surprising, but it has to do with longevity, trust, partnership, and growth. All of the great reasons to work with a service aggregator can lead to happier employees due to more growth opportunities, consistent work streams, the ability to work on the latest assets, experience-building opportunities, and more. Because service aggregators emphasize long-term partnerships, your business has the opportunity to enjoy all of these benefits and more for a long time, meaning you could see employee retention improve. This has subsequent benefits as well, such as more experienced and knowledgeable employees, better customer service satisfaction, higher public ratings, and more.

• Learn what goes into becoming a facility asset maintenance vendor.

Get All of These Benefits and More with CLS Facility Services

CLS Facility Services is a leading facility asset management company serving leading brands across multiple industries with their most pressing maintenance challenges. Our proactive approach and national reach mean we’re always growing and partnering with new vendors in HVAC/R, lighting, signage, plumbing, FLS, and more. If you’ve been looking for a service aggregator that can not only help grow your business but also add significant value along the way, we’re ready to work with you.

Connect with us today to learn more about our vendor network, or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

The banking industry had a challenging 2022, and with rising interest rates and pressure for more personalized digital solutions continuing to mount for financial institutions, there’s never been a more crucial time for banks to focus on how they help customers achieve their goals.

While banks’ core products and services should always be a chief focus, another area should hold a fair amount of attention in 2023: bank facilities maintenance. While some institutions have been phasing out physical locations (or at least exploring that possibility), it remains that consumers still prefer to navigate certain transactions or financial processes face-to-face.

The last thing a banking or other financial institution needs when it’s trying to bring current and new customers into branches is to deprioritize bank facilities maintenance activities. Examples of these efforts include maintaining HVAC systems, managing plumbing systems, doing upkeep on and replacing fire and life safety systems, and more. But one area stands above all others due to the fact that it shapes what customers (and employees) see and feel every moment that they’re inside a financial branch: lighting.

As financial institutions are often tenants in their facilities, or come to occupy buildings purchased from other institutions, it stands that some lighting elements may be outdated. In these instances, turnkey LED retrofits are crucial to a proper bank facilities maintenance strategy. Here, we’ll touch on the value that turnkey LED retrofits provide for financial institutions that are looking to continually refine and improve the way they engage customers and manage their facilities (and the related costs).

The Advantages of LED Retrofits in Bank Facilities Maintenance

1. They ensure a consistently positive experience — Underperforming or outdated lighting systems are proven to detract from productivity and impact customer perceptions and buying habits. The last thing financial institutions need is to have customers straining and fatiguing while they’re inside trying to do business.
2. They ensure a high-touch branch appearance — The strength of a financial brand is rooted in more than its legacy of serving customers and providing ideal financial products and services. It’s also deeply connected to the appearance of their facilities in the community. Customers will immediately notice flickering, underperforming, and damaged lighting systems and could feel unsafe. They might wonder why the institution hasn’t already addressed the situation, which opens the door to other negative perceptions. With LED retrofits as part of a bank facilities maintenance program, institutions proactively ensure their lighting is using the latest — and most reliable — lighting components. Strong lighting leads to a strong appearance and a stronger brand image in customers’ minds.
3. They maximize energy savings — Another key aspect is how lighting impacts the financial performance of each branch. Energy is a leading cost for financial institutions when it comes to their facilities, and with brands facing more financial pressure due to the economy and shifting consumer preferences, it’s important to find savings wherever possible. LED retrofits ensure savings not only in reduced energy usage but also in lower maintenance costs, as parts don’t have to be replaced as often (if ever). In some cases, key components are no longer needed — further reducing the costs associated with bank facilities maintenance.

How to maximize your lighting investment: Learn what to consider to get the most out of your LED retrofit.

With the Right Partner, the Future is Brighter Than Ever

While any number of companies can provide LED retrofits, only a nationwide facility asset management partner can deliver the long-term benefits and savings that financial institutions need. Rather than requiring individual financial branches to handle their own LED retrofits and facilities maintenance activities, working with a nationwide partner yields even better dividends:

1. Reduced workload for facility managers across the organizational footprint
2. No need to spend time researching contractors and service providers
3. Consistent scopes of work (and pricing) across all locations
4. Can be planned as a CapEx program rather than one-off OpEx outlays
5. Streamlines workflow and communication by working with one partner
6. All assets and program documentation are centralized in a single system
7. Peace of mind knowing only proven technicians are working on your program
8. Can be executed as retrofit-only or as a preventive maintenance program
9. Confidence in working with one tenured team vs. multiple contacts
10. Explore real-world examples of successful LED retrofits

CLS Facility Services has been partnering with financial institutions nationwide for decades, helping them with everything from money-saving LED retrofit projects to highly customized and proactive preventive maintenance programs. Whatever your facility asset management needs may be, our team offers the expertise, consolidation, and service focus that your brand needs to shine in the year ahead.

Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities, or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

Services Provided and Hourly Rates

This information is required. If you did not provide the information on the first Become a Vendor form, please add it here.

Please review the following partnership and service requirements thoroughly. All items or capabilities listed below are required in order to become a vendor with CLS.

Service Level Standards

• Estimates/Quotes — must be provided within 24 hours
• Emergency Service — must be completed same day
• Urgent — must be completed next day
• Standard Services — must be completed in 48–72 hours
• Preventive Maintenance Service — must be completed within 30 days
• Communication — daily updates are required or as needed

To learn more about becoming a vendor, give us a call at 800-548-3542.

Existing Vendor Resources

A facility management aggregator is an organization that works with vendors — in LED project work, HVAC/R, lighting, electrical, plumbing, FLS, and other disciplines — to execute consistent facility management scopes of work for its clients, rather than executing the work with their own in-house teams (i.e. self-performers). Learn more about the key differences here.

If you’re a provider of facility management services, working with an aggregator is one of the best ways to add a repeatable revenue stream to your business. An example, say you’re a commercial HVAC/R vendor that provides maintenance, sales, and installation. You likely dedicate a fair amount of time each month to promoting your business and bringing in new opportunities, as well as taking care of clients that call in with repair needs or quotes. These are great, but they’re not consistent or guaranteed.

By partnering with a facility management aggregator, you’re added into a network of vendors nationwide that are assigned maintenance and unit replacement work throughout a specific regional footprint. If you service a two- or three-state area, you would be assigned consistent preventive maintenance work on existing units for clients at all of their locations in that territory, or the areas that you are best able to serve. This provides a reliable source of revenue and work that can help you grow.

Here, we’ll provide three quick steps to help frame how this journey begins and what to expect as you move forward.

1. Identify and Evaluate the Right Facility Management Aggregator

There are a number of facility management aggregators nationwide that you can partner with, but quantity does not equate to quality in terms of partnership value. When you’re ready to start working with an aggregator, it’s important to consider details of their organization such as how long their customers have been with them — and their employees. Also, carefully consider their service philosophy — both to their vendor partners and their customers. You want to make sure you’re working with a reputable organization you can rely on for years to come.

Go deeper: How to Evaluate Facility Maintenance Companies Looking for Vendors

2. Start Building the Partnership

Again, you can partner with virtually any aggregator, but you need to make sure it’s going to be the right one for your business — more specifically, that they’re going to add value for you. The last thing you want is to sign up to be a vendor with an aggregator and not hear from them for a year. What program types do they offer? For example, it’s far better to work with an aggregator that offers preventive maintenance and CapEx planning solutions versus one-off break/fix work. Work orders are more consistent and repeatable as opposed to last-minute repairs, thus ensuring more frequent revenue for your business.

Go deeper: How to Become a Vendor for Facility Maintenance

3. Grow the Relationship — and Your Business

Once you’re all set up and are beginning to receive work orders for preventive maintenance or service call work, it’s important to keep the relationship strong. Learn how you can continue to work together, add value for your respective organizations, and add value for the companies you serve. Over time, the strength of your partnership will lead to continued business and revenue growth.

Go deeper: Grow Your HVAC Business with a Facility Management Partner

Start Your Growth Journey with CLS Facility Services

With customer and employee tenures of well over a decade and a half, we’re the aggregator that many HVAC/R, lighting, signage, electrical, plumbing, and FLS vendors have turned to for additional revenue. We operate nationwide and complete tens of thousands of preventive maintenance programs annually, all through the strength and partnership of our national vendor network.

Our productivity-boosting technologies, commitment to transparency and clarity in our estimates and scopes of work, and true relationship-oriented approach with our customers and vendors have led to some of the longest-term partnerships in the industry. We’re ready to build one with you.

Connect with our vendor management team today to get started.

For many organizations, budget planning is well underway and may have already been completed. Facility management is undoubtedly a significant piece of that financial picture. Looking back over the previous year, it’s common to see these budgets experience unexpected increases — forcing companies to reactively rethink the budget mid-year or go over budget entirely.

This is typically due to unexpected asset failures, such as HVAC or refrigeration systems needing unplanned maintenance or breaking down beyond the point of financially viable repair. The result? Companies end up allocating additional money to hedge against issues that may arise in the new year. In situations like these, companies would be far better served by leveraging proactive facility management services.

It’s a simple concept: don’t wait for something to become a problem before you fix it. Here, we’ll explore a few key ways that proactive facility management services do exactly that — and more.

Summer or winter, heat or cold, being proactive with HVAC/R systems means more peace of mind for you and stronger performance.

1. Asset List Creation and Prioritization

Straight up: do you have a centralized list of every HVAC/R asset across your footprint? Multiple spreadsheets and docs definitely don’t count. If a manager at one of your locations called in to report a problem, would you know where to find the model and serial number, its age, and related maintenance costs tied to that asset? If not, this is where proactive facility management services can help.

Benefits of being proactive:

• Allows full analyses of HVAC equipment ages, prioritizations, and building of CapEx planning
• Lists are accessible online 24/7/365
• Enables more focused maintenance prioritization

2. Ongoing Preventive Maintenance

Every asset experiences wear and tear over time. Proactive facility management services thus must include a preventive maintenance solution so that assets are visited by skilled, qualified technicians on a predetermined basis to make adjustments, clean components, change filters or consumables, and identify other potential issues before they become costly, time-consuming problems.

Benefits of being proactive:

• Consistent changing of HVAC filters to ensure stronger air quality, unit performance, and greater energy efficiency
• Prevents delays due to reactive scheduling
• Keeps assets running smoothly, consistently
• Identifies repairs needed ahead of time
• Mitigates larger, unexpected costs

3. Upfront Estimating and Program Design

On the financial side, understanding all of the details of proactive facility management services upfront ensures that there are no surprises down the road. Unexpected costs can throw budgets out of balance and even damage relationships, leading facility managers to have to source new partners (which only further adds to maintenance delays). Better to work with a partner that outlines all of this information upfront so you know what to expect.

Benefits of being proactive:

• Estimates and NTEs are established up front
• Creates stronger, more trusting relationships
• Prevents surprises and delays due to costs

4. CapEx Unit Replacement

To maximize your proactive facility management services, consider a CapEx unit replacement program. Operationally, you don’t want an unexpected HVAC replacement ($10,000 or more) throwing your budget off unexpectedly. With a proactive approach, older or underperforming units — that can more easily be identified thanks to a thorough, prioritized asset list — can be replaced before they break down completely or add even more drain to your facility management budget.

Benefits of being proactive:

• Addresses likely asset failures in one program
• Prevents time delays due to supply chain issues
• Upgrade to new HVAC units with strong warranties to reduce short-term repairs
• Eliminate units with R-22 refrigerant to foster better environmental impact and reduce reactive refrigerant costs

Work with CLS for Truly Proactive Facility Management Services

As one of the leading facility management companies nationwide, CLS Facility Services works with every client proactively to make the most out of its asset maintenance strategy. We’re not just overseers of asset maintenance work — we pull up a chair at your budget planning table and work with you to implement solutions that prevent unexpected costs, maximize utility rebates, and prevent your assets from impacting your day-to-day operations.

Get in touch with us now to learn how we can position you for operational and financial success in the new year.

Case Study: Providing Nationwide Coverage for Retail-Based LED Retrofit Management Needs

About Our Client

Our client — a furniture retailer with a large nationwide footprint — was in need of LED retrofit management services as it sought to upgrade 180 sites across 37 states.

The Problem: Current FM Partners Lacked Coverage

Coverage applies to two fronts: first, in terms of covering the retailer’s total footprint and in terms of warranties. It was clear that this lack of coverage wasn’t going to work.

• Our client was struggling to find an LED retrofit management company that would be able to perform strong lighting audits, identify and pursue utility rebate incentives, and provide competitive pricing.
• The retailer’s previous partners could only provide services across two to three states and were unable to support the retailer on a larger regional or national level.
• The warranties its current partners offered on lamps and fixtures were weak, reducing the longevity of their investment.

The Solution: A Nationwide LED Retrofit Management Approach

The furniture retailer turned to CLS Facility Services for its LED retrofit management capabilities, nationwide coverage, and numerous other advantages thanks to our aggregator approach (versus the retailer working with multiple self-performers).

• We performed precise lighting audits at each facility, detailing a thorough lighting analysis and identifying opportunities for improvements and replacements.
• We then provided a turn-key proposal that detailed costs, multiple energy savings analyses, rebate maximization, and material selection from elite manufacturers.
• To maximize the retailer’s investment, we also provided industry-leading 10-year material warranties for 95% of materials ordered for the LED retrofit projects.
• The CLS team managed each project from start to finish upon approval of our proposal — providing completion updates, communicating with store managers, coordinating all install schedules and dates, and making all project work seamless.
• Thanks to our project management and national vendor network, all projects were completed in a timely manner — minimizing disruption and downtime.
• We also used uniform LED products from site to site so that the retailer’s stores would have uniform lighting and aesthetics with strong warranties nationwide.

The Result: Complete Coverage, Reduced Energy Costs, and Improved In-Store Experiences

Thanks to superb program execution, material lead times were minimal — particularly during an era when material lead times have been difficult on a national level.

• We held a weekly status call to provide updates, completion reports, and situation analysis for LED retrofit projects.
• Our team successfully obtained rebates for every location where such offers were available. We even earned additional electric grid incentive rebates — something other companies had never communicated about.
• Every LED retrofit management project with CLS resulted in energy savings exceeding 60%, while improving light levels significantly.
• We knew the projects would lead to good energy savings, but didn’t anticipate store managers providing such positive feedback on lighting uniformity and the new aesthetic of the lighting following project completion.

Get the Coverage You Need for Your Facilities

CLS Facility Services provides a complete portfolio of preventive maintenance solutions for organizations across multiple industries with anywhere from 50 to 400 locations. Our program-level approach, highly experienced team, technology and management strategy, and nationwide vendor network ensure that all of your most critical assets — from lighting and HVAC/R systems to signage, FLS, and plumbing — are covered 24/7/365.

Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities.

Or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

Case Study: Maximizing Comfort and Savings with a Commercial HVAC Replacement Program

About Our Client

Our client is a nationwide athletic attire retailer with more than 200 stores and more than 1,000 assets for heating and cooling its facilities. The company was exploring a commercial HVAC replacement program to proactively replace its HVAC units as part of a CapEx planning effort.

The Problem: Staying Ahead of Potential Breakdowns and Downtime

When commercial HVAC units break down and require replacement or major repairs, there is a significant cost to the organization and a lengthy lead time on repair components or new units. As a result, temperatures become uncomfortable for employees and customers, which can impact experiences and subsequently revenue. With a proactive commercial HVAC replacement program (executed before units break down), several things are achieved:

• Expensive repair costs are avoided
• Significant heating/cooling costs are avoided while new equipment is on order
• New HVAC assets produce energy efficiency savings
• Potential utility rebates can be pursued to further minimize costs
• Refrigerant/R-22 components are avoided with new HVAC technology
• New units foster new warranties for stores
• Landlords might share unit replacement costs as an tenant renewal incentive
• Learn more about the benefits of a proactive HVAC program

How a CapEx-Focused Commercial HVAC Replacement Program Works

• We provide the client with a detailed list of their entire HVAC assets, which is built through the CLS HVAC Preventative Maintenance Program.
• We identify the top 10–40 HVAC units for CapEx replacement. This number varies based upon the size of the client and the number of stores and HVAC assets.
• This top 10 asset list is based on several factors: 1) the age of the unit, 2) repair history, 3) environment of the site (e.g. high-volume store, heavy salt water area, etc.), and 4) prioritization of sites with just one HVAC unit running (a particularly high priority — if that unit goes down, there is no HVAC solution).
• The client reviews their lease information to determine “best fits” for CapEx replacement. We then survey the “best fits” to quote HVAC unit replacements, review electrical components, evaluate crane access, assess equipment condition, etc.
• The client reviews all quotes and leases and leverages landlord support in order to determine what makes sense for the budget and to move forward with “best fits” for the HVAC CapEx program.
• With everything finalized, our team orders the commercial HVAC replacement units, provides timelines to the client, and ultimately installs the new assets.

The Solution: Proactive Replacement to Avoid Future Problems

Taking a proactive approach and implementing replacements as part of a CapEx budget ensured that the retailer would be well prepared to deliver comfortable experiences for years to come while also mitigating downtime and breakdowns due to old assets.

• CLS identified and recommended the top 40 units for commercial HVAC replacement for this nationwide retail client.
• Upon reviewing quotes, lease terms, landlord support, and CapEx Budget, the client moved forward with 32 CapEx uint replacements across nine total stores.
• Despite longer lead times for HVAC equipment — given current market conditions — all 32 units were replaced before they broke down, fostering significant maintenance savings and preventing employee and customer discomfort.

The Result: Significant Maintenance Savings and Guaranteed Comfort

Thanks to this commercial HVAC replacement program, our retail client was able to realize some significant maintenance savings and ensure that their employees and customers would be well served as they worked and shopped in stores.

• Through new equipment, new warranties, energy efficiency savings, and voided repair costs, the client will save an estimated $125,000 in maintenance costs on these 32 assets — simply by replacing units proactively.
• The landlord’s support on unit replacement also fostered greater savings and return on investment for the client.
• No HVAC replacements required any change orders or additional costs. Four asset replacements even had reduced costs, as CLS quotes are presented as not-to-exceeds (NTEs) and replacements took less time than quoted.

Get Proactive with Your HVAC Maintenance Now

CLS Facility Services provides a complete portfolio of preventive maintenance solutions for organizations across multiple industries with anywhere from 50 to 400 locations. Our program-level approach, highly experienced team, technology and management strategy, and nationwide vendor network ensure that all of your most critical assets — from lighting and HVAC/R systems to signage, FLS, and plumbing — are covered 24/7/365.

Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities.

Or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

Case Study: A Retail LED Retrofit Program with Brilliant Results

About Our Client

Our client is a home products retailer with more than 55 stores across more than 10 states. The company was looking for a more effective approach to complete retail LED retrofit management across its stores, including rebate preparation and turnkey support.

The Problem: A Need for New Assets and More Proactive Retail LED Retrofit Support

• Our client was struggling with major repair costs that came from having to replace burnt-out ballasts and T8 lighting.
• They wanted a provider who could offer detailed lighting system audits, perform turn-key LED project management, and maximize rebates to further drive down costs.
• The warranties on its lamps and fixtures were weak, resulting in a reduced long-term investment.

The Solution: A Prioritized Approach to LED Retrofitting

• The client reviewed their list of stores to analyze the locations with the most lamp and ballast outages.
• We reviewed the completed list to prioritize stores with the strongest utility rebates in that geographical area and to create better ROI opportunities for retail LED retrofit projects.
• We then performed detailed lighting audits, outlining a thorough lighting analysis of our recommended solutions at each facility.
• We executed seven retail LED retrofits in 2021 and 11 LED retrofits in 2022 to align with the client’s CapEx budgetary needs. An additional eight retrofit projects are slated for 2023.
• Our exceptional team also secured an industry-leading 10-year warranty on all lamps. This was a significant achievement to maximize the longevity of our client’s investment.
• Our retail LED retrofits eliminated all ballasts, creating major maintenance and energy savings moving forward.
• All 18 completed projects resulted in 55–72% energy savings, given the dynamic wattage reduction.

The Result: Significant Energy and Cost Reductions

• Project execution was superb, with the CLS Team providing daily completion updates and managing all communications with store personnel.
• Material lead times were very minimal, which was extremely beneficial during a time when lead times have been difficult on a national level.
• Rebates were achieved for every location where they were available. We even earned additional Electric Grid Incentive rebates — something other companies had never told us about.
• Stores have had zero outages or warranty requests for lamps since completion of projects and are 100% lit, with no more ballasts.
• Our client received wonderful feedback from store managers and personnel regarding larger light levels.
• Stores had color uniformity as a result of the LED projects —i.e. no more varying colors due to multiple lamp specs. Uniformity throughout!

Improve Your Lighting and Reduce Energy Costs with CLS

CLS Facility Services provides a complete portfolio of preventive maintenance solutions for organizations across multiple industries with anywhere from 50 to 400 locations. Our program-level approach, highly experienced team, technology and management strategy, and nationwide vendor network ensure that all of your most critical assets — from lighting and HVAC/R systems to signage, FLS, and plumbing — are covered 24/7/365.

If you are considering a similar retail LED retrofit program, or have another initiative in mind, connect with us today to learn how we can help.

Or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

With excess inventory from the 2021 holiday season and worries that consumers might not spend as much as normal due to inflation and recession worries, this holiday season — and the months following it — are expected to be more challenging than ever for retailers. According to research reported in the New York Times, 60 percent of consumers said finances are factoring into their holiday shopping, which is up 14 percent over last year.

Despite this gloomy outlook, industry organizations are remaining cautiously optimistic. A recent International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) survey showed that consumers expect to continue spending, forecasting more than $1.5 trillion in sales (including dining) for Q4 2022. Of note — 57 percent of consumers said they plan to pick up items in-stores as opposed to dealing with shipping delays.

While the overall impact of today’s economic challenges remains to be seen, retailers have a distinct opportunity to drive sales higher by delivering a superior in-store experience. This is achieved by prioritizing proactive retail facility services. Here, we’ll explore several key areas that consumers don’t often notice until they’re experiencing a problem, but when they’re working as intended, they help create a solid foundation for a memorable shopping experience. Let’s dig in.

6 Retail Facility Services That Can Influence Your Success

• Signage — Thinking about the customer experience with a retail store, signage is one of the first assets your shoppers encounter. They use it as a guide on their way to your locations and as reference points. That’s why keeping your signage properly illuminated and in good working order matters, especially when foot traffic is expected to increase. Noticeable issues stand out to consumers, so prioritizing maintenance for signage and its electrical components will go a long way this year.
• Lighting — Bottom line: If you don’t have functioning lighting, you don’t have a functioning retail store. Properly functioning lighting makes consumers feel safe, prevents any negative perceptions of your brand, and even influences purchasing decisions. Don’t risk outages or annoying flickering in your stores this year — consider proactively assessing and updating lighting to make the holiday season literally bright (and to reduce energy costs by replacing outdated systems with more efficient LED lighting technology!).
• HVAC — The last thing you need to have an older unit break down during one of the busiest times of the year. Proactively assessing HVAC assets and refrigeration systems ensures that older, risky units are ordered and replaced ahead of this crucial time. Now is the time to act, too — current lead times for commercial HVAC equipment are extensive. While there are solutions to address outages temporarily, they can be costly. Consider implementing a proactive HVAC solution right away to ensure these critical assets keep performing for you when you need them most. Learn more about building the perfect HVAC preventive maintenance program here.
• Plumbing — As if not being able to keep shoppers and employees warm this holiday season wasn’t a big enough issue, imagine having a significant plumbing problem when your restrooms and kitchens are anticipated to be at their busiest. Needless to say, it’s important to be proactive and include plumbing maintenance in your retail facility services program.
• Fire & Life Safety — Last but not least, fire and life safety assets might seem like a given and that consumers don’t pay them any mind. But should the worst happen, you do not want to be in a situation in which exit signage wasn’t easily identifiable due to an outage, fire extinguishers hadn’t been recharged, or door alarms weren’t functioning. This not only creates safety issues but can lead to legal problems down the road as well. Be proactive to protect your consumers and your business.

Another Consideration: Emergency Services and Support

While not necessarily part of a proactive retail facility services program, you’ll need to have a plan and partner in place for any emergencies (busted pipe, sign or electrical damage due to a storm, etc.). Dealing with potential emergencies across multiple locations is virtually impossible, so ensure you have a reliable partner you can call on for support should the need arise. Additionally, make sure you understand who you’re working with when it comes to emergencies — the last thing you need to deal with is an automated call center or getting routed to someone you haven’t worked with before.

Partner with an Industry Leader in Retail Facility Services

CLS Facility Services has been supporting the retail industry for decades across all of these service areas and more. As an aggregator (meaning we work with a trusted network of proven self-performing vendors to execute HVAC, signage, plumbing, and lighting scopes of work), we maximize value by creating an all-encompassing program for all of your locations. This typically starts with a complete list of all assets — with supporting details such as manufacturer date, model, serial numbers, location, and more — that is housed in an online portal available to you 24/7/365.

From there, we develop a proactive and uniform scope of work for preventive maintenance of these assets. All estimates and quotes are developed in-house and provided to you ahead of time, with an internal team available to answer any questions. Thanks to our long-term relationships with vendors as well as our own team’s extensive tenure, you can rest assured that your program is being executed with integrity, accuracy, and transparency at all times.

Put your retail business in a strong position for success this holiday season with our retail facility services. Get in touch with us today to learn more.

The past year has been fraught with many challenges for HVAC companies. Supply chain issues, labor shortages, rising interest rates, and other factors have all led to production challenges, service and delivery delays, and more. Despite this, you’re likely still looking to achieve specific growth goals. With recession concerns looming and many of the challenges expected to continue into 2023, one of the best ways to grow an HVAC business is to partner with a facility management services aggregator.

An aggregator is a company that partners with a network of vendors and partners who provide key facility maintenance services in areas such as HVAC, plumbing, lighting, signage, fire and life safety, and more. Unlike self-performing companies, aggregators often don’t execute the maintenance contracts with their own teams. Instead, they help the client build a strategic facility asset management program that covers a large number of locations. (For example, CLS Facility Services partners with organizations that have anywhere from 50 to 400 locations.)

How Working with a Facility Management Partner Adds Value

• For the client, this adds a significant amount of value. Facility management is a time-consuming and complex process. Even if companies have FM teams in-house, proactively and strategically managing assets takes a great deal of time and expertise. They have to manage this work on top of other strategic priorities as well.
• For HVAC vendors, working with an aggregator adds value in that you gain a reliable, consistent channel through which you can grow your HVAC business. As the partnership grows, more opportunities are sent your way to execute wherever you do business — whether that’s in a particular city, state, or region.

Grow your business and your knowledge — Learn more about the differences between self-performers and aggregators — and why some of the largest brands prefer working with the latter.

Why CLS Facility Services is the Right Facility Management Partner to Grow Your Business

• History — CLS Facility Services was founded more than 50 years ago. Every year since, we’ve served as the facility management partner of choice for some of the largest brands nationwide. This expertise and longevity means we’re the right partner to help you grow your HVAC business.
• Relationships — Our average length of partnership with our HVAC and electrical vendors stands at 12.5 years! We’re not looking for people to fill gaps — we’re looking for reliable partners with whom we can grow and whom we can help grow.
• People — Similar to our long-standing vendor relationships, our team members have significant tenure and experience with our company. On average, our team members have more than 14 years of experience with us. This means you’re working with people who know this industry and our clients’ businesses.
• Coverage — CLS Facility Services covers all 50 states as well as Canada. Wherever you do business, it’s likely that we have clients in consistent need of your HVAC expertise.
• Uniformity — We complete preventive maintenance cycles on consistent 30-60 day cycles with a uniform scope of work. This eliminates surprises for our clients and means reliable business for you.
• Strategy — We work closely with our clients to proactively identify their HVAC challenges and needs and address them before they become more costly problems. This ensures maximum uptime for our clients as well as a steady stream of business for our vendor partners.
• Technology — We work in more than 18 separate work order management systems and also offer our own proprietary system for our clients. Our clients also have a client portal that they can log into at any time to check the status of their facility management program, find documentation, and review asset lists. Additionally, we have a vendor portal where you can log in to access important documentation and other resources.
• Clarity — We ensure our clients understand the work to be performed on their HVAC systems and other assets upfront. We build all quotes in-house and break down pricing and all costs. This reduces questions and surprises so you can move forward with your HVAC work as scheduled.

CLS Facilities is Here to Help

Whether you’re exploring your options to take your HVAC business to the next level in the year ahead, or you want to offset the challenges you’ve experienced this year, CLS Facility Services is the facility management partner ready to learn more about your business and how we can work together. We’re actively seeking new vendor partnerships in many cities and states across the country, so take the opportunity to connect with us.

Learn more about becoming a vendor with CLS and contact our vendor relations team now.

Whether you’re looking for a new revenue stream or are exploring ways to take your business to the next level, becoming a vendor for facility maintenance is a great way to achieve your goals. Rather than execute facility asset maintenance work on a one-off basis, partnering with an aggregator provides a number of key benefits:

• Revenue — Right off the bat, working with an aggregator allows you to increase revenue by participating in a preventive maintenance program for the aggregator’s clients in your region. Work is performed consistently on specific cycles. And because the clients already understand the value of a proactive approach. Get more insights into what an aggregator is and how they work.
• Partnership — Building a relationship with a facility management aggregator not only adds a consistent revenue stream but also connects you with an expert team that can support your business growth. You’ll collaborate on consistent work cycles and will become familiar with one another’s models and processes and will be able to support one another’s success. Learn more about what to look for in a partner.
• Consistency — The consistent work cycles mentioned above don’t just provide you with more revenue for your business to grow but also allow you to narrow in on what you do best — and do more of it. If you find your business tackling a variety of FM work that isn’t always in your wheelhouse, becoming a vendor for facility maintenance provides you with greater freedom to focus on specific services. Learn more about how an aggregator provides a better overall FM solution.

Start your journey to growth with CLS now. Get Started Here

Why Partner with CLS Facility Services?

With decades of experience, CLS Facility Services has become the facility management aggregator partner of choice for vendors across a variety of disciplines nationwide. Here are just a few reasons why you should partner with us:

• Network — we have 12-year average relationships with all vendors
• History — we’ve been in facility management for more than 50 years
• Expertise — our team members have a 14-year average tenure with us
• Reach — we service business across the entire U.S. and Canada
• Capabilities — we focus on HVAC/R, lighting, signage, plumbing, and more
• Technology — we know >18 work order management systems (and have our own)
• Web Portal — CLS’ custom portal makes it easy to submit invoices and data
• Uniformity — our scopes of work are cyclical and consistent across all sites
• Supportive — we help our clients plan budgets, create asset lists, and more

The Process of Becoming a Facility Maintenance Vendor

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, our team is ready to connect with you. Here’s a quick summary of our vendor discovery and onboarding process.

• Fill out our online vendor form. Be sure to specify your facility management service lines and territories.
• Meet with our vendor management team. We’ll learn more about your business, learn how you work, and share how we work.
• Provide any necessary documentation and information. We’ll also provide information about us that you might need for your operations.
• Finalize the process and get onboarded. We’ll work with you to ensure all requirements are met so we’re ready to work together. When this is complete, you’ll officially have become a facility maintenance vendor.
• Start getting assigned work orders! We’ll partner with you on preventive maintenance for our clients in your area. You’ll communicate closely with us and keep all systems updated to ensure we and our client know where work stands.

Let’s Do This!

If everything we’ve outlined here sounds good to you, all that remains is for you to reach out when you’re ready. We’re actively looking for new vendor partners across the country in a variety of disciplines, and we can’t wait to learn more about you.

Start the process with CLS Facility Services today!

Retailers nationwide are reinvesting in their footprint — upgrading stores to better serve the needs of customers, opening more locations to take advantage of new buying behaviors and strategies, and strengthening their brands based on learnings from the pandemic era. As online and in-store sales continue to merge and shift, it’s clear that the facilities themselves will remain essential focal points of a larger sales strategy — underscoring the need for consistent retail facility maintenance.

This maintenance isn’t intended only to deliver a positive customer experience — it’s also essential to your operational and financial performance. Each retail store has a wealth of assets (HVAC/R, lighting, signage, fire-life safety systems, and more) that keep it functional. And each of those assets requires consistent maintenance to maximize their lifespan and value for the organization. The challenge today isn’t the maintenance itself — it’s how retail facility maintenance is planned, coordinated, executed, and measured.

What Great Retail Facility Maintenance Focuses on to Maximize Value

1. Planning

Whether you have a few dozen locations or a few hundred, retail facility maintenance is a CapEx function that must be thoroughly and proactively planned. Your facility management partner (or your in-house team) must have a seat at the table or at least provide proper forecasting to ensure a sufficient budget can be developed and allocated. This is particularly important for aging assets that may need proactive replacement before they fail (and cause even more financial headaches). Having a complete list of all assets across all locations will also be of significant strategic value in that you’ll know all the details of each location’s most critical assets and can plan maintenance or replacement accordingly.

• The power of a proactive approach: Don’t risk asset downtime — and thus customer satisfaction and sales — by not planning maintenance ahead of time.

2. Coordination

The key to effective retail facility maintenance is consistency. Achieving this with self-performers managed by separate locations is all but impossible. Additionally, different assets have various lead times across separate regions. These complexities can make managing a program in-house incredibly difficult, and yet store-level leadership likely won’t be able to manage it in an effective manner. Retailers should consider partnering with an aggregator with an established network of vendors. This higher-level oversight ensures that consistent scopes of work are performed at all locations and any asset replacements or installations are more strategically planned as opposed to being handled reactively.

• The aggregator advantage: Go deeper into aggregator facility management companies and the benefits of partnering with one over self-performers.

3. Measurement

You can plan and execute the most effective retail facility maintenance program possible, but it’s important to remember that FM is about making a bottom-line impact in addition to maintaining assets. Proactive maintenance and replacement of assets throughout your footprint maximizes uptime, mitigates unexpected costs, and gives you greater power over your FM spending because you’re the one driving — not individual locations and not asset failures that catch you unawares. If reporting on facility maintenance hasn’t been a priority or a capability, it’s time to make a change. A national facility management partner can assist you with setting up financial and operational reporting so you and other leaders can make the best decisions possible.

• Budget better with data: Learn how a proper facility management program helps you control and understand costs.

Take Your Retail Facility Maintenance from Reactive to Proactive

CLS Facility Services partners with major retail brands across the country. With more than five decades of experience in this industry and many others, our team helps you take your retail facility maintenance program to the next level — streamlining scopes of work, ensuring greater consistency, reducing costs, mitigating unexpected emergencies, and providing greater insight into all of your assets. Learn more about our capabilities here.

We work on nearly 20 distinct work order management systems and provide our own proprietary solution where needed — ensuring you’ll always be able to request support in the way that works best for you. With a highly tenured team and network of vendors from coast to coast, all of your facility maintenance needs will be expertly planned and executed, giving you peace of mind in knowing that you’re getting ahead.

Reach out now to discuss your facility management needs.

You can also book a meeting with us at a time that works best for you here.

Whether you’re looking to scale up a segment of your business or break into new markets and regions, partnering with a nationwide FM aggregator is the ideal solution for winning repeat business and growing service revenue. Here’s what to consider when you’re comparing facility maintenance companies looking for vendors to join their network.

1. Customer Tenure

The last thing you need when evaluating facility maintenance companies looking for vendors is to launch a partnership and get new work orders — only for the relationship to deteriorate before you’re even able to complete the contract!

We’ll explore service considerations and other factors that influence this shortly (and it’s crucial to understand that you as a vendor play a meaningful part in this as well), but understanding the average customer tenure of the aggregator is important because it tells you whether their customers value the relationship.

A weak relationship between the aggregator and the customer puts your revenue stream at risk, while a strong relationship means the customer is more likely to stick around. They’ll be likely to renew their contracts and lean on the aggregator (and you) for service.

2. Employee Tenure

In addition to looking at customer tenure, facility maintenance companies looking for vendors need to have strong teams internally. This applies across every industry: a strong, stable team is more productive, knowledgeable, and successful than a company with high turnover.

Companies that lose employees consistently are likely to have deep cultural issues, workflow and process challenges, and inexperienced or poor leadership — all of which can lead to weaker customer relationships that fail and put revenue at risk.

While you as a vendor are applying to be part of the facility management company’s team, you’re just as empowered to interview them. Ask all the questions you want about their team and processes, and review their listings on recruiting sites to see what employees have to say.

3. Detail Oriented and Responsive

As an aggregator, your partner should have an established process for reviewing all of the various documentation that passes between you, the customer, and their team. This information is crucial — it helps the customer understand the work to be performed, its costs, and its timeline.

When evaluating facility maintenance companies looking for vendors, ask how they handle quotes and estimates. Do they have a dedicated team to prepare them? Is that team available to answer questions about them — both for the customer and your team — so that work can proceed smoothly? Additionally, is all of that documentation centralized in an online system that all parties can access at any time?

Working with an aggregator that empowers you with information and is readily available to support you and the customer creates stronger bonds, prevents misunderstandings, and streamlines productivity across the entire program.

4. Customer Service Philosophy

In facility management, customer service is everything. Customers need to know that they can rely on their partner — not just for ongoing preventive maintenance on their most crucial assets, but also for emergency needs and general questions and requests.

Understand how a potential facility maintenance aggregator approaches customer service. Are they available to support customers (and your team) with any issues that arise before, during, or after work is completed? Are they accessible — not hidden behind layers of tedious self-service processes? Do they give customer service the attention it needs to create stronger relationships?

Additionally, will that aggregator defend and support your work? If customers have a misunderstanding, or if there’s confusion in the field, will they help mediate and clarify to ensure the customer is satisfied and you’re able to continue focusing on execution?

Experience the Growth You’re Looking for with CLS Facility Services

For more than 50 years, CLS Facility Services has been providing preventive maintenance solutions to organizations in the retail, restaurant, office, medical and fitness, and financial industries. Central to our success are the long-term partnerships that we’ve built with vendors in HVAC, lighting, signage, plumbing, and other disciplines, which have helped us to establish an average 12-year tenure with customers and an average 14.5-year tenure with these vendors.

As an aggregator, we partner with vendors like you to provide clients with anywhere from 50 to 400 locations across multiple regions and states with timely, consistent, and effective maintenance solutions. One of the benefits of our model is that all of our scopes are uniform. If you’re contracted to execute a PM program across several locations in your region, the work needed would be consistent — allowing you to focus on what you do best efficiently and without surprises. We also manage all work orders, either on our in-house platform or using any one of the 18+ that we’re skilled in based on the customer’s needs.

At CLS, our goal is to make our clients’ PM programs a lasting success while also building strong partnerships with our vendors and contributing to the growth of their businesses. If you’ve been evaluating facility maintenance companies looking for vendors, we would enjoy an opportunity to connect with you, learn more about your capabilities, and discuss ways we can work together.

Apply to become a vendor with CLS now, or connect with our vendor relations team for more information.

Case Study: Streamlining Veterinary Facility Management Services

About Our Client

CLS Facility Services was engaged to provide veterinary facility management services to a veterinary organization with more than 180 locations throughout 27 states.

The Problem: Decentralized Facility Management Causing Headaches

Before working with CLS, our client had been dealing with a variety of difficulties that make veterinary facility management services difficult, inefficient, and overly complex.

• Rather than centralizing its veterinary facility management services with a single provider, our client had been utilizing more than a dozen vendors in each state.
• Separate vendors meant the client had to obtain a new certificate of insurance (COI) and navigate a variety of differing payment terms. Scopes of work were also inconsistent, varying from state to state and vendor to vendor.
• Communication with vendors was sporadic and inconsistent; the client was constantly following up with multiple vendors for information. Additionally, working with multiple vendors meant the client was coordinating with hundreds of contacts.
• Vendor quotes featured a single line item with a price — lacking any detail to give the company confidence and clarity in what would be done.
• Billing and invoicing for veterinary facility management services was a hassle as payments were going to hundreds of contacts at different companies.
• Our client couldn’t keep up with its facility needs; finding people to do the work needed was time consuming and resulted in priorities falling behind.

The Solution: Aggregating FM Into a New High-Level Program

When the company decided to try a new approach, CLS Facility Services was engaged to streamline and consolidate all veterinary facility management services into a single program managed by our team.

• We analyzed the organization’s site list to produce hourly rates for core services for each state. This ensured pricing was known upfront before service calls were placed.
• We structured a uniform HVAC and FLS preventive maintenance (PM) program across all 27 states and locations, improving work accountability and oversight.
• We assigned a six-person team with 85+ years of combined industry experience to streamline communication and reduce the client’s overall points of contact.
• Vendor quotes featured a single line item with a price — lacking any detail to give the company confidence and clarity in what would be done.
• We centralized communication for all new work orders via a new 800 number and specific email address.
• Bi-weekly team calls were set up to review open quotes, prioritize action items, discuss opportunities, and keep all parties on the same page.

The Result: A Unified Effort with an Immediate Impact

By bringing all veterinary facility management services into a single program for all of its locations, our client was able to streamline workflow, improve communication and oversight, and ensure that its clinics had the support they needed.

• HVAC PM programs for each cycle were completed during a 30–60 day period, and FLS PMs were completed during a 60–90 period.
• We consistently provide email updates before the client asks for them, ensuring they’re proactively informed at all times.
• Our team communicates with individual clinics to ensure comfort levels, verify successful completion of work, and ensure all systems and assets are functioning well.

Streamline Your Facility Management with CLS

CLS Facility Services provides a complete portfolio of preventive maintenance solutions for organizations across multiple industries with anywhere from 50 to 400 locations. Our program-level approach, highly experienced team, technology and management strategy, and nationwide vendor network ensures that all of your most critical assets — from lighting and HVAC/R systems to signage, FLS, and plumbing — are covered 24/7/365.

Connect with us today to learn more about our capabilities.

Or book a meeting at a time that works best for you.

Affectionately nicknamed “the beekeeper,” Belinda Kuzma is the heartbeat of CLS Facility Services. Now in her 27th year of service, she is an integral part of all that we do and offer for our clients across multiple industries nationwide.

Prior to joining CLS, Belinda spent 11 years working for a law firm managing record retention and other administrative responsibilities. In 1995, after the birth of her second child, she decided to rejoin the workforce part-time.

A friend informed her about an opening at CLS — then known as Continental Lighting Services — that would be a month-long assignment. Toward the end of that assignment she was invited to join the CLS team.

She spent the next several years supporting our organization in a variety of roles ranging from administrative support, accounting to customer service. In 2001, she was promoted to the role of office manager. In 2006, she was again promoted to her current position of Manager of Administration and Human Resources.

How Belinda Keeps CLS Moving Forward

To say that Belinda is integral to our organization is a significant understatement. Throughout her years with us and well into her current role, she has overseen multiple areas of our business that keeps our organization running efficiently.

Just as her title states, her work falls into two primary camps: administration and human resources. On the administration side, she guides and informs countless aspects of our business. She helps to spearhead onboarding for new clients, manages client contracts, obtains certificates of insurance (COIs), develops internal processes, and oversees all aspects of keeping our Mentor, Ohio location well maintained and operational. Her HR responsibilities include managing benefit programs, developing policies and procedures, managing employee manuals and handbooks, keeping job descriptions current, coordinating performance evaluations, interviewing candidates, overseeing recruitment efforts, coordinating ongoing education programs, addressing employee questions and concerns, updating internal systems, and ultimately making CLS Facility Services one of the best places to work in Northeast Ohio.

How She Helps Others Enjoy a Rewarding Career Experience

Throughout her years with CLS, Belinda has seen — and indeed contributed to — how CLS has grown and shifted with the times to provide the best possible service to our clients.

“We take pride in the quality of our service we provide to our clients. Being in business for more than 50 years, we’ve done a tremendous job of adapting with the times. We started off serving only retailers but made changes to keep the company moving forward — expanding into new industries that have enabled us to continue thriving today. I hope that we continue to grow — we all wear a lot of hats, but we’re a tight-knit team and support one another.”

Beyond her HR duties, Belinda leads our employee activities committee, which coordinates events and social gatherings outside our office. Her leadership has made CLS more than just a company people come to work for — it has contributed to building a family culture that you become a part of:

“Anyone would be happy to join the culture we’ve built here. We’re professional but we love to have fun and are inviting to anyone. We’re a privately owned business with a family feel, and most employees have been here a very long time.”

A Career Filled with Meaningful Memories

Reflecting on nearly three decades of service, Belinda enjoys the fact that every day in her role is different, which she cites as a significant motivator. She has also built a wealth of memories with the CLS team. She appreciates the flexibility she was given to not only grow her career with our company but also to spend time with her family and be active in her children’s lives. She shares a fond memory of CLS’ second move to a new location:

“I remember when we moved into the building we’re in now — we hosted an open house for clients, family, and friends. It was a challenging project. We rebuilt the facility in 2009 from a damp warehouse into a beautiful, welcoming office space. The open house was a great opportunity to showcase it because we had to navigate a lot of work with architects, interior designers, contractors, and others. It was a huge undertaking, but the open house showcased all of our hard work. We had live entertainment, great food — it was a wonderful time.”

Outside of work, Belinda is a proud wife, mother, and grandmother and loves spending time with her family and two granddaughters. She and her husband recently bought a cabin with a pond where they like to relax and enjoy the outdoors. She also loves to cook and garden and is an avid Cleveland sports fan.

Connect with Belinda on LinkedIn

An aggregator, just as it sounds, is a facility management partner organization that contracts with other service providers such as HVAC specialists, sign maintenance technicians, lighting experts, plumbers, and others to provide their offerings to customers that have anywhere from several dozen to a few hundred locations.

If you’re a facility manager or other leader at an organization that has this many locations, you understand how complex managing the assets for all of these locations can be. Each facility has dozens of assets — some of which are owned by lessors, some of which are owned by you. If your business has many locations across a multi-state footprint, managing facility maintenance for your sites can be even more complex. If even one of these assets experiences an outage or other issue, it can have serious ramifications for that location:

• Malfunctioning HVAC systems can cause discomfort for employees and customers
• Broken-down refrigeration/freezers can lead to spoilage and water damage
• Poorly performing lighting creates safety concerns and makes space unusable
• Plumbing problems lead to water damage and other messy situations
• A sign that’s not functioning can send the wrong message and decrease sales

Situations like these are where an aggregator shines as a facility management partner versus a self-performing service provider, and for a few distinct reasons.

They Cover Everywhere You Operate

Self-performing service providers only operate within a certain footprint. If you have a few hundred locations, it’s almost assured that one company will only cover a portion of them — leaving you and your location managers to frantically search for and reach out to multiple companies to see if they’re available to assist.

• The Aggregator Difference — Aggregators build long-term relationships with service providers in multiple disciplines and in multiple locations across the country in order to provide national facility maintenance coverage. If rooftop air conditioners go out at two locations four states apart, your aggregator will have a service provider ready to step in and help, while a self-performer will likely only be able to service the one location within their reach.

They Take a Proactive Approach to Maintenance

While your locations could partner with self-performers nearby for preventive maintenance (PM) program support, each company would execute that PM program in slightly different ways, on different timelines, and with different costs and fees. The result is an inconsistent scope of work that can produce different and unreliable results.

• The Aggregator Difference — Because your facility management partner has nationwide reach, they can implement a more uniform scope of work for each location — whether it’s on the West Coast, the East Coast, or New England. This uniformity ensures greater consistency in the performance of your assets while also bringing all fees into alignment and as part of one program that you have complete oversight of 24/7/365.

The Service and Communication Are Better

Managing multiple assets at dozens or hundreds of locations isn’t possible unless you know exactly what’s going on, what the timetables are, what the costs of each work order are, and many other data points. But, handling all of that information yourself is beyond the reach of one person or even a small team. And the larger the organization, the more complexity, administrative hassle, and time are required. Additionally, with you or your team handling multiple self-performers, you’re likely to run into service issues.

• The Aggregator Difference — With a single organization managing all work across your footprint, you’ll never have to wonder where your asset management program stands. Your facility management partner will make all information available to you in an easy-to-use online portal, where you access work orders, estimates, invoices, and virtually any other documentation. And — best of all — you’ll have a dedicated team that you can reach out to for assistance (and that same team will be who you reach out to for emergency needs as well!).

Experience the Value of an Aggregating Facility Management Partner

CLS Facility Services has been working with organizations nationwide and across multiple industries for more than 50 years to help them solve their most complex facility asset management challenges. We’re proud to have helped countless companies implement more effective maintenance strategies and realize significant cost savings.

We achieve these results by offering a complete portfolio of services spanning HVAC/R, lighting, signage, plumbing, fire/life safety, and many others. Work is executed through our network of national vendors and suppliers with whom we have an average partnership of more than 12 years — ensuring that only the best companies are touching your program.

If you’ve been looking for a more reliable facility management partner, our team is here to help. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our services and why the aggregator approach is the way to go, or book a meeting with us at a time that works for you.

Are you a vendor looking to establish a partnership? Get in touch with us here.

As a facility manager or person responsible for maintaining lighting in your facilities, you already know that a retrofit is a valuable LED lighting solution for reducing your energy costs while also improving illumination. As a result, employees are more productive, people feel safer, and — in retail environments — products even sell better.

These are common goals with LED retrofits. Companies want to save money on energy, enjoy rebates from energy companies, and improve lighting in their facilities. A distant fourth was potential cost savings on maintenance. The problem here is that maintenance can be a hefty expense — particularly when it’s not a priority.

Over time, outdated lighting systems begin to cost more due to wear and tear and reduced performance. These systems need to be maintained on periodic cycles to ensure proper illumination and to prevent energy costs from getting out of control. While LED upgrades and retrofits are a solution, another challenge is that multiple components need to be serviced or replaced, adding to material costs and service costs.

One of these components is the ballast — a device that manages the light output of a lamp. It regulates how current flows through the lamp at startup and while it’s on. There’s more to ballasts than this brief description, but a good analogy is that it’s the heart of a lighting system because it regulates overall operation. However, they present a problem: they’re another maintenance cost. Furthermore, in addition to the rising costs of ballasts, some ballasts — for older lighting technologies — have reduced production, bringing older forms of lighting to an obsolete level.

How Ballast Elimination Improves Maintenance Savings

Removing ballasts from your lighting systems is a newer concept. Previously, LED lighting retrofit conversions would involve replacing lamps as well as ballasts. While lighting became more efficient, this meant that each fixture in your facilities — times the number of facilities that you operate — would require multiple components to replace or upgrade. It also meant more time for the crews doing the conversion work, which factors into the overall maintenance cost as well. Previous LED conversions entailed converting ballasts to LED drivers, meaning fixtures still had two failure points.

There’s another complication with this. With both a lamp and a ballast, it can be difficult to tell which one was burnt out or having a performance problem without getting up into the fixture, which could require additional equipment such as a lift. Not knowing which was having the issue means that you’d likely spring for replacing them both. That means you’re spending more upfront for something you don’t even know is broken!

Rather than deal with a ballast, LED lighting solutions today allow for the lamp to be direct-wired — avoiding dealing with a ballast entirely during installation and for ongoing maintenance afterward. Furthermore, installing modern LED technology increases the lifespan “burn hours”  of your lighting by 200 to 400%, providing even more dynamic maintenance savings. Multiple industries have already invested in retrofits without ballasts including retailers, restaurants, and office buildings.

When coupled with products that have a 10-year warranty, you’re creating thousands of dollars in maintenance savings that can be equal to energy savings.

• Go deeper: Learn more about maximizing retrofit projects this year.

Lean on LED Lighting Solutions That Help You Save

In today’s economic environment, it’s critical that facility managers and other leaders look for ways to reduce expenses while maximizing performance of their facilities and the assets that keep them functional. With no-ballast LED lighting solutions, your organization can avoid the costs of replacing old T-5, T-8, T-12, and HID lamps and ballasts. Simply convert those assets to LED and start saving — and partner with CLS Facility Services to make it happen.

As an aggregator with a network of vendors and suppliers across the country, CLS Facility Services helps facility leaders, operations managers, procurement teams, and others to design, implement, manage, and report on facility and asset maintenance programs with unparalleled precision and customer service. For more than 50 years, we’ve helped companies across multiple industries with anywhere from several dozen to a few hundred locations increase asset uptime, reduce costs, and gain better oversight of their asset management programs — and we’re ready to do the same for you.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our LED lighting solutions.

Are you a lighting vendor looking to establish a partnership? Get in touch with us here.

It’s a tough time for facility managers nationwide — particularly when it comes to facilities management customer service. Lead times are in the extreme for the key assets that you need to keep customers and employees comfortable. Service providers are struggling to retain staff, which impacts service delivery and communication. And increased demand from customers means greater strain on your assets and energy consumption.

If your organization has had difficulty with facilities management customer service issues, this is a key time to consider alternative solutions. If you’ve been working with separate, local service providers wherever your locations are, it’s likely that you’ve run into extreme delays due to companies struggling with talent and not having materials in stock. While we’re all having to deal with challenges like these, what matters now is switching from a reactive to a proactive approach and identifying solutions to get out ahead of asset maintenance needs.

A key aspect of this solution is getting hyper-specific in your search. Service is everything, and while companies continue to do the best they can to navigate supply chain and staff shortages, working with an organization that emphasizes facilities management customer service in all that it does will yield significant returns throughout the relationship. Here, we’ll explore a few reasons to put this item at the top of your checklist when evaluating service providers.

Go deeper into other facility management challenges — and their solutions. Explore our library of free ebooks and guides

Four Reasons to Prioritize Facilities Management Customer Service in Your Partner Search

1. You need to know you can trust them — As a facility manager or other leader, you’re likely being asked to do more with less as time goes on. You might have a team in place, or you might be tasked with running facilities across multiple locations yourself. Either way, when the time comes to bring in an outside partner to extend your capabilities, building trust and being able to rely on that trust as you continue to work together is critical. Dig deeper into the importance of trust in facility management partnerships here.
2. You need a dedicated team to work with — We’re sure you’ve been here before: an urgent matter arises (like an asset going down or being damaged), and you either don’t know who to reach out to, you have too many contacts, or your dedicated contact has left the company (without you being informed, naturally). People move on, but communication and coordination are essential. The absence of these leads to significant delays in production, frustration, and numerous other facilities management customer service issues. It’s important to work with a partner that has an established (and tenured) team. Ideally, that team would not only support your everyday needs but would also be the same team you reach out to for emergency requests.
3. You need to know where things stand — If you don’t know where things stand, then you can’t effectively manage facilities throughout your footprint. It’s that simple. This applies to you and your team. You can’t be in multiple places at the same time, and as your organization grows, a lack of oversight from your partner will only make things worse. The ideal partnership will provide you not only with the dedicated team discussed above but also with technology resources that centralize everything you need to know where maintenance programs and projects stand at any given time. All financial documentation, project details, quotes, estimates, asset lists, and other important information should be accessible to you 24/7/365.
4. You need a partner for strategic planning — A key facilities management customer service aspect to consider is not just how your partner supports you on a daily basis but how they can support and advise you over the long-term. Does your partner meet with you annually to review your assets and identify those that should be proactively replaced to avoid larger or unexpected future costs? Will they meet with you consistently to ensure the relationship is strong and work is progressing smoothly? Do they assist with CapEx planning or helping you assess spending needs? Work with a partner that will go beyond facility asset management work itself to helping you create the most successful, strategic program possible.

Let’s Build a Program You Can Trust

At CLS Facility Services, everything we do revolves around service — it is in our company name, after all. From the start, you can rely on more than five decades of facility management expertise. As we build your program together, you can rest assured that your entire scope of work will be uniform across all of your locations with cost-competitive pricing (any new or needed work will be quoted with complete transparency, and our estimating team is available to answer any questions). This ensures complete honesty, trust, and transparency in the process.

As work proceeds, your dedicated account manager, PM account manager, and business manager will keep you informed on how asset maintenance is progressing. You’ll be able to reach out to them at any time — even if you have an emergency. You’ll also be able to access all documentation pertaining to your program in our online asset management portal, ensuring that you’re always up-to-speed with everything that’s happening throughout your footprint.

If you’re ready for a new approach to facilities management customer service, our team is ready to connect with you. Connect with us today, or set up a quick call at a time that works for you.

For many industries, the warmer months present both opportunities and challenges. Opportunities in the sense that pleasant weather means more foot traffic and thus more revenue. Challenges in the sense that more people in stores and offices — and hotter exterior conditions — means your HVAC systems are working hard over long periods of time to maintain comfortable interior temperatures. Because of this, it’s important to take a strategic approach to commercial HVAC asset management.

The current supply chain environment further compounds these challenges, as many HVAC providers around the country are currently quoting lead times for replacement systems anywhere from three to nine months. It’s likely that these estimates will continue to extend out even further throughout the rest of the year — along with higher prices.

Solution: A Proactive Commercial HVAC Asset Management Review

Before we dig into the details of this, it’s important to clarify that a commercial HVAC asset management review isn’t something that every provider offers — particularly if you or your store leaders are working with local self-performing companies for HVAC maintenance. Typically, this service is available through an aggregator — a company that manages HVAC, electrical, signing, plumbing, and other assets at all of your locations through a single program. You can learn more about the differences between these two types of facility management companies here.

As an example, CLS Facility Services is an aggregator that partners with organizations across multiple industries to design, implement, and manage commercial HVAC asset management programs. For many clients, we conduct an annual review of all HVAC assets across all locations that consists of:

• Identifying the oldest units based on age, condition, and performance data
• Quoting potential replacements based on location lease term
• Coordinating each replacement via our network of nationwide vendors and partners
• Centralizing all documentation, asset lists, and project details in our online portal

Advantages of a Proactive Approach

1. You get ahead of lead times — As a facility manager or other leader at your organization, the last thing you need to deal with is several-month lead times when a cooling system goes down or starts noticeably underperforming. While outages and other issues happen and can’t always be avoided, taking a proactive approach ensures that orders for replacement HVAC systems are placed early — before those systems cause major issues that impact productivity and sales at your locations.
2. You avoid temporary cooling solutions — Temporary heating and cooling systems are both expensive to implement and sustain over time. Prior to today’s challenging environment, temporary systems might’ve only been in place a few weeks at most. Now, you’re looking at a few to several months. These systems solve a problem, but they’re inefficient and disruptive — particularly interior systems. Proactively assessing existing systems as part of an annual commercial HVAC asset management strategy ensures that you’re in the best position possible to avoid these.
3. Outdated units are proactively replaced — Whether you lease or own the structure of each location, the existing HVAC assets there could be showing signs of age and wear. Older systems naturally aren’t as efficient as newer versions, which sets you up for a larger (and likely unexpected) expense later. Getting ahead here will ensure that costs associated with an unexpected replacement are mitigated.
4. Existing units perform more efficiently — Multi-unit systems rely on each unit performing reliably in order to keep your interior spaces comfortable. If one unit goes down, the other units have to work harder, which results in higher energy costs. If you only have one unit, an outage means you may have to close until a replacement can be installed or a temporary solution can be implemented. Proactively assessing the assets across your footprint ensures that older units that are part of a multi-unit system are identified and replaced, preventing excess energy costs as well as wear and tear on existing systems.
5. Dynamic Energy Savings — Not only do new HVAC units foster maintenance savings, but they also create large energy savings. Installing modern HVAC equipment can lead to 5% to 20% energy savings, as new technologies offer less emissions, a more green environment, and lower energy usage. Ultra energy-efficient units can even be eligible for utility rebates to help offset costs.

Experience Peace of Mind — and Better Performing HVAC Across Your Footprint

CLS Facility Services has been supporting organizations nationwide with proactive, preventive maintenance programs on HVAC, lighting, electrical, signage, fire/life safety systems, and numerous other assets for more than 50 years. Every year throughout our history, we’ve helped companies develop and implement commercial HVAC asset maintenance strategies that produce meaningful results. But that’s just the beginning:

• We cover all 50 states and Canada — wherever you are, we’ll be there to support you
• We complete more than 10,000 HVAC preventive maintenance programs annually
• You receive a dedicated account management team (the same team for emergency needs)
• Our team members have an average tenure of 14 years with our organization
• We work on nearly 20 work order management systems and offer a proprietary system
• All work scopes are uniform with cost-competitive pricing across all of your locations

Whether you’re looking for a partner to support your growth or are frustrated with an existing partner, our team is here to ensure the most successful commercial HVAC asset management program possible. Discover what so many others already have: trust and peace of mind in their commercial HVAC asset management program.

Connect with us today, or set up a quick call at a time that works for you.

It’s no secret that the field of facility management has been undergoing significant changes over the past couple of years. The integration of various technologies for more informed facility and asset control as well as the shift from in-house facility management to outsourced models for cost savings are just two examples.

But as we recently explored, one of the most important elements that underscores any trend or change is the importance of having a strong national facility management foundation. This is particularly critical in today’s world as organizations across many industries are experiencing surges in growth, requiring them to open more locations to support demand. Companies in other industries have also experienced changes that meant rethinking where and how they operate; in some instances, companies have either downsized or shifted service areas to better serve markets that align with their core offerings.

Regardless of the situation, having national facility management coverage to support growing or changing locations is essential — not only to proactively protect the many assets that keep those locations running but also to make the most effective use of organizational resources as possible.

Overcoming the Barrier to Effective Coverage

The problem that many organizations and facility managers run into is how that national facility management coverage is achieved — particularly with organizations that are looking to grow their footprint or move into new markets. There are three typical approaches companies take:

1. In-house facility management — a single person or team managing every aspect of facility management using in-house personnel
2. Outsourced facility management with decentralized vendor management — in-house or outsourced oversight of self-performing local vendors for each location
3. Outsourced facility management with centralized vendor management — multiple vendors managed by a single facility management partner, i.e. an aggregator

The Problem with In-House Facility Management

If you’re a facility manager working at an organization that’s growing or actively changing its footprint, your plate has likely never been fuller. You have to identify talent to execute facility asset management and maintenance work at your locations. Whenever you need to bring an outside partner in, you or your team have to manage that process for every location in your footprint. The administrative burdens of this approach are immense — as are the costs. Not only must you manage a FM team, but you also have to spend a significant amount of time identifying, vetting, and coordinating with vendors from multiple disciplines. These hassles never lessen, either — you’ll always have maintenance demands for existing locations, and those demands will grow as the organization grows.

The Problem with Outsourced, Decentralized Facility Management

The challenges of an outsourced approach to national facility management are closely related to those of organizations managing the process in-house with the exception that the internal team overseeing everything is much smaller — if there is one at all. It may even be a single facility management leader coordinating work with different vendors on a daily basis. Vendor identification, vetting, communication, project coordination, reviews, and other tasks that must be completed all fall on a smaller set of shoulders. The complexity and hassle of this are overwhelming and will only continue to grow in complexity.

Why Outsourced, Centralized National Facility Management is Ideal

Working with a third party with national coverage for your facility asset management needs streamlines this heavy workload, simplifies management and oversight, makes the work more consistent and accurate, and ensures a more proactive approach that saves on costs. As an aggregator, CLS Facility Services manages a national network of proven vendors so you don’t have to — all while overseeing program execution at all of your locations. Key advantages of working with CLS for national facility management include:

• Coverage is available for all U.S. states and Canada
• A uniform scope of work is developed and executed at all of your locations
• All costs are communicated upfront — there are no surprise/hidden fees
• You receive a dedicated contact that has an average tenure of 14 years with CLS
• Service is more consistent when managed by one partner versus local companies
• Every vendor working on your program has been fully vetted by CLS over time and is a proven, trusted partner (our partners have an average tenure of 12.5 years with us)
• A complete list of all of your assets by location is creating and maintained online
• All program documentation (estimates, invoices, etc.) is managed online in one platform
• A single work order management system is utilized to avoid confusion and service errors
• All certificates of insurance are gathered and managed for you online for quick access
• Your emergency contact is the same person you’d reach out to for any other need
• We assist with CapEx reviews, spend analysis, and annual budgeting processes

Make Your Work and Life Easier with CLS

Whether you’re undergoing significant growth or are navigating change as a result of the past two years, your organization has a distinct opportunity to streamline national facility management. Get a stronger picture of your overall asset footprint and transition from a reactive approach to a proactive one — all while ensuring your locations have the coverage needed to deliver the best possible experiences for your customers.

Ready to experience the CLS difference? Schedule a meeting or connect with us here.

Are you a vendor looking to work with a nationwide FM partner? Get started here.

You already know how difficult the past few years have been when it comes to nationwide facility maintenance. Not only did you have to reduce operations and navigate the resulting impact on sales, but you also likely faced new challenges with keeping your assets running at peak performance.

If your organization has been partnering with self-performing service companies for facility asset maintenance, it’s likely that the shutdown diminished their capabilities. Vendors that support nationwide facility maintenance programs had to downsize — in staffing as well as in their fleets — reducing the amount of coverage available to your locations. Vendors have also had to reduce their service territories, operating in fewer states and creating service gaps.

More recently, the Great Resignation has further exacerbated staffing troubles — adding to vendor service timelines and reducing the scope of those services. The ongoing supply chain issues, which are expected to continue for months to come, are only adding to the trouble.

And Yet, You Still Have Locations to Manage

While we’ve all had to make allowances because of the troubles of the past two years, that doesn’t change the fact that you still have to manage a footprint and the many assets running at each location. HVAC systems still need to provide heating and cooling. Lighting systems still need to create welcoming, safe environments. Signage elements must still point the way for your customers and employees. Plumbing must still flow.

For many organizations, bringing asset management in-house is simply not possible (more so today with labor shortages). This means you must partner with outside service partners to help manage your assets. And with consumer demand for goods and services continuing to grow, your organization will likely be growing, too — adding to the number of assets that need to be proactively managed to keep them operating smoothly. To ensure success, it’s important to partner with a facility management company that prioritizes consistently expanding its network of reliable vendors.

Proven expertise: Our vendors have an average tenure of 12.5 years with our organization.

Advantages of Partnering with a Nationwide Facility Maintenance Company

Service Consolidation

One of the best advantages of working with a nationwide facility maintenance company for asset management is that all preventive and on-call services are overseen and coordinated by a single entity. Rather than spend significant time researching and communicating with separate local providers for each facility (and for each asset), all of your HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and other service needs are routed to one company who then coordinates repairs and preventive maintenance needs for you — immediately identifying the best partner from their national network based on the location and need.

Explore the full suite of service focuses that a nationwide facility maintenance provider offers. 

A Single COI

As part of your relationship and work with vendors, you’ll need to obtain a certificate of insurance (COI). Imagine getting this important documentation for each vendor working on an asset at each location throughout your footprint. Not only is that a time-consuming process, but it’s also a difficult one to manage internally. And don’t forget, many vendors have reduced their service scopes and territories. Even if you already have a COI on hand for a vendor, there’s a chance that they won’t be able to help you — meaning you’ll need to undergo the process with new vendors all over again.

Realize greater value by centralizing your facility asset management with a single partner.

One Contact for Everything

If your nationwide facility asset maintenance approach to date has you managing multiple vendors for each of your locations, your database of primary contacts is likely extensive and edging on overwhelming. Because there are so many people involved, you also can’t build a relationship with them over time — they’re simply a person you call when something goes wrong or you need information. But by working with a single partner for your facility asset management needs, all of your communication is centralized through a single person or team.

Whether you need to address an unexpected problem, need to find documentation or reporting for a specific location, or want to discuss expanding the program, working with one partner that has access to thousands of proven vendors nationwide makes your work immeasurably easier.

Learn more about the importance of trust and transparency in your asset management program.

Now is the Time to Evaluate Your Vendor Approach

While the world remains in flux with the ongoing pandemic and many other issues that are keeping organizations on their toes, one thing remains clear: you still have locations with assets that need to be proactively maintained. If you’ve been managing countless vendors throughout your footprint to support your locations, there’s never been a better opportunity to make a change for the better.

Whether due to growth or consolidation needs, CLS Facility Services has the network, expertise, and service approach you need to streamline your work and see meaningful improvement in your program. We’ve spent decades building relationships with only the best, most proven vendors nationwide — from HVAC and electrical services to plumbing and general repair.

As your nationwide facility maintenance partner, you’ll benefit from complete asset documentation, easy online reporting, uniform scopes of work across all of your assets and locations, clear and consistent pricing, and dedicated team of contacts to manage your program. We participate in your budgeting process, can utilize a wide array of work order management systems, and more. Ready to make your life and work easier than ever?

Schedule a time to talk to our team, or connect with us here.

Are you a vendor looking to work with a nationwide FM partner? Get started here.

…But even more so in the past year. Understanding all of the elements that go into ideal LED lighting retrofits — along with selecting a partner that supports all of those elements — is integral in producing the most optimal results. Let’s look at the key elements and processes that go into producing great LED results.

6 Considerations for Successful LED Lighting Retrofits

1. Selection of the Right Specialist

While electrical service companies are there to support you with lighting and electrical repairs for your sites, selecting the right partner who specializes in LED lighting retrofits assures success. It’s important to choose a partner who can analyze all of the lighting in your facility, help to maximize your energy savings and utility rebates, and can support you with material warranties to justify making your LED project an investment with positive long-term savings.

2. Thorough Lighting Audits

Choosing the right partner means selecting a lighting specialist who does a detailed survey of your sites. A good partner is going to look at retrofitting existing fixtures to LED to avoid the much larger costs of fixture replacements. Additionally, reviewing all lighting elements — like emergency lighting, exterior lighting, and exit lighting — is imperative in making sure a site is fully converted to LED and will not result in service calls shortly after a project is completed. A thorough lighting audit should equate to a detailed LED retrofit proposal, breaking down the lighting types in each section of your facility to assure all of the bases are covered.

3. Maximizing Utility Rebates

While some costs may be on the rise for labor and materials nationwide, earning utility rebates for your lighting projects helps to create stronger returns on investment (ROIs) and optimize your projects. If you are looking to retrofit multiple facilities nationwide, CLS Facility Services is able to review your locations and help you to prioritize projects based upon which of your sites have the strongest current utility rebates, so that rebate monies can be maximized.

4. Timing

While your budgets may not allow for CapEx and LED projects to come to fruition until later in the year, begin the process early by having your sites surveyed so that you receive quotes early in the year and can analyze costs and ROIs so that you are ready to move forward when budgets allow. Furthermore, many utility rebate programs expire late in the year, so beginning the process early allows you to maximize rebates before they are gone. By waiting until the summer months to receive quotes, many of your strongest lighting partners may be amidst large projects and rebates may be on the cusp of expiration, so starting the process early in the year — even if budgets won’t allow for projects until after the first quarter — can be fruitful.

5. Project Management

As a facility manager, you are most likely receiving dozens of emails on a daily basis, managing many work orders simultaneously, and attending a slew of meetings. Selecting a company that excels at managing turn-key LED lighting retrofits is imperative, as it allows you to approve a proposal and let your partner manage each detail, from the shipment of product, to coordinating project start dates with your site contacts, to providing consistent updates on project completion. A strong partner should also be handling all key aspects like recycling of removed lamps, per EPA regulations, along with finalizing all rebate paperwork to maximize the investment.

6. Optimal Pricing & Warranties

While prices are on the rise worldwide, that doesn’t mean your LED projects have to be more expensive now than they were previously. CLS Facility Services has completed more than 10,500 turn-key lighting retrofits since 2012, helping clients to achieve more than 6,400 utility rebates along with managing the lighting warranties for each project. Large project volume equates to optimal LED pricing to produce strong ROIs and keep costs manageable. Additionally, securing industry-leading 10-year warranties assures that material and maintenance costs will be reduced for a long period of time.

Make the Right Selection for Your LED Lighting Retrofits

As you continue to upgrade your lighting, eliminate ballasts, and maximize energy savings, make sure to select a partner that is able to look at all elements of an LED project so that you not only receive a competitive price, but that you also make sure that the investments are maximized and your site contacts will appreciate the results of well-run projects with great LED lighting solutions.

Connect with us if we can be of any assistance as you look to achieve your lighting and energy management goals.

If you have a large organizational footprint to manage, you know that working with partners that are reliable, trustworthy, and clear about their facility maintenance costs, capabilities, and processes goes a long way. The last thing you need is to start a partnership with a company only to start experiencing issues, confusion, or distrust right off the bat. Facility management is a vast function that requires your partners to be responsive, consistent, and reliable. While mistakes happen, you — and your facilities — can’t afford repeat offenders.

This applies just as much to the administrative and financial side of the relationship as it does to work quality and performance. Aspects like the detail and clarity of service estimates and quotes, agreed-upon cost structures, service level agreements, and other contractual elements are all important to understand and define upfront, particularly when they will influence your facility maintenance costs as time goes on.

At CLS Facility Services, we have built one of the strongest reputations in the facility asset management industry — not only for the consistency of our work and relentless commitment to customer service, but also for how we build programs and manage the financial and operational details along the way. Here, we’ll explore three key ways that our approach helps organizations nationwide better understand their facility maintenance costs and plan for them.

1. Detailed, Clear Quotes

Would you pay a bill without understanding what it was for? Not likely! The same goes for your facility asset management program. If you don’t understand the costs, you can’t possibly trust the process. We’re not saying this automatically makes the partner or vendor untrustworthy, but it certainly doesn’t help build trust. Detailed quotes with the information you need to provide approval, understand the work being performed, and what you’re being billed for are essential.

At CLS, our internal estimating team builds all quotes in-house with a line-by-line breakdown of pricing and all costs. All aspects of the quote are spelled out upfront so you know the details, including labor, materials, and taxes. Our estimators are available to answer questions regarding each and every quote. Nothing moves forward until you’re confident in what you’re approving.

Learn more about what makes us different and how we produce meaningful results for clients.

2. Pre-Established Rates

Different parts of your footprint are subject to different costs. This is normal and is due to the cost of materials, labor, and other factors being higher in some areas, just like the cost of living varying based on where a person is located. But as a facility manager, you need to know what to expect with these facility maintenance costs. If you have facilities in high-cost areas and your partner isn’t transparent with you upfront about variances, you might have sticker shock when they give you a quote that’s significantly higher than it would be for a different region.

CLS establishes hourly rates for each state we’ll be working in for your organization. This will be provided to you upfront as we build out the details of your program. Apart from giving you better insight into what the overall cost for your program will be, you’ll have greater peace of mind in knowing what to expect in the event a new cost arises for a location in a more expensive area. This level of transparency ensures that there are no surprises.

Learn more about what you should consider when it comes to asset maintenance.

3. Not-to-Exceed (NTE) Pricing

NTE pricing is meant to help you save time and build a foundation for understanding and controlling your costs. When you work with a partner you trust, NTEs can help you spend less time obtaining multiple bids and more time focusing on managing your facilities. Costly future repairs are avoided because you and your partner will have agreed-upon pricing that governs all work. In the event a repair exceeds the NTE, you and your partner can make a decision together.

When you partner with CLS, we’ll help you manage your facility maintenance costs by establishing NTEs that fit both of our needs. Ultimately, we’ll be able to work together more efficiently, transparently, and effectively when we are both aligned on what repairs will cost.

Learn how our quarterly PM program for a mall-based brand significantly reduced T&M calls.

Ready to Work with a Partner You Can Trust for Facility Asset Maintenance?

CLS Facility Services has been helping brands across the country manage the many assets at their locations more proactively and cost-effectively for more than 50 years. We’ll work with you upfront to define the elements explored here and many others, creating a preventive maintenance program that keeps your costs manageable while maximizing uptime and customer satisfaction.

Ready to get started? Set up a time that works for you to learn more about our capabilities, or get started right away here.

As a facility, operations, or procurement manager responsible for your organization’s facilities, you understand how important heating and cooling systems are — not only for employees but also for customers. They are critical systems in your buildings, and when they experience issues, the business experiences issues.

On average, commercial rooftop HVAC units (RTUs) have a life expectancy of 12 to 15 years. However, reaching the upper end of that range requires a consistent, proactive HVAC preventive maintenance program. Right now, you might be relying on an on-call solution for maintenance: when something goes wrong, you reach out to a company, wait for them to work you into their schedule (or pay emergency service fees for immediate service), and get the issue resolved.

In the event that you have a preventive maintenance program in place, you’re already a step ahead — but from time to time, you might run into issues where inconsistency in work scope, pricing, asset data, reporting, and other important details add to the headaches. Every partner is different, so if they’re not going the extra mile to make your HVAC preventive maintenance program as consistent and reliable as possible, you could be looking at extra costs, scope creep, inadequate work performance, and scattered or incomplete asset and facility data. Here, we’ll explore a few value-adds that make for an ideal preventive maintenance program.

Get the Guide: Download our free guide on commercial HVAC maintenance.

What Makes for the Ideal HVAC Preventive Maintenance Program?

1. A Uniform Scope of Work

The core focus and advantage of a preventive maintenance program are evaluating your assets and facilities on a consistent basis — and keeping the evaluation themselves consistent. If you’re working with on-demand vendors and partners throughout your region for service, the work likely isn’t going to be executed consistently. They’re going to take separate approaches to address asset problems, or they might not review all of the core assets at a location with each visit (HVAC, lighting, signage, etc.). Long-term, minor issues that went undiscovered could turn into bigger problems that create equally larger operational and financial headaches.

Working with a single company — particularly an aggregator that leans on a network of proven partners — to execute your HVAC preventive maintenance program ensures that all work is uniform. No assets are left out, no detail is left to interpretation on the part of the company executing the service, program cycles are consistent, and nothing is left to chance. In the end, your assets are better protected and maintained, and you’re able to better hold your partner accountable for the work they’re overseeing because it’s all consistent.

Aggregator vs. Self-Performers: Learn the difference and which route is best for you.

2. A Proactive Approach to HVAC Preventive Maintenance Program Costs

When it comes to facility asset maintenance, the last thing you want to deal with when you have an issue is the additional costs that come with a service company traveling to your locations. Trip charges on top of repair and material costs can quickly set back individual locations’ P&Ls or the organization’s finances overall. Multiplied by the number of locations throughout your footprint, and the cost of a reactive approach to maintenance can become almost overbearing — especially as assets wear out or age and the additional financial burden of replacement draws closer.

Closely related to having a uniform scope of work is its result: a uniform set of costs. There are two components to this. First, being proactive with HVAC maintenance means you’re avoiding the added cost of trips and emergencies in the event something happens — mostly because you’ll be avoiding these costs altogether by identifying issues before they become problems. Second, with your program covering the same assets and scope of work across all locations, your pricing will be consistent, more manageable, budgeted, and expected. No more surprises — just a proactive approach that you can plan for and expect when billing occurs.

Put Your Vendor in the Hot Seat: Learn 13 questions every facility manager should ask to understand if their program is meeting their needs.

3. Information Access and Consistent Communication

Here’s an important one: do you know how many assets you have, their conditions, ages, serial numbers, model numbers, and so on — across all of your locations? Just as important, do you have this information all in one place that you can view at any time? If not, you can’t understand your HVAC preventive maintenance program. What are people working on, and why? What is that asset’s history, and what is the plan for it over time? In addition to understanding assets, you need to understand how the program is going. A partner that doesn’t communicate with you upfront, when situations or new costs arise, and when maintenance is completed isn’t a proactive partner.

The ideal program should gather all of your HVAC asset information upfront, giving you a 10,000-foot view of what the program will include and connecting you with the information you need at any time. That information should be accessible to you online, allowing you to view estimates, work orders, invoices, project statuses, and more at any time. And as the program moves along, you need to be kept informed so you can report on progress and make decisions when needed. If you’re in the dark at any point, your program is far from ideal.

Service: It’s one of the most important parts of any preventive maintenance program. Learn how it makes a difference.

Create Great Experiences with a Partner That Does the Same for You

Never leave your HVAC systems in the hands of a partner that doesn’t deliver the consistency and level of service you need. With CLS Facility Services as your HVAC preventive maintenance program partner, you benefit from more than 50 years of experience across multiple industries. We’ve been helping some of the most recognized brands create comfortable, safe, and enjoyable spaces for their customers and employees while keeping costs consistent and clear from the beginning, and we’re ready to do the same for you.

Book a time to talk with our team today, or let us know what you’re looking to achieve here.

As your organization grows and you expand its footprint, it follows that the number of assets — HVAC, refrigeration, lighting, FLS, and signage systems — increases as well. Each of these assets requires ongoing maintenance and management to ensure they perform reliably and keep your facilities comfortable, operable, and safe. Eventually, maintaining all of these assets will go beyond your internal team’s capabilities, and you’ll need to explore outsourced solutions such as facility management companies that self-perform their services or those that aggregate services from other providers.

As you research your options, you’ll have to weigh which of these routes is better for your business and needs. Self-performing facility management companies execute the work themselves and with their own team members, whereas aggregators partner with service providers from different trades and service lines. For example, self-performers will have electricians, plumbers, HVAC specialists, and more on staff (or they will be separate companies that do the work vs. a one-stop shop), and aggregators will hire those specialists from companies throughout their network.

The option you choose will depend not only on the size of your organization, the number of facilities you operate, and the assets requiring ongoing maintenance, but also what you want to get out of the partnership, your ability to work with more than one provider, how you manage documentation for assets, and many other details. As CLS Facility Services is an aggregator facility management company, we believe there are key advantages to going this route.

Key Advantages of Aggregators

We Only Work with Proven Partners — When you work with self-performing facility management companies, you’re starting that relationship fresh with each new project. Now multiply that by the number of locations you’re trying to support. If something goes wrong or the work isn’t done properly, you’re back to the starting line. By working with an aggregator like CLS, you benefit from our established relationships with vendors and suppliers with whom we have an average partnership length of 12.5 years. With CLS, you’ll never have to worry whether the vendor supporting your location is reliable. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be working with them in the first place. CLS clients can also choose to request an alternate vendor to service certain sites, should a problem arise or your team would like a change in the technicians/company servicing a site.

Service Providers Are Closer to Your Locations — Closely related to the above is the fact that aggregators build partnerships with vendors throughout the country. Whether you’re regional or national, an aggregator facility management company will have an established relationship with a vendor or service provider close to your location. This saves you from having to do research and vetting yourself when an asset needs maintenance in a facility that’s far away or where you previously haven’t worked with someone. Simply let us know what’s going on (if it wasn’t caught with preventive maintenance), and we’ll dispatch a proven partner to provide service. You also have the luxury of one COI — with CLS — as opposed to needing coverages from dozens of self-performing companies, helping to ease that aspect of security and vetting for your facilities team.

Manage Quotes and Invoicing for You — If you were to work with one or more self-performing companies, you’d be managing all of the estimates, quotes, invoicing, and other documentation internally. By working with an aggregator, all of this documentation is first gathered for you from vendors, centralized in a single online portal, and communicated with you for approval. And you can log into the portal at any time to check the status of any documentation and look for historical receipts and invoices. At CLS, we make this portal available to you from the start. We also build a complete list of all of the assets that we’re managing, providing you with complete oversight. While many companies charge a monthly or annual fee for Portal usage, CLS’ portal is cost-free, as an integral part of the partnership.

Uniform Scopes of Work — Working with different self-performers for various needs can result in projects not being completed on time, missed coverage, and inefficient or inaccurate reporting. When you work with CLS for facility management, we provide uniform scopes of work for all programs. These are provided to our field partners to both hold them accountable and to ensure that the work performed at your locations is consistent and that there are no surprises. All reporting is centralized through us and provided to you as the program proceeds (and is available online in your portal as well).

One Contact for Multiple Needs — It can quickly become overwhelming to work with multiple self-performers as opposed to letting a team handle communication for you. You’d have numerous contacts for different types of assets in different parts of the country. With CLS as your facility management company, our internal estimating team builds all quotes in-house with a line-by-line breakdown of pricing and all costs. Our estimators are available to answer questions regarding each and every quote, and of course, all of this is available in our online portal. If anything comes up as your program proceeds (such as an emergency), you’ll simply contact your primary account manager — the same person you’ll work with for any other needs.

Let’s Build a Program to Make Your Asset Management Needs Simpler and More Effective

For more than 50 years, CLS Facility Services has been supporting companies in multiple industries with all of their asset management needs. Covering all 50 states and Canada, our team — and our vetted field partner network — are ready to support you, wherever you do business. If you’re starting to feel the pain associated with increased growth, or if you already have a partner in place that isn’t performing like you’d hoped, get in touch with our team today to learn more about our capabilities. You can also book a meeting with us at your convenience here.

Thank you for your interest in working with CLS Facility Services. Please complete the form below to get in touch with us. We’ll review your submission and will be in touch with you within 24 hours. If you need more immediate assistance or have an emergency, you can call us at the number listed below.

Call us toll free: 800-548-3542

Whether you’re in facility management, procurement, or operations, you’ve likely faced a pressing breakdown in your facility maintenance program and were let down by the maintenance partner you relied on.

Maybe they couldn’t coordinate an HVAC system repair fast enough, leading to customer and employee discomfort or even shutdowns. Maybe a refrigeration system was incorrectly serviced, leading to lost products and time due to callbacks. Maybe they caused a problem while servicing a sign, leading to an outage that rerouted customers to a competitor.

Whatever the situation, you ended up being worse off than when you contacted them. The struggles that multi-site companies have with facility maintenance program partners aren’t limited to performance issues, however. Other common examples that we hear include:

• Constant turnover with account managers and key contacts
• Key contacts not having relevant experience
• Frequent breakdowns in communication
• A lack of current asset and work history data
• Services being too general for their needs

While mistakes happen, even one occurrence of these issues can cause you serious headaches and financial repercussions. Multiple occurrences, on the other hand, simply cannot stand. More than 70% of B2B buyers cite reputation as the most influential factor when choosing a company to do business with — and for good reason.

As a leader in your organization, it’s important to work with a proven facility asset management partner you can rely on to work accurately, efficiently, and with the level of service you expect and deserve. Let’s explore four aspects of an ideal partnership and how they impact your facility maintenance program.

4 Customer Service Must-Haves for a Successful Facility Maintenance Program

A Strong, Tenured Customer Service Team

Everything starts and ends with the team of people you’ll be working with on your program. From the sales lead you first connected with and the account or program manager who will lead it going forward to the finance team and other service professionals. While communication between these individuals will occur for different needs and reasons, what matters is that all of them must be aligned on one thing: your success.

When key contacts keep leaving your partner company, that suggests a lot about their internal practices and makes managing operations harder for you. The new person will be learning from scratch, catching up to where things left off, slowing your program down, and creating the potential for mistakes. Ensure that when you select a facility maintenance program partner, all team members on their end are aligned on what’s expected, that they have the experience needed, and that they’re likely to stick around.

The CLS Difference: We assign a specific team to each partnership. You’ll have an account manager, preventive maintenance (PM) account manager, and a dedicated business manager. The average tenure of these team members is 14+ years with our company.

The Ability to Customize Your Facility Maintenance Program to Meet Your Needs

It might sound obvious that an asset management partner would customize your program according to your needs, but this isn’t always the case. You might be required to use some services that simply aren’t needed or as frequently. There might be shortcomings in their capabilities. Additionally, you might have operational or financial needs within your organization that have to be handled in a certain way in order to keep things moving.

In these instances, flexibility is critical. Your program won’t be as successful — nor your partner as helpful — as it would be working with a company that builds each program according to what you’re looking to achieve. Additionally, it’s important to work with someone who provides you with the information you need via a channel that’s easily accessible and available to you and your team 24/7.

The CLS Difference: Every facility maintenance program we design is built around your needs and your goals. Nothing is off-the-shelf. Additionally, we provide you with complete financial, program, and asset information via our online asset management portal.

Elite Communication

Communication is how your facility management partner lives up to their promises. You could be working with one of the most recognized or largest service providers in the country, but if they’re not keeping you informed on your facility maintenance program or bringing new solutions to your attention, your program could be put at risk. You’ll be in the dark, won’t be able to make decisions, and won’t be able to address situations or new needs as quickly. All of this can quickly lead to a breakdown in the operations of one of your locations, inaccurate data and financial projections, and other consequences.

When looking for a company to support your facility maintenance program needs, ensure you understand exactly how they plan to communicate program status with you. When situations arise, what is their process for notifying you? Do they or will they adhere to a service level agreement (SLA) as part of their contract, or do they already have a similar accountability function in place? Ask all the questions you want up front — the more you know now, the more informed you’ll be later.

The CLS Difference: We understand the importance of communication in your program. All communication happens with the team outlined above who will keep you informed on status. Should a situation arise and you need to reach us, the same team assigned to you is who you’ll reach out to for support.

Absolute Trust

If you can’t trust your partner to execute your facility maintenance program reliably and efficiently, then there is no true partnership. You’re entrusting the asset management of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of locations to a single PM service provider. You must have confidence that they know what they’re doing, are executing on time, are able to identify solutions to new problems, will support you on the back end with reporting and analysis, and more. It all comes down to trust.

The CLS Difference: We’ve been serving multiple industries nationwide for more than 50 years. With strong vendor relationships, a tenured team, and a relentless commitment to the success of your program, you can rest assured that we have the knowledge, capabilities, and follow-through to support your success now and for years to come.

Where Do You Stand?

After reviewing these four considerations, what comes to mind about your current partner? Have they upheld their promises of keeping your locations proactively maintained and operational? Have they delivered lasting value to your team and organization? If you don’t have a partner, we hope these points will help you as you evaluate solutions for your preventive maintenance needs.

And of course, remember that CLS Facility Services is here to support you. We’ve worked with some of the largest, most recognized brands in the country across multiple industries, delivering exceptional value, reliable and timely service, and measurable performance. We can do the same for you.

Book a time to discuss your asset management needs with our team today.

Lighting influences the feel of your stores and the appearance and desirability of products on shelves and in displays. The temperature inside your stores impacts shoppers’ comfort levels and thus their overall lingering time and what they buy. A great deal of research has been done regarding the impact of retail facility management on customer behavior over the past decades, and it’s clear that carefully managing these assets in your locations pays dividends:

• Properly warmed/cooled environments led shoppers to pay 9–11% more
• Different types of lighting influence shoppers’ purchasing decisions
• Lighting also influences safety, which impacts decisions and shopping times

For retailers with physical locations, ensuring the assets that govern these (lighting systems and types, HVAC systems, and signage) are well maintained is crucial. Online sales continue to grow throughout the pandemic. Digital sales accounted for $1 of every $6 spent on retail purchases in Q3 2021, and of the total share of retail sales, online accounted for 18.8% — up a hefty 3.6% over pre-pandemic levels. With the pandemic situation continuing to evolve, it’s likely that this trend will continue.

That’s why effective retail facility management should be a high priority for your brand. While your team has its hands full marketing to new buyers and existing customers, the last thing you need is to offset that hard work with malfunctioning HVAC systems rushing buyers out of stores due to discomfort, flickering or damaged lighting noticeably reducing visibility and safety, or signage with illumination issues putting a negative brand perception in customers’ minds.

Cover All Aspects of Retail Facility Management with CLS

For more than five decades, CLS Facility Services has been supporting some of the largest, most recognized brands in the U.S. with their asset management needs. Specializing in supporting retailers with anywhere from 25 to 1,000 locations, our team can design, execute, and manage virtually any retail facility management scope. However, brands achieve the greatest benefits by combining all of their facilities’ assets into a single program. Here’s how we support these critical assets.

Temperature: HVAC Preventive Maintenance

Commercial HVAC solutions are no small investment and demand a proactive maintenance program to keep them performing reliably. With CLS Facility Services, we document every detail about your HVAC systems at each of your stores — including make, model, age, serial number, condition, and more — and create a complete asset list that you can access at any time. We manage all warranty information and, overseeing our proven network of contractors and service providers, manage all aspects of service on these systems. Along the way, we evaluate equipment performance, replacement part data, and more to ensure you have a complete picture.

Learn more about HVAC preventive maintenance here (with a helpful video).

Lighting: LED Retrofits & Maintenance

Lighting is everything in a retail environment. Its impact is just as significant as how you stage and package products themselves. But with dozens of components making up your lighting system (ballasts, fixtures, wiring, sockets, switches, controls, etc.), there are ample opportunities for things to go wrong. That, and using outdated or underperforming lighting components can lead to not only higher energy costs but also reduced illumination, poor color temperature, and more. This literally puts your products in a bad light and makes customers antsy to move on. With lighting maintenance and LED retrofits for old systems, CLS Facility Services will ensure that this essential aspect of your retail facility management program is always accounted for, reviewed for performance, and well maintained.

Explore our lighting maintenance services and turnkey LED retrofit capabilities.

Signage: Proactive & On-Call Maintenance

Your signage is the first impression your customer has with your retail locations during each and every visit. They look for it, and how it’s performing (or not performing) will influence their perception of that location and your brand overall. It is far too important to not include in an ongoing retail facility management program. CLS Facility Services has decades of experience in various signage services that include repair, installation/removal, LED conversions or retrofits, track installation, and more. As with any other asset in your retail facility management program, every detail will be easily accessible in our client portal that you can access to understand where your program stands at any point.

Learn more about our signage maintenance services here.

Safety: Protecting Employees & Customers

While safety systems don’t consistently impact purchasing behavior like lighting and ambient temperature, customers most definitely take note of where exit signage, fire and life safety systems like fire extinguishers, and other details are located. Automatic doors, emergency exits, and other points of access are also noted — whether actively or subconsciously. Maintaining these systems is not only critical for helping your shoppers feel comfortable and protected but also for meeting local safety code requirements.

With CLS as your FLS and maintenance partner, these essential systems are included in your retail facility management program. Our team will help you design a consistent PM cycle that works for you, testing these systems, ensuring they’re working correctly, identifying replacements when needed, and managing all of the details for cost and program reporting.

Learn more about our FLS capabilities and emergency services.

Let’s Work Together to Make 2022 Your Best Year Yet

CLS Facility Services has been supporting the retail industry since we were founded more than 50 years ago. We’ve worked with our clients in multiple sectors within retail as they’ve grown, scaling our services alongside them as they’ve increased their footprint from a few stores to a few hundred or more. Today, we serve as the exclusive retail facility management partner for major brands — handling all aspects of their maintenance needs consistently, accurately, and with unmatched performance and dedication. We can do the same for your retail brand.

Whether you already have a partner in place or are looking to free up your existing facility management team to focus on more strategic priorities, put our expertise to work for your success.

Schedule a call with our team to discuss your retail facility management goals.

If you’re responsible for restaurant facilities maintenance, you know how challenging operations can be on a day-to-day basis. Every asset within your locations makes an impact on the customer experience. HVAC and refrigeration systems control customers’ comfort and the quality of their meals. Lighting systems create the ideal environment. Signage serves as a beacon to the community. When one of those systems experiences an issue or starts to underperform, it spells disaster for the brand. Those difficulties multiply with every location under your control.

As if you didn’t have enough on your plate, the ongoing supply chain and labor market issues make operations even harder — and more costly. Nearly 80% of restaurant owners recently said they didn’t have enough staff to support customer demand. And over the last year, once-treasured selections have disappeared from menus as brands are forced to cut back on their offerings due to supply chain issues.

In this environment, the last thing restaurant leaders need is for the core systems that make a restaurant or eatery deliver a positive experience fail or cause problems for patrons. Today more than ever, it’s essential that brands take a new, more holistic, and more proactive approach to restaurant facilities maintenance in order to spend more time focusing on finding and retaining great employees and providing amazing dining experiences that keep customers coming back for more.

What’s your plan? Learn how we can support your asset maintenance strategy in the new year.

How Preventive Maintenance Simplifies Asset Management for Restaurants

All of Your Assets Are Covered

Unless you’re already working with a preventive maintenance provider, it’s likely that your locations deal with asset maintenance issues reactively. They may even have to handle coordinating service needs on their own with multiple vendors and contractors — leaving leaders with no understanding of their overall financial and operational impact and creating complexity for an already stressed-out team.

At CLS Facility Services, our restaurant facilities maintenance solutions cover your HVAC/R, lighting, signage, refrigeration systems, plumbing, FLS, and more. This extensive portfolio of capabilities means you don’t have to worry about one or more systems causing sales or operational issues. You also don’t need to deal with multiple contractors for repair work — it’s all covered, with the exception of cooking equipment.

Explore our full suite of preventive maintenance capabilities.

Your Core Assets Are Protected

As a restaurant, your walk-in coolers, reach-in coolers, freezers, and other refrigeration systems are essential to your entire operation. If one of these systems goes down, it affects everything else immediately. Eventually, customers will be turned away, and leaders will have to close the location down if assistance can’t be dispatched right away. Including these assets in your preventive maintenance program is essential for success.

As part of your restaurant facilities maintenance program, CLS Facility Services and its vetted network of field partners cover these systems. Should anything happen, you simply need to contact your account manager who will take action — ensuring a proven partner is en route as quickly as possible to see to the issue. However, because refrigeration systems are being included in your program, any issues will be identified ahead of time before they become costly and experience-impacting problems.

Learn more about our solutions for restaurants and eateries.

Your Pricing and Program Scope are Clear and Uniform

Managing estimates and quotes from multiple suppliers without a consolidated approach is not only overwhelming — it’s also wildly inefficient and expensive. Even if you’re centralizing restaurant facilities maintenance through a single provider, consider whether the pricing you receive is clear from the start — and remains consistent for all of your locations based on their respective needs.

For more than 50 years, our team has made it a point to keep things simple and consistent in every restaurant facilities maintenance program. Every quote we provide is exactly what it is — with no hidden fees or surprises. We want to make the process as efficient as possible, and we know you do, too. In addition to consistent pricing, we also maintain a uniform scope of work across all of your locations. This ensures that every location is well maintained and that the customer experience is consistent throughout your footprint.

See what our clients have to say about working with us.

There’s No Confusion When It Comes to the Unexpected

Emergencies and other unplanned situations happen. When they do, you need to know that it will be addressed quickly and with as little complexity as possible. You already have a heavy load of responsibility — chasing down different vendors and dealing with multiple contacts only sets you back and creates delays in other areas. You need a single partner you can rely on to step in and take the lead on your restaurant facilities maintenance when breakdowns or damage occur.

When you work with CLS for your preventive maintenance program, the number you’d call for any other needs is the same number you’ll call when the worst happens. And, you’ll work with the same team members. We’re not going to add to your stress by funneling emergency calls or requests to a third party or someone who isn’t familiar with your program. We’re here to support you and ensure problems are addressed as quickly as possible. We’ll handle coordinating the response so you can stay focused on your goals.

Learn more about our emergency response services.

You’re Never Left in the Dark

Consider your restaurant facilities maintenance program as it stands now. Do you have complete oversight on where the program stands at any given time? Are you able to access quotes, invoices, reports, asset lists, and other important documentation whenever you need them? Being able to access this information at any point is critical not only for understanding how your program is progressing but also for your own reporting needs.

As part of your preventive maintenance program, CLS provides you with access to an in-depth client portal that you and your team can use at any time. There, you can submit and manage work orders, access financial documentation, view complete asset lists for your locations, manage warranty information, and ultimately make more informed and prioritized decisions about your maintenance program.

Discover what you can do with our client portal.

Simplify Your Maintenance Program with CLS

While much remains uncertain with the ongoing pandemic and labor and supply chain challenges, one thing is clear: you have the opportunity to make restaurant facility maintenance less complex, more efficient, and more productive with CLS Facility Services. Whether you already have a preventive maintenance program in place for your locations, or you’re looking to make life easier for your team in the new year, we’re here to support your success.

Connect with us today to plan your approach for the road ahead.

Ready to get started now? Book a meeting.

Important components like semiconductors, circuit boards, and other electronics that manufacturers and vendors need to service HVAC, lighting, signage, and other systems are coming up short — causing service disruptions and leading to prolonged lead times for replacements. On the labor side, the sheer number of people quitting their jobs each month has led to significant service delays, leaving customers in a tight spot when it comes to facility management and maintenance.

Ensuring you’re supported with your facility management needs is essential because they significantly contribute to your brand and its perception in the market. The last thing your locations need is inoperable heating and cooling systems creating uncomfortable interiors, flickering signage pushing customers away, poor illumination that causes safety concerns, or malfunctioning refrigeration units that lead to spoiled products. Even one occurrence of these affects customers’ experiences with you — and redirects their attention toward your competitors.

With the pivotal holiday season and planning strong facility maintenance partnerships for the new year, now is the time to consider whether you’re partnered with the right organization for your asset maintenance needs. Whether you already have a partner in place, are considering alternative options, or need a partner to support a growing number of locations, here are a few essentials as you navigate facility management planning for the year ahead.

5 Areas of Focus for Your Facility Management Planning

Capabilities

Each facility in your footprint consists of a number of assets that need to be maintained to ensure they’re in good working order — and that you avoid the embarrassing, costly mishaps described above. These include HVAC systems, interior and exterior lighting, electrical systems, fire & life safety equipment, signage, and plumbing. Working with a single partner that’s experienced in maintaining all of these systems streamlines facility management planning by eliminating the need to quote, work and communicate with multiple separate service providers. Your partner will combine all of these assets into a single program with one cost, proactively maintain them on preset cycles, and be available at a moment’s notice for any reactive maintenance needs.

The CLS Difference: For more than 50 years, our expert team has supported businesses in the financial services, medical & fitness, restaurant, retail, and commercial industries with elite asset management services. In every relationship, we build a custom preventive maintenance program with clear, upfront pricing that covers all of your essential assets. Learn more about our asset maintenance capabilities.

Reach

Depending on your organization, you might have anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred locations — each with assets that need to be maintained. While problems can arise at any of these locations, proactively servicing them on a preventive maintenance schedule ensures consistent reliability and uptime — helping you to avoid unexpected problems and excess costs. As you navigate facility management planning, consider whether your existing partner has the necessary team size or network to support all of your locations. Just as important: does that partner have the ability to scale its service alongside your growth strategy? Understanding this early on ensures that no location is left on its own for asset maintenance, that assets are always performing properly, and that associated costs such as utilities are kept in check.

The CLS Difference: We have built a highly vetted and proven network of vendors, contractors, and suppliers whose average tenure with our organization is 12.5 years. Each vendor is evaluated by our internal vendor relations team, which assesses their pricing, coverage, insurance, and performance to ensure that they will execute your preventive maintenance program with nothing less than excellence. Learn more about our national network.

Technology

A key part of your facility management planning should be how you expect to understand, analyze, and report on your preventive maintenance program. At any time, you should be able to access information on your assets as well as work orders, service call history, quotes, invoices, warranty management, and other important documentation. All of this information should be accessible to you 24/7/365. Additionally, these technologies must provide greater value apart from simply giving you access to information. It should allow you to understand where your program stands at any given time, enabling you to make proactive decisions about where your maintenance dollars are being spent.

The CLS Difference: As part of your preventive maintenance program, we provide a client asset management portal that gives you access to everything you need to understand your program at a high level and also to drill down into specific work orders, project statuses, and more. You can prioritize maintenance at specific locations whenever situations arise or based on asset data. Everything you need is made available to you to ensure your program is a success at all times. Learn more about our asset management portal.

Availability

While every partner should be available to you for unexpected situations, many companies use an answering service to take after-hours or emergency calls. The challenge here is that the people answering these calls don’t understand your business, what the challenge means, or what your program includes. This can cause delays and confusion as the call service takes a message or tries to connect with someone at your partner company. When working through your facility management planning, consider if this is really the best approach for your locations. The longer your assets remain down, the more revenue each location loses, and the more customer trust is lost.

The CLS Difference: When you partner with us for your asset maintenance needs, the people you talk to for an emergency or after-hours situation are the same people you’d speak with during standard business hours. Our in-house service team is available to you seven days per week, 365 days per year — including weekends and after-hours needs. If you have an emergency, you’ll be connected with your account manager, who will coordinate a solution promptly. Additionally, we will work with you upfront to develop an emergency response process as part of your overall program so both parties understand what is expected and what happens when a situation arises. Learn more about our emergency services.

Entrust Your Maintenance Strategy to the Experts

Whether you’ve experienced delays or issues with your current preventive maintenance partner or you’re looking to support a growing footprint, CLS Facility Services is the asset maintenance provider you need for the road ahead. We partner with every client to not only execute their program but also to participate in facility management planning from the very beginning. Once your custom program is defined, we assign a full team to your account — including a lead account manager, preventive maintenance account manager, business account manager, and more. These highly experienced professionals have an average tenure with our company of 14 years.

Over coverage across the U.S., and Canada and our extensive national network of proven vendors ensure that wherever your facilities are located, our team will be there to support them proactively — identifying issues before they become costly problems and addressing them with integrity, transparency, and clear pricing while keeping you informed of work status at all times.

If it’s time to make a change, experience the CLS difference today. Connect with us to discuss your goals and to put your business in a stronger position in 2022.

Whether you are a facility manager in charge of retail stores, restaurants, fitness facilities, medical offices or other multi-site busines types, the past year has undoubtedly brought about new challenges with the Coronavirus pandemic. Maybe your previous vendors are no longer in business or their capacities are reduced…or perhaps your Facility Maintenance Team was reduced from three people to just you. Regardless, having reliable vendor partners helps to make any transition more comfortable.

The Importance of a Specialty Team

While it is essential to have reliable vendors to provide HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, LED, Sign Maintenance, and other facility services needs, many find it equally important to have an assigned team of people within that vendor partnership.

Having an assigned, specialty team of contacts:

• Eliminates the “call center” mentality and allows specific team members to service your account
• Allows those specified team members to get to know your needs, from your quoting preferences & follow-up communication preferences—to your style when it comes to managing work orders, approved quotes, detailed notes, and service call follow-ups
• You never have to track down individuals for quotes & follow-ups, because your assigned team works together to understand your preferences and provide immediate turnaround

How a Facility Manager Selects Vendors

Facility Managers often select vendors based upon competitive pricing, great coverage, a strong work order management system or elite asset management. Regardless of those important elements, having an assigned team of direct points of contact within those vendor relationships is imperative.

If you don’t have assigned points of contact, demand that from your vendors—you deserve it! Also, if a contact leaves your vendor partner, make sure to ask them who will be replacing that departed contact in servicing your team, so that service and communication stay at a premium.

At CLS, we assign 4-5 specific personnel to every client. That team always brings 60-100 years of industry experience!

• Business Manager: Handles reporting, data analyses, escalated communication, quarterly/annual business reviews, and pricing needs.
• Account Manager: Manages day-to-day communication, emergency and reactive service calls, and communicating with your sites to manage work orders and quote approvals
• PM Account Manager: Your detailed point of contact for Preventative Maintenance reporting, updates, and PM cycle modifications
• Estimator: Personnel assigned to build quotes and answer technical and scope of work questions you may have, along with providing consultative advice on best practices.
• Billing Coordinator: Supports with invoicing questions, processes, and follow-ups to assure all needs are aligned.

While vetting pricing, coverage, and service are musts in positive vendor partnerships, always make sure to lean on your vendors and advocate for a specified team to be assigned to service your account. While your level of comfort will increase by having more specific points of contact, your confidence in that team will grow as rapport is built and you trust an experienced team to understand the needs of your account.

Turn-Key “Air Scrubber” Installations to support your HVAC Systems

CLS conducts turn-key installations of HVAC Air Scrubber systems to provide clean air for your facilities, which includes multiple benefits:

• Elimination of virus and contaminants in your facility
• Cleaner HVAC Ducts & Coils and better HVAC Air Flow
• Positive morale with employees and clients by marketing clean-air facilities

We start with brief Site Surveys to determine number of systems, location of technology, and scope of work. We procure materials with the most competitive of national partnerships. We align schedules and prepare installations to complete each job in turn-key fashion.

Maintenance on these systems is facilitated, as it can be built into your HVAC PM Program with CLS once every 1-2 years to keep these Air Scrubber benefits cost efficient and beneficial.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: A Logical Approach to HVAC Management

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Integrated Facility Management for Your HVAC Systems

Learn How to Take Your HVAC Management to the Next Level

When we developed our series, we interviewed dozens of customers and asked them to describe their perfect service vendor. Over and over, we heard many of the same answers:

• Exceptional HVAC Management
• Ease of communication
• Timely invoices
• Dependable, responsive, and amiable managers
• Reliable emergency service responses
• Clear budgetary breakdowns
• A good PM program and an understanding of what is being paid for

We listened to our customers, and our series was built specifically to meet their needs at every turn. In other words, it was built to deliver the ultimate facility management customer service experience.

In this eBook, you can learn more about the benefits CLS’s Logic’s Program.

Download your free copy today!

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: 13 Questions Every Facility Manager Should Ask

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: 13 Questions to Find the Best Partner For Facility Maintenance Solutions

Easily Evaluate Potential Maintenance Vendors Today

When it comes to managing HVAC at multiple locations, choosing the right HVAC vendor is one of the most crucial decisions you’ll make. The right service provider will save you time, headaches and, of course, money. The wrong vendor? Well, the costs add up quickly.

In this ebook you will learn the 13 questions you should be asking any potential new vendor before you make a switch.

Find the Right Maintenance Partner With The Best Approach

Ultimately, you’ll want a program that:

• Proactively satisfies a wide variety of facility management needs
• Gives organizations a better sense of annual FM costs
• Prevents locations from experiencing uncomfortable conditions
• Prevents lost revenue due to site closures or lost products
• Mitigates higher energy costs
• Prevents unplanned expenses
• Prioritizes aging asset replacements
• And More

Learn how to identify the right partner for your facility needs today with our free, downloadable eBook.

Download Our Free eBook

© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: Tips for Lowering Your Energy Costs with EMS Air Conditioning

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Tips for Lowering Your Energy Costs with EMS Air Conditioning

Find New Energy Savings with Cloud EMS Solutions

Just a few years ago, if we told you that, for the price of a programmable commercial thermostat, you could buy and install a cloud Energy Management System (EMS) for an HVAC unit, and save big-time on repair and energy costs by doing so, you probably wouldn’t believe us.

You’d be right, because just a few years ago, cloud EMS for HVAC was too pricey for most retailers with stores under 20,000 square feet to consider. But as technology has evolved, HVAC cloud EMS has evolved as well, and costs have dropped significantly. Now, it’s well within reach for nearly any retail location.

In this e-book, you can learn more about the benefits of a low-cost EMS solution that is now within reach:

• Report on and monitor the temperature and equipment at all of your locations
• Reduce your repair and replacement costs
• Generate energy savings

Simply fill out the form on this page to download your free copy.

Download Our Free eBook

© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: Preparing for the Cooling Season

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Prepare for Cooling Season with Air Conditioning Preventative Maintenance

From Inspection to Cleaning, Follow Our Checklist For the Cooling Season

Not only does your HVAC system directly impact your employees’ and customers’ comfort and experience with your facilities, but it also is a significant expense across your entire footprint. When it comes to ensuring quality brand experiences, controlling costs, and improving energy efficiency, air conditioning preventive maintenance and monitoring is key.

Whether you have a detailed plan in place or are just looking for a place to start, this is the eBook for you. We share specific advice on preparing your HVAC system for cooling system challenges.

Cooling Solutions Tailored to Your Facility Needs

Our specialized project management teams can help you create an air conditioning preventative maintenance program specific to your goals — whether it’s 50 or a few hundred — to cool your locations properly.

We detail strategies for performing an overall inspection of your unit, as well as the proper cleaning of the condensing and evaporating coils. Additionally, we provide a basic checklist to use during cooling seasons — one that you can and should customize for your specific use.

Be sure to download our eBook to glean expert insights on:

• Electrical Inspection
• Cleaning the Condensing and Evaporating Coils
• Coil Cleaning: Effects on Heat Transfer and Energy Consumption

Download your free guide and checklist today!

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: Your Guide to a HVAC Rooftop Unit Replacement

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Navigating Commercial RTU Maintenance and Replacement

Accurately Budget and Plan for HVAC Repair and Replacement Today

Rooftop HVAC equipment represents a significant investment for building owners, both up front and over time. Like any piece of equipment or machinery, rooftop HVAC units must be routinely maintained and cared for.

That is why RTU maintenance is so important, but even with the best maintenance program they eventually will reach the end of the road. When that time comes, there are a few key considerations for your replacement, repairs, and ongoing care.

HVAC RTU Maintenance, Repair, and Replacement

So, just as you plan and budget for repair and replacement of other equipment and systems throughout your facility or facilities, you should include RTU HVAC maintenance and replacement in that planning calculus.

This e-book details how your company should go about a HVAC rooftop unit projects:

• The Why’s, When’s and How’s of Rooftop Replacement
• HVAC Rooftop Program Strategies
• Rooftop Replacement Database Management, Insight and Logic
• Trends in Rooftop Replacement

Simply fill out the form on this page to download your free copy.

Further Implementation

Download Our Free eBook

© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download:  Your Guide to a Commercial Lighting Retrofit Project

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Your Guide to a Commercial Lighting Retrofit Project

Overcome the Rising Costs of Energy with Your Next Lighting Retrofit

The rising costs of energy have many companies searching to find possible ways to improve energy efficiency, and ultimately reduce their budgets. Some have committed to interior and exterior commercial lighting upgrades to improve their control on energy usage and costs.

Fortunately, you can better navigate your next commercial lighting upgrade with a few expert tips. With our free eBook, you can get exclusive insight into:

• The Green Benefits of LED
• Maximizing Return on Investment
• The Inside Track to Successful Interior Lighting Retrofits
• Exterior Lighting Retrofits
• Beyond Energy Savings
• Commercial Lighting Retrofit Glossary

With our national network of contractors across the U.S. and Canada, CLS Facility Services supports a wide variety of electrical and lighting needs. Discover how we have helped companies in multiple industries achieve their lighting maintenance goals, and how we can potentially support yours, with a commercial lighting upgrade.

Fill out the form and download your free copy today!

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download of Preparing for the Heating Season

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Prepare for the Heating Season with Experienced Heating Maintenance

Unlock Exclusive Heating Startup Tactics and Energy Saving Tips Today

When it comes to the colder seasons, we understand dependable heating is a must for your facilities, and ensuring smooth operations can be a challenge. Properly preparing for the heating season can be a great opportunity to not only meet expectations, but to enjoy new energy and cost savings throughout the season. Take a closer look at what you need to do to be fully ready when the temperatures drop, including preventive heating maintenance strategies, heating startup tactics, programmable EMS solutions, and energy saving tips.

Find New Energy Savings with an Improved Heating Maintenance Strategy

• Preventive Maintenance Strategies
• Heating Startup Tips
• Energy Savings Ideas

Simply fill out the form on this page to download your free copy.

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Thank You For Your Interest

Here is Your Download: Your Guide to Commercial HVAC Maintenance

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: Your Guide to Commercial HVAC Maintenance

Expertly Own, Operate, and Maintain Your HVAC Units with Preventive Maintenance

Without a proactive commercial HVAC maintenance program in place, critical and costly HVAC systems are left to chance. With a thorough understanding of your own HVAC equipment, you can find new energy savings, efficiencies, and cost reductions —while maximizing one of the most significant facilities investments that your organization will make.

With our guide, you can ensure minor issues are identified and addressed upfront before they become overwhelming. Take a free copy of our eBook and unlock trade secrets, including:

• Estimating the cost of owning and operating a rooftop unit
• A comprehensive checklist for preventive HVAC maintenance
• Choosing the right preventive maintenance program for you
• An easy to follow commercial HVAC maintenance glossary

Get your HVAC maintenance program back on track and download your free copy today.

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

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Here is Your Download: 5 Steps in Creating & Executing a Successful RFP

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

eBook: 5 Steps in Creating and Executing a Successful RFP

Easily Evaluate Candidates and Find the Best Facilities Management Partnership

As companies pursue new business partners for their facility maintenance needs, one common way to find the best partnership is to launch a ‘Request for Proposal’ (RFP) format. By undergoing this process, it allows companies to evaluate multiple potential candidates for services, gather the information they need, and find the best potential fit.

Download Our 5 Step Checklist

However, the creation of a successful facilities management RFP requires multiple steps in order to ensure that your company is finding the best service provider for your specific needs. This eBook takes a look at five steps that can help you construct the ideal RFP that can cater to what you are looking for in a service partnership.

Fill out the form and download your copy now.

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© 2026 CLS Facility Services. All rights reserved.

Retrofit Project Review: Situation Analysis:

• Change in legislation / phase out of T12 equipment
• Need to retrofit existing fleet of T12 technology
• Need for improved lighting consistency & quality
• Need for reducing lighting-related maintenance cost
• Increased cost of replacement materials
• Reduced supply of replacement materials
• Corporate energy savings objectives
• Attractive project ROI

Solution:

Breakdown: Phase I
Market areas: Canada, VA

• Total # locations: 330
• Commencement: January 2010
• Completion: May 2010
• Investment: $137,663
• Net rebates: Included – $20,000 est.
  (14% savings)

Breakdown: Phase II
Market areas: IL, IN, MO, MI, OH, TX

• Total # locations: 2,240
• Commencement: December 2010
• Completion: November 2011
• Investment: $1,486,383
• Net rebates: $172,041  (11% savings)
• Net investment: $1,314,342

Breakdown: Phase III
Market Areas: AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DE,
GA, IA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI,
MN, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY,
OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WA,
WV, WY

• Total # locations: 1,764
• Commencement: December 2011
• Completion: August 2012
• Investment: $1,387,534
• Net rebates: $184,783
• Net investment: $1,202,751

Results:

Timeframe: 32 months (Jan 2010-Aug 2012)

• Locations: 4,334
• Fixtures retrofitted: 45,886
• 2-lamp T12:  5,721
• 3-lamp T12: 313
• 4-lamp T12: 39,223
• Exit/emergency units: 629
• Lamps replaced: 185,753
• Magnetic ballasts removed: 84,480
• Net Rebates realized: $376,824

Final Financial Results

• Investment: $3,011,580
• Net rebates: $376,824
• Net investment: $2,634,756  (12.5% savings thru rebates)
• Est. annual energy savings: $1,595,477
• Est. annual maintenance savings: $216,700 ($50/branch)
• Project payback: 17 months
• Five year positive cash flow projection: $6,426,129

Final Environmental Impact

• CO2 reduction: 21,000,299 lbs
• SO2 reduction: 82,420 lbs
• NO2 reduction: 40,460 lbs
• Atmospheric Hg removed: 211,966 mg/yr
• Coal burning avoided: 9,813,224 lbs (4,460 tons)
• Equivalent # of cars removed from road: 1,831
• Acres of Forest Saved: 2,604

Situation Analysis

Survey of Tech Park conducted to investigate energy-saving and lighting upgrade opportunities

Interior Lighting

Most office spaces comprised of 4-Lamp T12 2′-by-4′ lay-in fixtures

• Large opportunity for greater energy efficiency
  and increased uniformity of lighting levels
• Soft buzzing sound in some areas from T12 ballasts that are running out of life
• Lamps burned out in various locations
  throughout survey
• Color rendering  varies throughout tenant spaces, due to varying levels of light output

Multiple suites already contain T8 lighting technology, some containing parabolic fixtures

4-Foot 2-Lamp T12 Fixtures located in multiple tenant spaces and restrooms

Exterior Lighting

Parking Lot Lighting has poles ranging from 16.5’ to 22’ in height with metal halide fixtures. Area resurveyed at night to gauge lighting levels

• Lighting level is decent, but spotty, due to spread capability of fixtures
• Perimeter of Parking Lot is quite dark, as light output only extends to certain zones
• Some fixtures not functioning/lamps burned out, creating patches of darkness

Ground-Mounted Fixtures, Wall Packs, and Recessed Fixtures Illuminate walls and nearby areas. Area resurveyed at night to gauge lighting levels

• Definite room for improvement of lighting output and spread of light for added security/safety
• Varying levels of lighting output from metal halides, due to varying stages of their life cycle

Large energy and maintenance savings are available with conversion to LED technology

Rebate Opportunities & Commitment to Project

• First Energy Rebate Paperwork filed
• Tech Park Lighting Retrofit Project gains First Energy Rebate Preapproval in the amount of $43,057.40

The Interior Retrofit Project

Interior Retrofit conducted during daytime ‘business’ hours

• 1,200+ fixtures were retrofitted in just a 3-week time span
• 4-Lamp T12 Lay-in Fixtures converted to 2-Lamp T8 Lay-in Fixtures with new reflector kits
• Energy consumption reduced by ~70%, from 150+ watts per fixture to 47 watts per fixture
• Rated life of new T8 lamps is nearly double that of removed T12 lamps, reducing maintenance
• T8 lamps maintain stronger lumen output throughout their life, increasing lighting levels
• Reducing number of lamps by 50% will reduce materials costs dynamically when new lamps are installed
• All new T8 lamps contain 4100 kelvin color temperature
• New lighting demonstrates uniform color rendering throughout tenant spaces
• Lighting levels and appearance are consistent throughout the facility
• All 2-Lamp T12 Fixtures are retrofitted to 2-Lamp T8 fixtures
• Lighting output and consistency  improves via conversion to T8 Technology
• Energy consumption reduced from 72+ watts per fixture down to 47 watts per fixture

The Exterior Retrofit Project

LED Technology is selected to replace all metal halide and high pressure sodium fixtures

• 65%+ energy savings of all retrofitted fixtures
• 300%+ increase in rated life of LED fixtures, helping to reduce maintenance costs

Situation Analysis

• A regional automotive repair chain sought lighting upgrade
  opportunities, with a focus on energy savings, improved lighting quality, and prospective utility rebate benefits
• Most stores have both energy-deficient T12 lighting and
  exterior lighting with large upgrade potential

Survey & Lighting Audit

• 30+ sites are surveyed by CLS in a 1-week span. The surveys yield 95% T12 lighting in all stores, meaning large energy savings are possible
• Many areas of the auto shops are dimly lit; employees in many locations complain about a lack of proper lighting output while they are conducting their work
• Storage areas and perimeters of rooms are extremely dark; exit signs are old, broken, and burnt out
• Many store managers emphasize dim interior lighting is a common complaint amongst their employees
• Multiple store managers site that week exterior lighting is a nighttime security issue
• Outdoor wall packs are old, many have cracked or cloudy lenses, while some are burnt out, providing little nighttime lighting for the exterior of facilities. LED Wall packs will clearly foster 70%+ energy savings

Behind the Scenes

• CLS analyzes which interior fixtures can be retrofitted without the need for new fixtures, in order to keep the project cost efficient
• New fixtures will be advised in some facilities where old fixtures cannot be retrofitted
• CLS looks at a variety of LED Wall Pack options for exterior lighting, deciding upon a new LED item which will increase the spread of the light and brighten areas during the night
• New Interior & Exterior lighting has a much longer rated life, which will help eliminate both short-term and long-term maintenance and materials costs for the client

The Presentation

• CLS presents a detailed proposal, outlining the lighting room-by-room in all stores. Cost, energy savings, lighting retrofit solution
• CLS recommends 5,000 Kelvin Temperature Lamps in order produce a more substantial lighting output and provide a bright, outdoor feel for clients who spend significant time in the drive thru area
• New LED Exit signs offer 75%+ energy savings and keep the buildings up to code with State regulations
• Questions are answered in detail as CLS outlines details of this turn-key lighting retrofit project

The Execution & Follow Through

• CLS orders all materials and executes the entire lighting retrofit installation
• Much of installation takes place during business hours, working in specific locations at different times in order to meet the client’s needs and not disrupt production and office work
• Upon project completion, CLS manages recycling of lamps and ballasts with regards to EPA guidelines
• CLS conducts a “Final Walkthrough” of the entire facility in order to ensure satisfaction and garner feedback. CLS files all final rebate paperwork and rebate check(s) are mailed directly to the client

Final Numbers & Energy Savings Analysis

• Project Cost:  $73,454.00
• Estimated Annual Energy Savings:  $16,583.00

Client approached lighting retrofits with a focus on energy savings and the final projects’ outcome produced energy savings, in addition to a substantial upgrade in lighting output, quality, and positive environmental impact in an industry where a “green” image is very important.  Dozens of employees are pleased with a brighter and more secure work environment.

Impact of performing quality and routine (quarterly)
HVAC Preventive Maintenance:

• Company A has CLS performing preventive maintenance at 191 stores
• Primarily mall-based and averaging 2,000 square feet per store
• CLS has reduced time and material service calls (expenditure) by 17% over a 3 year period by conducting quality, thorough preventative maintenance on a quarterly basis

Additional benefits include reduced inconvenience to the store as well as comfort level in the store for associates and customers.

Result of skipping an HVAC Preventive Maintenance cycle:

• Company B has CLS performing preventive maintenance at 273 stores
• 100% mall-based and averaging 5,000 square feet per store
• During difficult economic times, this retailer opted to skip a preventive maintenance cycle
  (winter, mid-season), which saved them $25,000
• In the subsequent months they saw a 9% increase in service call volume over the prior year which resulted in expenditures of nearly double the savings of the skipped preventive maintenance cycle ($47,858)

Additional impact included uncomfortable stores, a reactive approach, and increased emergency service calls.

Situation Analysis

School District’s gymnasiums are equipped with energy-deficient metal halides and they seek to upgrade lighting with a focus on energy efficiency and brighter facilities.

Survey & Lighting Audit

• Four gymnasiums are surveyed to verify fixture quantities, condition, and mounting height
• Lighting throughout all gymnasiums needs improvement. Many lamps are burnt out, resulting in darker patches in portions of the gyms
• Many fixtures lack proper covers,
  so breakage of lamps could result in hazardous exposure to mercury
• Color rendering is a yellowish shade, giving distant images an unnatural appearance

Behind the Scenes

• CLS analyzes whether T8 or T5 lighting will yield the best lighting output and energy efficiency, based upon fixture spacing and ceiling heights in each gym
• CLS looks at multiple fixture types, deciding upon a wire-guarded 6-Lamp T8 High Bay

The Presentation

• CLS presents in-depth proposal, detailing project cost, energy savings, projected maintenance/material savings, and new fixture cut sheets for each gym location
• CLS recommends utilization of 5,000 Kelvin T8 lamps, in order to provide a brighter “outdoor” feel in the gyms and foster over 60% energy savings

The Execution & Follow Through

• CLS orders all materials and executes the entire lighting retrofit installation in each gymnasium
• A time is agreed upon, when installations can take place without disruption of gym activities
• Upon project completion, CLS manages recycling of lamps and ballasts with regards to EPA guidelines
• CLS conducts a “Final Walkthrough” of each gym to ensure satisfaction and garner feedback

Final Numbers & Energy Savings Analysis

• Project Cost: $38,200.00
• Estimated Annual Energy Savings: $10,152.00

District Feedback

• High school basketball coach declares: “After watching film of basketball games for 5 years, I can finally see the kids’ faces in detail and make out their uniform numbers clearly!”
• Athletic Director, coaches, players, and fans all voice appreciation for brighter facilities with a “new, better feel” for gym class, practices, and games
• No lamps or ballasts have been changed for over 10 months in any of the gyms, saving money for lift rentals, new materials, and maintenance staffs’ time