The Holidays Have Come and Gone
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.