Commercial roof maintenance is like any other system in a home or business. It needs to be monitored and maintained in order to function properly and protect a building for years at a time.
When something significant goes wrong with a commercial roof, like an accident, severe weather damage, or any other problems that can occur because of unforeseen circumstances, or lack of routine maintenance, entire sections of a building can be shut down for days or weeks at a time, and that is not a good thing for anyone involved in a commercial operation, particularly one that has to conduct business on a constant basis.
So, how does a business survive the unexpected and deal with the expenses of a roof dilemma? For one thing, any business that has a large amount of square footage devoted to a roofing system needs to have a maintenance plan in place specifically tailored to deal with the unexpected.
Commercial Roof Maintenance Plan
A written maintenance plan should exist in order to manage maintenance activities that involve ongoing or everyday checks as well as more detailed issues with repairs and replacement. Every person on a roof maintenance team or affiliated with maintenance of a building should be made aware of the plan and be able to act on it and execute it at any given time. Maintenance supervisors and technicians should be shown the plan, commit to it and follow through with the guidelines.
Fundamentals of a Commercial Roof Maintenance Plan
Simple keys or fundamentals to a good plan include both regular and continual roof inspections along with repairs or adjustments made in reaction to those inspections. Ongoing inspections are obviously the method to use in order to extend and maintain the life of a roof as well as keep up with any possible developing problems.
Inspection Intervals for Commercial Roofs
Thorough inspections twice a year usually insure that damage or other problems are caught before anything major has had time to develop; however, it doesn’t hurt to inspect on a more regular basis, especially when a building is located in an area that experiences brutal weather or major temperature changes. Environmental hazards or chemicals that are emitted in the air also signal that a roof should be checked more often.
More importantly, special inspections should be performed when any serious storms have passed through an area or construction has occurred on or around a roof. Installation of equipment on a roof should also warrant inspections as should any occurrences in relationship to fires, vandalism or other issues related to a commercial roof.
Commercial Roofing Inspection Process
The inspection process routine involves following an original plan that has been established on paper and is applied by maintenance supervisors and team members to ensure effective and productive inspections.
Areas of inspection importance should include:
- Roof scuppers (flat roof drainage devices), drains and gutters
- Rooftop structural units, access points and penetrations
- Main surface area of the roof
- Roof edging, flashing, roof terminators, control and expansion joints
- Seeking out and watching for out for flaws, defects, tears and small holes
Every time a commercial roof is accessed, a maintenance technician should be aware of what to examine and where to find it. Any inspector should pretty much follow the order of the plan, but they should also be aware of anything out of the ordinary to keep a roof stablized, enduring and performing as it should.
Sometimes it is in a building owner’s best interest to allow an outside, experienced inspector to examine a commercial roof. A third party inspector may detect abnormalities that a regular maintenance team member may fail to notice.
Follow-up Plan
When a professional inspector or in-house maintenance technician discovers that repairs need to be made, a follow-up plan for whatever issues are found needs to be in place. Also, tax incentives should be taken into consideration with major repair work. If a third party inspector is involved, there is usually a warranty or guarantee that accompanies the service.
When deciding whether to use an outside inspector or utilize in-house help, the actual repairs to be made should be evaluated individually to determine whether the repairs should be done by in-house technicians or an outside source.
Understanding commercial roof maintenance doesn’t have to be a complicated process when the right plans for both timely inspections and follow-up repairs are in place. In order to avoid the pitfalls that go along with not having necessary guidelines, don’t allow procrastination or lack of the proper information to get in the way of maintaining your commercial roof. If you need answers to your roof maintenance needs, complete the online contact form and a representative will get back to you with the answers you need to maintain your commercial roof.
