One of the trickiest things about maintenance work for commercial buildings is getting the timing right. Over the years, Core4 has worked with a lot of clients who put certain jobs in the “too hard basket” because they cause so much disruption to building occupants and visitors.
These “save it for later” jobs are often long-delayed repairs or pre-emptive fixes. But at the moment, with the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, we’re finding that our commercial partners have more free time to deal with these chores.
Core4 has put our creative hat on and come up with ways to help our customers during the current quiet patch, so read on for a few pointers.
How Coronavirus is Affecting Business
A lot of businesses around Brisbane have closed for financial reasons. Others have slowed to a crawl because of the government’s “social distancing” requirements. It’s a big tribute to our customers that so many companies are still holding strong and trying to deliver at least minimum services.
At Core4, we’re strictly following all the extra safety, hygiene and physical distancing requirements. We’re used to dealing with disasters and emergencies, so we have the experience and WHS knowledge our clients need.
Seeing the Bright Side
The “glass half full” in the current scenario is that the government has stepped up and is offering heaps of assistance to businesses affected by COVID-19. Government support is helping employers like Core4, and suppliers and subcontractors, keep our prices very competitive.
Many companies are finding they’re reducing their overheads – for example by using technology to connect with their clients, instead of travelling to see them.
So, there’s a silver lining in everything.
Staying on the bright side, social distancing means companies now have the opportunity to tackle tasks that previously seemed too expensive or too much hassle.
If there was ever a perfect time to get onto that deep clean you’ve been putting off, this is it!
Projects to tackle in a “down time”
At the moment, Core4 is working with clients to get a range of projects finished. Here are some examples.
- Installing commercial kitchen flooring. We’re working to put in some commercial-grade kitchen floors for a client whose doors are temporarily shut. Normally, this would mean closing the business for a few days, with a significant loss of trade.
- An upgrade to a building foyer. A foyer refurb is usually pretty irritating for people inside a building, because they need to be redirected around the work site. One of our customers has taken advantage of the current time to get their foyer upgrade underway. As it’s less busy, there’s less foot traffic, and less disruption.
- A deep clean of common areas in a complex. Our client saw a deep clean of common areas as much needed given the virus situation. We were able to clean during business hours, when normally we would do this after hours to limit the impact on occupants. So doing the job now has saved on labour costs and saved our client money.
- Testing and solving leaks on basketball courts. A local Council called Core4 in to solve leaks that were happening on its 28 basketball courts every time it rained. We’ve run systematic water, product and environmental tests. This has been a lot easier during COVID-19 because we have been able to put access equipment on the courts, which would normally be chock-a-block with players.
These jobs are all saving money for our customers and getting them thinking about when they could do similar work in other “off peak” times. It’s one of the few positives of COVID-19, which is having such an impact on our industry and our lives. But it could lead to better ways for us to all work together in the future.
Working Smarter
As well as saving money, the advantage of working “off-peak” is that it’s more efficient. You don’t have to close down areas, floors, parts of the building or external zones and disturb your occupants and visitors.
With years of working with commercial partners, Core4 has gotten pretty smart at creating efficient solutions for a whole range of scenarios. For example, if we’ve got scaffolding in for a job that requires roof access, we’ll do our best to knock over a few other jobs with it at the same time.
Or, going back to our previous example of a foyer upgrade. If a building foyer needs to be closed to replace the floor tiles, we’ll see if there are other works (like a ceiling replacement) that could happen while the foyer is closed.
Finding the Silver Lining in a Slow Patch
There are plenty of ways to make efficient use of a slower period. And it’s always smart to plan ahead so you can “multitask” any equipment you hire, and get the most bang for your buck.
As your partners in Brisbane commercial maintenance, Core4 are always happy to help out. If you find yourself in a quiet patch – now or in the future – and want to tick a few tasks off your list, contact us for a friendly chat.