MINIMISE DISRUPTION IN COMMERCIAL MAINTENANCE 

Every facility manager knows the disruption that comes hand-in-hand with any facility maintenance project. It can be a risk to operations, but maintenance is also too important to put off or ignore. FM talks to Enviroscope’s Dyan Sisouw about how to minimise disruption when it comes to maintaining your facility.

Maintenance is a major – and an inevitable – part of any building or facility. They are complex structures that need constant care and repair to stay as efficient, enjoyable and well-performing parts of our cities.

When maintenance comes to mind, the first thought for a business is often inconvenience or loss of revenue; however, with the right planning and stakeholder management in place, it’s possible to minimise disruption during commercial maintenance.

Loud noises, odours, dust or physically blocked-off areas are just a few of the interruptions that may affect the operation of a business during maintenance, and for businesses that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is no room for downtime.

Enviroscope has provided a range of maintenance and painting services to commercial buildings around Australia since 2006 and, in recent years, has become the trusted supplier of Crown Melbourne.

“It is crucial to understand how each individual business operates and which stakeholders will be affected should maintenance need to be undertaken,” says Dyan Sisouw, executive director of Enviroscope.

“Having a high level of communication and planning will not only speed up the maintenance process itself, but it will also reduce the overall impact to a business’ operation.

“It’s important to understand stakeholder management and that there is not just one person who needs to be notified, but rather multiple people that can be affected by one small job.”

With over 10,000 staff on-site, Crown Melbourne is home to accommodation, dining, gaming, conferencing, shopping and entertainment facilities that operate around the clock.

Sisouw says speed of service is instrumental in the refurbishment process, as well as an intimate understanding of the building, operations and stakeholder communication management.

According to Sisouw, Enviroscope has been able to add value to Crown Melbourne in regards to efficiencies and cost-saving methods such as restoring, repairing or refreshing, as opposed to replacing.

“We are diversified in so many different services, costing techniques and applications and are generally able to restore instead of replacing pre-finished items, which can be anything from two-pack joinery to furniture and wall cladding.”

Top tips to minimise disruption during maintenance

• Notify different departments, as well as staff members within that section, that maintenance is being undertaken and to adjust operations of business to accommodate.
• Restore, repair or refresh instead of replace; this not only saves time but also money.
• Have a strong understanding of the building, operations and stakeholder communication management.
• Plan ahead to ensure service is delivered as efficiently as possible.