As a property manager, you are responsible for all facets of maintaining your properties to the highest standards. This includes vendor contracts for ongoing services such as janitorial, concierge and handyman services to capital improvements. As we approach the end of the year creating a budget for the 2024 is added to your long list of responsibilities. With the significant inflation this is made even more challenging.
Regardless of your level of experience in the field, it’s always a good idea to brush up on your information and develop a solid budget. This blog is designed to help you understand more about building facility service budgeting, facility management services, what should be included in it, and advice on how to properly design your facility management budget for 2023.
How Is Facility Service Budgeting Helpful?
The advantages of budgeting for facility service expenses are numerous. Profit is the first and most obvious. The lower you can keep your costs, the more profitable your building operate. The best approach is to determine your overall budget for facility services and then allocate that budget within the facility services portion of your budget. This may require some hard decisions, but it is best to keep in mind what services will most benefit your tenants while maintaining the value of your asset.
When making a budget, you should also consider the employees your vendor is able to profitably hire. Don’t compromise with lowest cost provider that is likely to hire unreliable janitors, maintenance techs or front desk staff because they might not work as well and leave your building dirty and unmaintained. They might also use inappropriate equipment, costing you additional expenses in the future.
Customer satisfaction is another advantage of a budget. You can provide your employees with the finest place to work if you budget your expenses for the entire year. You won’t know how much the professionals will charge if you don’t keep track of your expenses, which will undoubtedly be detrimental. Preparing the budget in advance helps you get quality services at the right industry charges.
How to Determine Your Overall Facility Service Budget
Prepare With Planning
The best approach is to work with your vendors to determine the exact scope of work necessary to maintain your building to highest standards, while cutting out unnecessary work. For example, do your carpets need to be vacuumed wall-to-wall nightly or can you spot vacuum daily and detail vacuum once per week? Working with your vendors to look for ways to cut hours will allow you to keep your budget in check.
If you want to cut costs on facility services, you must adopt a strategic mindset. The strategy begins with how much staff you need to keep your building neat and maintained. If you are considering inhouse staffing or are currently using inhouse staff, we have found when all things are considers including vacation time coverage, equipment purchases and repairs, management time spent hiring, training and supervising, outsourcing professional facility services is one of the best approaches to cutting costs.
Pick Priority Areas
This will rely on several elements, such as traffic, the area’s function, location, and structure or surface. You must be aware of areas that need daily cleaning. For example, desks, washrooms, and the lobby are the areas where you’ll require regular cleaning. Make a list of priority areas and talk about it with the professionals you’re going to outsource.
Determine the Space That Can Be Cleaned
One can calculate the real cleanable square feet by deducting uncleanable and vacant space from the property’s total square footage. It’s critical to have precise numbers because paying too much is what will happen if your “guesstimate” of square footage is too high. And you won’t be happy with the service if your guess is too low. Make your janitorial provider aware of the total space you need to clean so that they can calculate their costs accordingly.
Create or Revise the Work Scope
While professionals from a professional janitorial company can help with this, it will go more quickly, precisely, and effectively if you already have a thorough strategy in place. Determine the necessary cleaning frequency and describe all locations that can be cleaned. Calculating the frequency minimums for each location is also important. Remember, if you find you have underestimated or overestimated any areas, you can always adjust this later. Again, the minimum will be based on traffic, the space used, and associated risks.
Speak With Reputable Facility Service Providers
Now, as you’re armed with all the information, you should contact reputable building service providers and discuss your overall plan. Let the professionals know about the areas you want to be cleaned, maintained, and staffed and how much time you need their service for.
Inform a facility service provider of your preparations so they may have time to conduct their research and come up with the best cost-saving solutions. Because of the company’s experience, they will have an advantage, and you can work together to find methods to save costs.
A professional facility service provider might offer some suggestions for cost-cutting measures, such as technology & equipment usage. For example, numerous automated machines exist that can clean quicker and more effectively than human work alone. Your service provider can have further creative suggestions and solutions that you might not have thought of.
Final thoughts
With the help of your own research and the expertise of an experienced facility service team, you will be able to save some money while keeping the facility running smoothly. When given a chance, reputable and competent facility service providers will look for cost-saving measures that benefit both parties because they want you as a customer. The trick is to come up with cleaning methods that are more effective while maintaining a high level of service, and the professionals know how to do it very well.
Do you currently face a similar cost-cutting situation? Visit our website at www.starbuildingservices.com. We‘re more than building services…we’re building relationships one client at a time. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with you to find creative ways to manage your budget for the upcoming year.