Health and safety concerns and legal responsibilities are a growing element when managing or owning a commercial business premises and there is a plethora of different elements throughout your building that require regular and thorough inspection and maintenance. Here is a comprehensive guide to health and safety inspections in commercial premises.
Commercial Landlord’s Responsibilities
Commercial property owners and managers have a host of duties and not only moral, but legal responsibilities to ensure that their buildings are safe for the company who is renting the premises.
Business property rentals are not as crystal clear and nowhere near as simple as private and residential lettings and it is vital to ensure you are completely schooled in what is and, conversely, what is not your responsibility.
One of the most important responsibilities is your duty to ensure all health and safety regulations are adhered to throughout the entirety of the property and not, contrary to popular belief, the responsibility of the business tenant.
Fundamentally, you are required to ensure the building is always set at a comfortable and satisfactory base temperature, that the entire property is sufficiently lit and properly ventilated, drinking water is available throughout and proper bathroom facilities are provided.
The Benefits Of Outsourcing
As a hard-working and diligent property owner or building manager, there is only a finite amount of time in the day to devote to the plethora of different and demanding elements in maintain and inspecting your property. It is strongly advisable, therefore, to consider outsourcing the inspection and maintenance of certain key equipment to ensure all legal and moral obligations and responsibilities are consistently and properly adhered to.
The benefits of outsourcing your inspections, such as elevator inspection servicesperformed by Atis, are abundant, including significant reductions in costs, an increased level of productivity and efficient with the time you save devoted to other key areas of managing the property and the substantial saving and prolonging of technology and equipment.
Health and Safety Considerations
Aside from larger equipment and technologies that require regular and thorough inspections and maintenance, there are a host of other health and safety considerations you absolutely must be aware of as a responsible and capable commercial property manager or owner.
Strict penalties are imposed on those property owners who, as a result of their own negligence, allow accidents and incidents to occur to the employees and customers of the property they are renting.
Dependent on the terms and conditions of your lease, commercial landlords are usually responsible for ensuring all fire doors and fire safety equipment is properly and regularly maintained, asbestos surveys are undertaken (and eradication where necessary) and ensuring the electrical wiring throughout the entirety of the building is in good working order and regularly inspected.
In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure that any gas appliances within the property, such as water heaters, other heating equipment and air conditioning units have licensed yearly inspections to guarantee their safety.
