Building Operators: Have you fallen victim to these common misconceptions about routine inspections?

Proactive, routine inspection of both mandated and non-mandated equipment or locations is the best practice, not only to reduce risk, but to ensure compliance and efficiency, longevity of asset life, and tenant satisfaction.

In my job, I get the opportunity to visit commercial, residential, industrial and retail buildings across Canada. I also get the chance to speak with frontline staff, engineers, security professionals, and head office leadership. Through my visits, I continuously encounter three misconceptions about technology for routine inspections.

1. Work orders

Work order systems are great for specific tenant requests – for example, a work order can be issued if a tenant asks to keep the lights on longer than usual on a given night.

Also great for tenant complaints, work orders can be used to notify custodial staff of minor issues such as an empty soap dispenser in the washroom. Tenants are busy and creating work orders for something that should have been caught through frequent checks creates a sub-standard experience. This is why proactive inspections are so beneficial – but that’s for another blog post.

Work orders are not ideal however, for producing compliant inspection records or any other type of logs, as they generally do not record that each individual piece of equipment or location (i.e., fire equipment, washrooms, etc.) was inspected. Documentation needs to show a log of inspections, including each piece of equipment that was inspected, a list of locations, who inspected it and when. Since it would be overly time-consuming to create a work order for each individual monthly fire extinguisher inspection, this isn’t a standard practice; technology designed specifically for routine inspections would be much more suitable and efficient.

2. Building automation systems (BAS)

Building automation systems are computer databases that monitor building equipment such as mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection equipment. BAS’ are great for monitoring equipment speeds, pressures, and temperatures. There are, however, things that BAS’ cannot tell you. Catching issues such as broken belts, pest issues, condensation etc., can only come from routine inspections.

Assets monitored by BAS’ are costly, so it’s best practice to perform routine inspections and preventative maintenance in order to ensure longevity of equipment and perform due diligence.

3. Sensors/Beacons

Sensors such as beacons can detect when items are low such as toilet paper supplies in a washroom or can be used to detect motion.

The sensors can tell you that someone visited the room but they do not have a reporting mechanism in the event the room requires attention. The employee would still have to rely on another reporting procedure/system to document or advise of issues.

Sensors are also costly and would need to work in conjunction with another system, which makes them inefficient for this purpose.

With this in mind, it’s still my belief that proactive, routine inspection of both mandated and non-mandated equipment or locations is a best practice, not only to reduce risk, but to ensure compliance and efficiency, longevity of asset life, and tenant satisfaction.

About Tap Report

Tap Report is a Canadian software company that provides a digital solution for managing workplace inspections, safety compliance, and operational reporting. It replaces manual processes, such as paper checklists and spreadsheets, with a mobile and web-based system that allows teams to complete inspections, capture data, and generate compliant reports.

Through an easy-to-use interface and automated workflows, Tap Report helps ensure that inspections are completed, deficiencies are categorized and tracked, and issues are escalated efficiently to the right people. It also offers analytics, customizable reporting, and integrations that helps organizations improve safety, compliance, and operational performance.

For more information, visit www.tapreport.io or contact us at customerservice@tapreport.io.