10 Tips on Maintaining Your Commercial Property Warranty

Business owners need to stay on top of every little detail, including ways to maintain their commercial property warranty. Even if you haven’t purchased commercial property yet, it’s never too early to start looking into what you should do when you have commercial property with a warranty. Although it might feel a little silly to start looking at warranties on commercial facilities before you even have your name on a deed or the keys to a place, you’ll appreciate having done your homework when it’s time to handle this side of business.

For first-time commercial property owners, navigating the specifics of a commercial property warranty can feel like entering a whole new world. Thankfully, we’ve listed useful tips below to help you preserve your warranty on commercial property even if you’ve never owned commercial property before. From small businesses to large corporations, getting a handle on keeping a warranty intact on commercial facilities can be a game-changer for your business operations, so you should follow our suggestions below if you don’t want to accidentally make the warranty invalid without meaning to do so.

How to Tell if You Have a Warranty on Commercial Property

Usually, you’ll know if you have this kind of warranty because you’ll have some form of documentation that states that you have it. If you’re almost done closing on a property, you can ask the seller to provide you with all of the appropriate documentation related to warranties so you don’t have to wonder or guess. Additionally, if you know which company issues the warranties, you may be able to secure documentation from them once you can prove that you own this piece of commercial real estate.

1. Maintain the Septic System

To avoid nullifying a commercial property warranty, some systems like the septic system may need to be maintained appropriately. Sometimes, you may not own the commercial building from which you operate a business so you won’t be responsible for contacting septic system companies when you run into a septic issue. Still, even if you’re renting your business facilities, you should find out if it’s your responsibility to check the septic system for flaws or issues if you notice that it doesn’t seem to be managing waste as efficiently as it used to do.

Although the quality of the septic system and maintaining it might seem unrelated to keeping a warranty on commercial property, you don’t want to find out the hard way that it matters for the issuer of the warranty. If you can read any documents related to the commercial warranty, it might be easier to find out if it applies to the septic system. What’s more, some septic systems may have commercial warranties that you should investigate as soon as a commercial property falls under your ownership.

2. Fix Broken Glass Quickly

Broken glass can be a hazard to your employees, the local community, and more if it’s not promptly addressed. While you’re probably aware that injuries resulting from damage to local storefront glass could put you in hot water in terms of liability, you should know that damaged or defective glass could also impact a commercial property warranty, depending on the circumstances. Although it might be hard to find information about how damaged glass could void a warranty on a commercial property or cause you to invoke the privileges that come with a warranty, it pays to do your research in this regard. Some glass windows may have commercial warranties that guarantee that the company will reimburse you for what it would have cost to buy the windows or replace them if you meet certain criteria. In other cases, the previous owner of a commercial building may not have purchased a warranty. If there’s no warranty on the window or glass item, you might have to rely on commercial insurance policies if it meets the criteria for filing a claim and falls under your commercial coverage. You might also have to tap into your commercial savings to pay for the costs that are associated with replacing them.

3. Know What a Warranty Covers

Some inexperienced business owners and commercial property buyers may assume that a commercial property warranty covers everything from the roof to the foundation of facilities or storefronts. Unfortunately, warranties don’t always cover everything that we would like them to cover. Before you assume that a warranty will pay for a roofing contractor to replace a roof or fix loose shingles, you should look into the facts of the situation to avoid paying for something that a commercial property warranty can’t cover.

Before we can say whether a warranty covers something, it’s important to establish what a warranty on commercial property is. Commercial property warranties are insurance policies that protect the building owner of commercial property from needing to pay out of pocket for replacements, repairs, and more. When something goes awry with a commercial property, you want to have all your ducks in a row and be able to use commercial property warranties to avoid draining your commercial bank account and personal funds.

Commercial warranties, in general, tend to cover equipment related to operating the business, inventory stock, and appliances related to business functions. On a commercial property, they may also cover HVAC systems, electrical systems, and plumbing. Although every warranty for commercial properties and insurance policy is different, they generally tend to cover similar things.

4. Consult With Legal Representation

When you’re facing a bill you can’t pay for your business related to your commercial property needing something to be replaced or repaired, it can pay to invest in a real estate attorney or someone who specializes in commercial law to handle the issue. Without legal representation, you might not know your rights or responsibilities. This can get you into big trouble if you fail to pay a bill that you should pay for your business or if you end up overpaying on something that a commercial property warranty should have covered.

For landlords who have damage on their property from tenants, it can be especially useful to hire a landlord attorney for the job. While a general commercial attorney might have some idea of how to help you with issues related to recouping costs from running your landlord business, a landlord lawyer will know the laws that would best serve your interests and provide counsel that will be more specialized to your situation. If you’re not sure if you hold a warranty on commercial property, these types of lawyers will also know how to help you confirm whether or not you have a warranty so you’ll know how to proceed with the issue moving forward.

5. Keep an Eye on Natural Disasters

Beyond customers, tenants, and community members, a major cause for damage to businesses can be a natural disaster. If you live in an area that has tornadoes, hurricanes, or earthquakes, having the right type of commercial property insurance can ensure that you don’t end up paying for the replacement of commercial glass doors every time natural disasters strike. Although some commercial property warranty policies may exclude natural disaster damage from what they cover, others may offer to cover certain types of damage from natural disasters. Before you assume that your property will be covered if it’s damaged in a natural disaster, you should contact the company that issues the warranty on commercial property to get the facts straight.

A natural disaster can be devastating to your business and your home, so it’s important to prepare for when a disaster strikes. Even if you live in an area that doesn’t have hurricanes, earthquakes, or tornadoes, it’s still possible that extreme weather conditions like severe thunderstorms and blizzards could cause harm to your building if you haven’t taken the time to weatherproof it appropriately. Keeping your commercial equipment inside during inclement weather when possible and avoiding exposing delicate merchandise to the elements can reduce the financial toll that natural disasters or extreme weather conditions could take on your livelihood.

6. Rent the Right Commercial Equipment

If you own all of your commercial equipment like a forklift, you may already have the appropriate warranty such as a forklift warranty on commercial property. For those who aren’t able to own equipment or are interested in owning equipment yet, renting may be the next best option. Depending on the specific conditions and terms of the commercial property warranty, damage that results from rented equipment may void the warranty so you should see if that’s a potential issue before you rent the equipment. Some equipment may be more suitable to place in commercial facilities than others since it might be less likely to cause damage or more likely to use utilities efficiently. When a piece of equipment isn’t hard on the plumbing, electrical, or HVAC system, it will be less likely to take a toll on the parts of the property that may be protected under warranty.

7. Clean the Gutters

While the gutter may be the last thing on your mind as a business owner, unclean or clogged gutters can cause damage that can cost a pretty penny to repair. If you know you have a warranty on commercial property, you should ensure that you clean the gutter regularly so you don’t end up wasting an opportunity to file an insurance claim on something that you could easily prevent. If you don’t have the time, energy, or motivation to clean your gutter, you can always hire gutter services to do the job for you. Although it might not be something that directly affects your commercial property warranty, it’s good for your business and the well-being of the property if you remember to do this.

Since you should clean the gutter regularly, it can help to set a reminder on your calendar to do it. Additionally, scheduling services for gutter cleaners to come and do this task can be an easy way to set it up without forcing yourself to remember to do it later. When your commercial property is clean and free from built-up dirt, it can make the damage less severe if you do end up having to file a claim with commercial property warranties at some point.

8. Test the Water Supply Regularly

A contaminated water supply can affect your business, especially if your services rely on clean water to function. If you’re concerned about contamination in the water supply, you can schedule professionals to perform back flow testing. If a disaster or qualifying event caused the contamination of the water, you might be able to get your commercial property warranty provider to cover the expenses.

9. Control the Interior Climate

For interior surfaces, having a controlled climate can be important. Depending on the terms of a commercial property warranty, it may impact what’s covered if you don’t maintain the climate of the facilities. One way to maintain a warranty for commercial property is to have your business’s HVAC systems inspected as often as the professionals recommend. If the system is old or problematic, you might have to get it inspected more often than you would have to inspect a more updated system. Although this can feel like a burden, it’s better than risking the system going down without warning and paying to replace it without expecting it.

10. Stay on Top of Repairs

One of the easiest ways to maintain a commercial property warranty is to conduct repairs as needed. Rather than waiting until you have to perform several major repairs, you can do little repairs such as air duct repairs as they come up. This might cost you money in the short term, but it will save you money in the long term since your property’s systems will stay functional for longer than they would if you left them in a state of literal disrepair.

If you don’t want to hire someone to do repairs, you can learn to do them on your own. Taking local classes on DIY repairs can save you money. You can also shadow a local maintenance person to learn a trade.

Maintaining a warranty on commercial property is simple with the suggestions above. First, you should see if you have a warranty. Then, you can evaluate the terms of the policy.