Commercial Building Management Winter Checklist

12/13/2019 (Permalink)

Freezing or Bursting Pipes

One of the most common causes of damage to commercial buildings during the colder months is freezing and bursting pipes. As a building owner, there are measures you can take to prevent pipes from freezing; however, sometimes the worst happens anyway. If it does, the result can be thousands of dollars of damage to your building, furniture, electronics, and other business property.

Following are a few tips on protecting the pipes in your building from winter’s worst:

• Locate the turnoff valve and drain the lines, also known as winterizing.
• Protect spigots with Styrofoam attachments. These can be purchased at most home improvements stores and they offer much better insulation than wrapping the spigot with a towel.
• Search for pipes that are not insulated. These pipes may pass through unheated areas, such as crawlspaces, basements or garages. Pre-molded foam rubber sleeves can be fitted to the pipe and offer essential insulation to keep them from freezing. Fiberglass insulation is also an option. You may also consider wrapping the pipe with heating tape.

Winter Runoff

As winter begins to recede, the risk of damage from freezing pipes fades with it. However, melting snow and ice bring a new concern for building owners—flood damage to property resulting from the runoff of the melt. In many areas of the country, snowmelt is a greater threat for flooding than any other source. The bad news is that flood resulting from melting snow and ice is still considered a flood and, therefore, may not be covered by standard commercial property insurance.

Damage from Ice, Sleet or Snow

Ice, sleet and snow can be incredibly destructive to your property. They can be the source of damage or amplify existing damage—for example, ice getting into a crack in a wall. Unfortunately, damage caused by ice, snow and sleet are not covered by most standard commercial property insurance policies. While some policies will cover damage resulting from the abrupt collapse of a building’s roof under the weight of ice, snow or sleet, others will not.

Protecting your building from harsh winter conditions takes a great deal of preparation.