- Introduction
Your business’s roof is more than just a piece of cement or TPO; it is a crucial part of the building’s structure that protects your investment, employees, and customers from the whims of nature. But even the sturdiest roof isn’t immune to damage. Whether it’s renovation work or a commercial roof replacement taking place, your firm’s daily operations can be severely impacted. From initial consultation to securing important documents to doing a final sweep of your facility, this blog explains how you should secure your space during a commercial roofing project.
- Securing Your Business: From Pre-Construction To Post-Installation
It’s important to remember that keeping your business safe involves paying attention during all stages of the roofing project. It starts with clear communication with your commercial roofing contractors, creating safety zones during construction, and finishing with thorough documentation and possible insurance claims. Whether you own a bakery or run a conglomerate, here is what you should do to safeguard your business.
Read on as we cover every stage of roof construction!
- Preparing Your Business In The Pre-Construction Phase
Starting off at the very beginning, every responsible and dedicated business-owner knows that you should protect your facility from the get-go. Before the commercial roofers have even arrived, you should:
- Prioritize Communication: discuss the project and determine a schedule to minimize noise disruptions to your business.
- Section Off The Worksite: create barriers that go around the work zone so that no employee or client is in danger of falling debris.
- Protect assets: for any important documents or delicate equipment, move them safely out of the way to keep them safe from dust, misplacement, and other forms of damage.
- Plan for downtime: no matter how much you wish otherwise, you will need to temporarily move or close down your business in case of a major roofing service. Schedule this phase to minimize losses.
- Review insurance: go over your insurance policy and your contractors’ liability insurance to understand how much is covered in case of loss during roof installation.
- Pre-project assessment: Finally, before the roofers arrive, take pictures and do an inventory to document every item on your property to assess for damage later on.
| Did You Know?A typical commercial roof replacement can span between 1 and 8 weeks! |
- Safeguarding Your Facility During Construction
Okay, now we’re in the construction phase. You might think that you’ve done all that you could during the prep phase, but you can’t let down your guard yet. Here is what you should do as a business-owner to secure your capital and assets:
- Monitor barriers and prevent unauthorized access: remember the cordoned-off areas that you initially set up? Regularly check those barriers to ensure they’re still set up properly. This will also prevent any potential injuries if your clients or workers enter the worksite.
- Debris removal: Talk to your roofers and tell them to get rid of fallen shards of roofing and old pipes as soon as they’re done each day to prevent accidents and reduce disruptions.
- Preventing Costly Losses After Roof Installation
Now that all the drilling, hammering, and grunt work are done, it’s time to do a final sweep of your space. Any concerned and responsible business-owner should be doing a personal overview after the roofing service is complete. This will look something like:
- Project Inspection: visit the roof, examine the ceiling, and assess your walls to ensure that the roofers performed according to your expectations.
- Communicating Issues: If you notice something that bothers you, let them know so they can fix it ASAP.
- Checking Assets: inspect things like machinery, computers, flooring, and glass products in detail and compare them with the record you created at the beginning to ensure nothing is damaged or missing.
- Documenting The New Roof: Finally, make detailed notes on the new roof, paying special attention to warranties and inspection plans to ensure you don’t face any issues in the future.
- Conclusion
A commercial roof installation or replacement project is a large-scale venture that can disrupt your business for several weeks. While zero disturbances and disruptions are virtually impossible, there are a few things you can do to protect your assets. Communicate clearly with the roofers, make a detailed inventory, and plan for contingencies and disruptions. Also, do a final sweep of your structure and equipment to ensure that your business doesn’t face any losses once the roofers are done.
FAQs
What is the best kind of roof for a commercial building?
For durability, protection, and reliability, you should go for TPO, EPDM, metal, or BUR roofing.
What is the longest-lasting commercial roof?
With the right installation and maintenance, metal roofs can last up to half a century.
How much does a commercial roof installation cost?
Depending on the size of the roof and project complexity, a typical commercial roof installation can cost $4-$35and and above per square.