If you work for a company or office building, you might think that all that needs to be focused on is the product or service that is being offered to clients and customers. However, the truth is that the office needs to be maintained as well. Plumbing is a big part of this maintenance work, and a commercial plumber can be very important in these situations. After all, it can be very hard to get your work done if there is no running water in the building or if there is a problem with the running water. People will not be able to wash their hands or do many other things that might be necessary.
If you need to hire a commercial plumber and don’t know a lot about commercial plumbing, it is possible that you have many questions about this topic. For example, you might wonder, where can I find the best commercial plumbing store near me? What are the differences in regards to commercial vs residential plumbing? What are the major plumbing companies that I should keep in mind? What should I know about what commercial plumbing and heating professionals do? Most likely, a plumber will be able to answer these questions for you.
The time when you need a plumbing repair work company is before you find your business in a crisis situation. For example, undetected back pressure or back siphonage problems can lead to damaging plumbing back flow that could shut your business down for days. In a restaurant, for example, no city health inspector is going to allow a owner to prepare and serve food during the commercial plumbing repair project. Lost sales, lost income for your employees, and lost customers who fear for the continued cleanliness of your establishment.
Residential plumbing situation. Since they had to rip out the tile in the master bath due to the pipe overflow the home owners decided to update their vanity before the new tile was installed. The job required two weeks worth of sanding, staining, and painting.
Commercial plumbing situation. Since the mall had to rip out the tile in the largest set of bathroom stalls due to the pipe overflow the contractors had to update the stalls to the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). the project interrupted the customer traffic to two specific stores that consequently suffered a severe drop in sales for the three weeks of repair work.
Commercial Plumbing Consequences Can Impact Sales, Work Flow, and Employe Safety
Obviously, a residential plumbing repair is an inconvenience. A commercial plumbing repair, however, has a much bigger impact. While a home plumbing situation can require a family to work around a messy construction site, in a commercial setting plumbing repair services can stop production, sales, and work flow.
Instead of getting into a situation where a back flow problem causes these shut downs, doesn’t it make more sense to proactively bring in plumbing inspectors to anticipate and avoid problems. For instance, the International Plumbing Code (IPC), sets minimum regulations for backflow prevention, sanitary drainage, storm drainage, and water heaters. Inspecting for and following the recommendations for these codes that are currently adopted on the state or local level in 35 states, commercial plumbing services can schedule off hour work tasks to prevent larger problems down the line.
Sewer Line Inspections Can Help Businesses Avoid Expensive and Lengthy Shut Downs
Sewer systems are divided into two types: storm water systems and sanitary sewers. Beginning in the 1930s, storm drains and sanitary drains have been installed separately to prevent any type of cross contamination. Unfortunately, even though they are installed separately, these systems can be decades old. New commercial construction and its new plumbing, for instance, can be connected to sewer lines that were first installed nearly 90 years ago.
During those possible 90 years, tree roots have likely started to break down or completely interrupt large sections of these aging sewer lines. Preventative wisdom should tell commercial building owners that once a year inspections could help avoid expensive and time consuming future repairs. For instance, instead of waiting for an emergency situation in an apartment building, an owner could schedule an inspection that could be able to anticipate future problems. As an added service to property managers, most plumbers will be able to delay a major problem that needs to be repaired so they can give their residents 24-hour notice about the upcoming work.
There are other things that commercial building owners, like hotel owners, can do to avoid major interruptions in water availability for customers. For instance, hotels should have the capacity to storage at least one day’s supply of water. This storage will help to ensure a continuous water supply even if repairs, emergencies, or weather events cause an interruption.
Given the recent flooding in the southern states in Louisiana and the hurricane and tropical storm activity in Florida, the country is well aware of the problems that can occur with water. Having too much or not enough water can be both a residential and a commercial problem.
In commercial situations, however, the problem is compounded by the fact that more people are impacted. Sales can suffer, workers can lose hours on the job, and health risks for a large number of people can occur. Careful commercial building owners should be in the habit of preventative maintenance so that they can attempt to completely avoid unexpected problems and emergencies.