One of the first mistakes school facility managers can make is with budgeting. Knowing how to budget for building maintenance is one of the quickest, most stress-free ways of keeping your school in top condition.
Below are common mistakes you can make when budgeting for building maintenance, and how you can avoid them:
Mistake 1: Only doing reactive and emergency maintenance
Emergency fixes are more expensive than planned maintenance so when planning a building maintenance budget for your school, we recommend costing out a proactive maintenance schedule and sticking to it.
Regular, preventative maintenance will keep disruptions to a minimum and help keep your costs manageable. Check out our guide to school building maintenance programs for more information about what a program can cover, and how it can help you manage costs.
Mistake 2: Scoping your project badly
It’s easy to blow a budget that wasn’t set out correctly in the first place, and unless you're a building maintenance expert, it’s easy to underestimate or overestimate costs. Whether you’ve miscalculated the price of materials or underestimated the time and amount of labour a project needs, “blowing the budget” is all-too-familiar for many of the best-intentioned facility managers.
Mistake 3: Planning for peak building periods
Scheduling repairs and maintenance on your school during peak season is generally more expensive. The best time of year to work is low season when building maintenance companies tend to have more time and don’t charge a premium. Without bearing this in mind, you may find you blow your annual and project budgets unexpectedly. Plan ahead and book your project for the right time of year — chat to your intended service provider ahead of time to find out what their quietest periods are, and book accordingly.
Mistake 4: Not budgeting proportionately
The large annual budget allocated to your school property and its upkeep can seem unending — but treating it as such is an easy way to overspend on building maintenance and come up short. We recommend understanding your budget per department or building, in relation to your holistic annual budget. Practising investment-based budgeting, and treating facilities like a company that offers services at certain prices (that includes the cost of upkeep) can help you understand costs better and prepare accurately.
Mistake 5: Not leaving room for changes
Building in a financial buffer gives you the flexibility to adapt to unscheduled events that might delay your project, or pay for unexpected repairs that your initial plans may uncover.
Ask for help from experts
Professional companies are the best place to go for advice on how to budget for or schedule your own building maintenance project (leaving your buffer practically untouched). They’ll be able to identify what needs to be done and when, who can help, and which materials you’ll need. Reputable maintenance solution providers like First Response offer no-obligation quotes and are happy to chat through your budget with you.
Start the conversation — contact us and get a quote on your next project. It’s a fantastic way to check your numbers and tap into expert tips that can help you get your project done on time, within budget.