It is a sign of tight budgets when facility directors at most K–12 and higher education institutions receive mandates to defer maintenance on their existing building inventory to allow for budget dollar application elsewhere. You are aware that, when a facility postpones needed maintenance, the reliability of its system will deteriorate, often with disastrous consequences.


Initially deferring maintenance may seem the right thing to do because it frees up valuable resources for management to apply in ways they think will better serve the institution. However, most short-term planning results in short-term savings. The diminishing capabilities will negatively affect the institution when it fails to effectively maintain its systems.


One adverse impact is when management cuts the number of maintenance personnel. Of course, this presents an opportunity for the professional contractor to provide outside technical support that will extend the capabilities of a now-depleted maintenance department, especially for the life safety systems inspection, testing and maintenance.


Because the fire alarm system self-monitors its condition, many facility managers assume that no news is good news and choose not to perform regularly scheduled service. At the same time, the local fire prevention officer may not actively enforce the code-required inspection,­ testing and maintenance. Therefore, the manager defers this important service.


So, it makes sense for you to visit local institutions and teach them about the code and their responsibility. Regardless of whether the local authority having jurisdiction enforces the code, NFPA 72 2013 clearly outlines the responsibility for fire alarm system testing and maintenance, stating in Section 14.2.3.1, “the property or building or system owner or the owner’s designated representative shall be responsible for inspection, testing, and maintenance of the system and for alterations or additions to this system.”


Obviously, management should not include fire alarm systems in the deferred maintenance plan. Doing so greatly increases the owner’s liability for the fire alarm system’s continued reliable operation.


Many times in the heat of budget cutting, owners (or their facility managers) do not acknowledge their responsibility under the code. You can remind them that the inspection, testing and maintenance chapter of NFPA 72 is the only chapter that applies retroactively. This means that, regardless of when the original installation occurred, the current code requirements for inspection, testing and maintenance apply.


Many facility managers would welcome someone who could assist them with developing a strategic maintenance plan and offer technical assistance. By establishing a plan, assure the facility manager that you can decrease the likelihood of crisis repairs, which will add to unscheduled budget costs and create pressure to reduce an already tight maintenance budget.


Another issue that a strategic maintenance plan can address relates to the avoidance of having a life safety system out of service. Your technical expertise in helping the facility manager decide what critical spare parts to maintain, and which components of the system need particular attention, can prove particularly valuable.


By offering to audit the institution’s fire alarm systems, you could enhance the facility manager’s strategic maintenance plan by showing which systems may become obsolete in the near future, which have reached a point of total disrepair, or which will possibly need crisis repairs in the immediate future. The audit allows the facility manager to focus on systems where the potential crisis events could occur. The information obtained in the audit could also direct capital improvements funds, rather than maintenance funds, when a full system replacement appears warranted.


You can also show the facility manager that, by using your services, he or she can better control maintenance costs and your services will not add the hidden “soft” costs that direct maintenance employees would have on their budget.


Use your expertise as a contractor to develop an awareness of your local institutions’ needs. Call on those facility managers who may not know the full range of services you provide. Of course, the fire alarm system reviews that you perform can extend into your other services. Your entry into a relationship with a facility manager may come through your involvement with the fire alarm systems. During the system audit, you may find other electrical issues to bring to the facility manager’s attention.


You may have grown into your current position because of technical experience and generally use that experience to repair or install systems. Nevertheless, your growth must be in serving your customers as a problem-solver. If you approach the facility managers at K–12 and university institutions with a logical attitude toward reducing the effect a deferred maintenance budget will have on their operations, you will be a welcome breath of fresh air.