6 Tips for Maintaining Business As Usual During Construction

So it’s time to expand your business, and you’ve chosen to undertake a build out instead of taking the risk of losing customers by moving locations. Absolutely smart move, and as a leading provider of build out services and project management in South Jersey and Pennsylvania, we applaud you for it! We also understand your concerns. After more than 20 years in the industry, we’ve put many fears about construction projects and their processes to rest. Chief among them is the concern that construction crews will interfere with business as usual and intrude upon customers.

While no construction project can go completely unnoticed, there are a few tricks you can implement to minimize, and even eliminate, its impact.

  1. Plan around Your business Needs. At the National Maintenance and Build Out Company, LLC (NMBOC), we conduct an in-store audit to study customer traffic patterns. Once completed, we base our hours and the construction plans around your needs to minimize disruptions. Having a plan is always a good idea, and is essential to not only keeping your business running, but to keeping things on schedule and tasks on track.
  2. Prepare Your Employees and Customers. If inconveniencing your employees or customers is unavoidable, make sure they are prepared for it. Whether moving desks, merchandise or accessibility to the restrooms, make sure there are adequate replacements or temporary solutions. In addition, whenever possible, avoid contact between visitors and building works. If the build out company you choose must complete some of the work during hours, make sure there’s a temporary structure to conceal the work and that the noisiest aspects are held off until later.
  3. Provide Back Up. No, we are not talking about a SWAT team; we’re talking about power. If you must turn off power or internet access at any point, warn the employees and make sure they are not left in the dark or unconnected. A high-power, mobile generator can be set up throughout the construction process to completely eliminate power disruptions.
  4. Make Sure There’s Safety Equipment. When choosing a company, confirm that they will provide protective equipment for any of your employees that will have to enter the construction area. This includes hard hats and goggles, but is not limited to them, some companies will always have standard first aid and emergency supplies on hand. At NMBOC, safety is our top priority—for our employees and yours.
  5. Pay Attention to the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), construction and renovation projects can have an adverse effect on building occupants through the release of airborne particulates, biological contaminants and gases. Aside from working during off hours and separating the work areas from the business areas, we recommend negatively pressurizing the work areas and/or positively pressurizing the occupied areas. We also recommend that you consult with HVAC professionals on how to isolate the systems in the construction areas.
  6. Get a Guarantee. After successfully enduring a construction project, you don’t want to go through it again anytime soon—especially to fix problems resulting from the first job. Customer satisfaction is very important to us, so in addition to making sure every job meets your expectations and our stringent standards, all of our build out services come with a comprehensive 13-month warranty. Whether the job is in Bucks County or Montgomery County, if something breaks or goes wrong in that time, we will fix it for free. We also make sure to call every client at least 60 days before the warranty expires, to give a friendly reminder. If the companies you are considering don’t offer that, call us immediately—we’ll be happy to help.

 

We hope these tips have helped to relieve your fears about your impending construction build out. For more information, or to speak with us about fulfilling your business needs, visit our website or call us today at 888-340-6900.