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Roofing Solutions
Why Roof Maintenance Pays
Making a Case for Roof Maintenance
(reprinted with permission)
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BY ROBERT W. LYONS, FRCI-LYONS/WALDRON CONSULTING GROUP, LLC
In this period of tough economic pressure and uncertainty, it is imperative for building owners and anyone in the facilities maintenance and management profession to spend their monies wisely and manage their facility assets properly. The ultimate goal should be to achieve maximum service life at the least possible cost. For this reason, life-cycle costing has never been more appropriate.
Frankly, we live in a world looking for short-term, quick fix solutions. We often compromise the end-goal by taking the road of least resistance. When it comes to our commercial roofing portfolios, we frequently have the misconception that if our roofs are not leaking, we don’t need to bother with them. This out-of sight, out-of-mind perspective is one of the root causes for premature roofing failures. We need to adopt a proactive roof maintenance protocol to ensure the maximum service life from out roofing system, and to reduce the collateral damage caused by leaking roofs at our facilities.
Starting fresh
If a building owner starts out with a problematic roofing system, the situation typically goes downhill from there, creating a maintenance nightmare. So let’s assume we are starting out with a reasonably good roofing installation as part of a new construction process or a complete tear-off and reroofing.
Our goal is to immediately-from year #1-take on a preventive maintenance program to ensure the maximum service life of this good roof.
Additionally, with the new long-term warranties that most building owners desire (10 years +), you are contractually responsible to perform annual (or semi-annual) roof inspections and the associated repairs in order to maintain the terms of your extended warranty. These reports should be filed with records of the corrective work that has been performed. There are numerous roof management database programs available to help streamline this process (see “New tools help owners track roofing assets,” later in this Guide).
Progressive roofing manufactures like GAF are also offering building owners incentives for scheduled maintenance. The company’s Well Roof Advantage program will extend a Diamond Pledge guarantee at no cost for a term equal to 25% of the original guarantee length when a GAF roof is inspected and maintained by a Master Select Roofing Contractor.
As far as cost, roofing industry experts say that a building owner should budget a minimum of $0.05 per square foot per year for preventive maintenance (beginning in year #1) for their commercial roof: and that at periodic intervals during the life of the roof, they would be advised to spend as much as $0.25 per square foot for a more extensive remedial restoration.
Economic models support that the payback for these types of expenditures can be significant in helping to reduce the frequency of reroofing and the large capital expenditures they create. In the process, it is feasible to extend the life of a 10 year+ roofing system to a 20-year roofing system, or longer.
There have been many innovative roofing systems developed for the commercial roofing market in the past decade, and there have been even more new products developed for the ongoing maintenance and restoration of these systems.
GAF’s TOPCOAT restoration system, for example, offers a 10-year warranty with 100% coverage against material defects. With 85%+ reflectivity, this can mean up to $70,000 in energy saving over a 15-year period on a 50,000 square foot roof. Moreover, the system is proven, with more than 15 million square feet installed since 1979.
Managing your company’s roof
- Use life-cycle costing to assure maximum roof service life.
- Adapt a pro-active roof maintenance protocol.
- Perform semi-annual roof inspections and repairs.
- Budget a minimum of $.05 per square foot per year for preventative maintenance (beginning in year #1).
- Budget $0.25 per square foot for a more extensive remedial restoration.
- Track all collateral building damage and incidental costs associated with leaking roofs.
- Show management how past collateral damage costs exceed the cost of implementing a roof maintenance and management program.
What can case immediate problems?
Extreme Weather…
Lighting, high winds, hail, drenching rains that overflow the flashing heights
Equipment Additions…
Improperly added equipment or other items improperly added on the roof (items added by tenants are a very common source of roofing problems)
Trade Damage…
Punctures, holes, etc. caused by trades other than your roofing contractor
Unintended Abuse…
Vandalism or accidental damage…even a small hole can let in a large amount of water into the roofing system
The coatings industry has taken a leadership role in the development of many of these new restoration systems, and the prognosis looks favorable on their performance in the field. Built-up roofing systems, single-ply roofing systems, modified bitumen roofing systems, and metal roofing systems all now have coating and restoration systems that have been developed for the purpose of extending their service lives.
One of the short-sighted ruts that building owners have gotten themselves into is waiting too long to initiate any kind of a proactive roof maintenance and management program.
To help get buy-in and support from your senior management team, we wold recommend that you begin tracking all collateral building damage and incidental costs associated with having dysfunctional, leaky roofs. Often, the collateral damage costs greatly exceed the cost of implementing a roof maintenance and management program.
To help provide a list of costs and expanses to track, your company CFO can provide you with:
Costs of damage to building interiors (furnishings & fixtures)
Costs of damage to merchandise and inventory
Costs of damage to equipment (computers, electrical, HVAC, etc.)
Costs from lost use of space
Costs and exposure to issues of air quality and work environment
Costs of legal claims (“slip & fall” accidents)
Costs of water damage clean-up
Costs of energy loss through wet and damp roof insulation in both the heating and cooling seasons
Costs of business interruption
Costs associated with higher insurance premiums due to more frequent claims arising from water damage
Costs of premature roof replacement
We are firmly convinced that if more facility managers would track and report these collateral damage expenses, they would have less resistance to getting the resources they need to establish a model roof maintenance and management program.
There is a false economic perspective that is pervasive in this area. It is not a question of will you spend the money; it is more of question of when, where and how you will spend the money on your roofs.
The good news is that is costs less to be proactive than reactive. And it does help to reduce the stress. And who among us could not benefit form a little budget savings and stress reduction? RSI
Bob Lyons is principal of Lyons / Waldron Consulting Group, LLC, and has served in the roofing industry for almost 30 years. He is the cofounder and 1 st Two-Term President of the Roof Consultants Institute (RCI). Lyons received the distinguished first Fellow of the Institute award. He has been a faculty member of the Roofing Industry Educational Institute (RIEI) for more than 15 years. In 1997, he was elected to the board of directors of the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM). Contact Lyons at 800-630-9578 or email him at lyonsrobertw@aol.com.
