Fixes What Breaks
Leaks, heating faults, lights, locks. We get the right person there quickly and make sure it's done properly.
Facilities Management, Explained
Every commercial building needs looking after: heating, lighting, water, fire safety, security, cleaning. Facilities management means making sure all of it works, is safe and is legal, so the people inside can get on with their day. Here's what that involves, in plain English.
The Short Version
You run your business. We make sure the building behind it is safe, legal and working. Here's what that covers.
Services Things Before They Fail
Boilers, air conditioning, fire alarms and more are serviced on a schedule, like an MOT for your building.
Keeps The Building Legal
Every safety check the law requires is planned, booked and done on time by qualified people.
Manages The Trades
Finding, booking and checking plumbers, electricians and specialists, so you don't have to.
Keeps The Paperwork
Certificates, reports and photos are filed against your building, ready whenever someone asks.
Advises And Reports
What needs doing, what it costs, what can wait, and when it's cheaper to replace than repair.
What Is Compliance?
Commercial buildings come with legal duties. Things like fire alarms, electrics, gas, water systems and lifts must be checked and serviced at set intervals, by qualified people. Compliance means those checks happen on time, anything they find gets fixed, and you keep the certificates to prove it.
The main rules include the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Fire Safety Order, and specific regulations for electrics, gas, water hygiene and lifts. You don't need to know them by heart. That's our job.
Who's Responsible?
Usually whoever controls the building: the employer, the owner, the landlord or the managing agent. In shared buildings, the lease often splits it between landlord and tenants.
You can hand the work to a facilities manager, but the legal duty stays with you. That's why a clear plan and a complete set of records matter so much.
Why It Matters
People's Safety
Fire alarms, emergency lights, electrics, gas and water systems protect the people who use your building every day. When checks are missed, the risk is real.
It's The Law
Whoever controls a commercial building has legal duties to keep it safe. Enforcement can mean improvement notices, fines and, in serious cases, prosecution.
Insurance
Insurers expect proper maintenance and may ask for certificates after a claim. Missing checks can put a claim at risk.
Leases And Property Value
Leases set out who maintains what. Buyers, tenants and lenders ask for compliance records, and gaps can hold up a sale or letting.
The Checks, In Plain English
A typical list for an office or shop. Your building may need more or fewer, and its fire risk assessment and the qualified engineers who service it set the exact details.
| Check | What It Means | How Often (Typically) |
|---|---|---|
| Fire risk assessment | A review of fire risks and the measures in place to protect people | Keep under review; update after changes |
| Fire alarm | Tests that the alarm works and everyone can hear it | Tested weekly, serviced every 6 months |
| Emergency lighting | Lights that come on in a power cut to guide people out | Quick test monthly, full test yearly |
| Fire extinguishers | Checks they're in place, charged and in date | Visual check monthly, serviced yearly |
| Electrical wiring (EICR) | A full safety inspection of the building's fixed wiring | Usually every 5 years for offices and shops |
| Portable appliances (PAT) | Safety tests on plug-in equipment | Based on risk and how it's used |
| Gas safety | Boilers and gas appliances checked by a Gas Safe engineer | Yearly |
| Water hygiene (legionella) | Stopping harmful bacteria growing in water systems | Risk assessment kept up to date; regular checks |
| Air conditioning (F-Gas) | Leak checks on the refrigerant gas | Depends on system size; at least yearly for larger systems |
| Lifts (LOLER) | A thorough examination by a lift specialist | Usually every 6 months for passenger lifts |
General guidance only. For more detail, read our office compliance checklist.
How One Space Does It
We Find Out What Applies
We look at your building, its equipment and how it's used, and list every check it legally needs, and when.
We Build Your Plan
Every check and service goes into one calendar, so nothing relies on memory or a spreadsheet.
We Book It In
Before anything is due, we arrange a qualified engineer at a time that suits you.
We File The Proof
Certificates and reports go straight into One View, where you can find any of them in seconds.
We Fix What's Found
If a check finds a problem, we explain it in plain English, price the fix and sort it once you agree.
You Can Prove It
Insurer, landlord, buyer or inspector: you can show your building is compliant, any time.
Want all of this handled? SmartFix covers the plan, the reminders and the records for a monthly fee per site, and One Space FM takes on everything. Just need something fixed? Report a repair.
Jargon Buster
- Facilities Management (FM)
- Looking after a building and everything in it that people rely on (heating, lighting, water, fire safety, security, cleaning) so it's safe, legal and works properly. A facilities manager organises all of it for you.
- Compliance
- Doing the safety checks and servicing the law requires for a commercial building, on time, by qualified people, and keeping the certificates to prove it.
- Responsible Person / Duty Holder
- The person or company legally responsible for safety in a building, usually the employer, the landlord, the owner or whoever controls the premises. You can hand the work to a facilities manager, but the legal duty stays with you, which is why the records matter.
- Statutory (Legally Required)
- Required by law. A statutory check isn't optional or "best practice", it has to be done.
- Planned Maintenance (PPM)
- Servicing and checking equipment on a schedule, before it breaks. Like servicing a car, it's cheaper and less disruptive than waiting for a breakdown.
- Reactive Repairs
- Fixing things when they go wrong, such as a leak, a blown light or a broken lock. FIXD is our reactive repair service.
- M&E (Mechanical & Electrical)
- The working systems of a building: heating, air conditioning, ventilation, plumbing, electrics and lighting.
- H&S (Health & Safety)
- Keeping the people who use a building safe, from fire safety and first aid to safe access and hazards.
- Certificate
- The written record a qualified engineer gives you after a check or service. It's your proof the work was done, and insurers, landlords, buyers and inspectors may ask to see it.
- Competent Person
- Someone with the right training, qualifications and experience for a particular job, such as a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas work.
- EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report)
- A full safety inspection of a building's fixed wiring, sockets and fuse boards, usually every five years for offices and shops.
- PAT Testing
- Safety testing of plug-in electrical equipment, such as kettles, computers and extension leads.
- Legionella & Water Hygiene
- Legionella bacteria can grow in water systems and cause a serious lung infection. Water hygiene means assessing the risk and controlling it, for example with temperature checks and flushing little-used taps.
- Fire Risk Assessment
- A legally required review of fire risks in a building and what's in place to keep people safe, such as alarms, escape routes and fire doors. It should be kept up to date.
- Emergency Lighting
- Lights that switch on automatically in a power cut so people can find their way out. They're tested monthly and fully tested once a year.
- F-Gas
- The refrigerant gases in air conditioning and some fridges. Larger systems need regular leak checks by certified engineers.
- LOLER
- The rules for lifting equipment. Passenger lifts need a thorough examination by a specialist, usually every six months.
- Soft Services
- The everyday care that makes a building pleasant to use: cleaning, waste and recycling, washrooms, grounds and pest control.
- Asset
- Any piece of equipment in the building that needs looking after, such as a boiler, a lift, an air conditioning unit or a fire alarm panel.
- Service Charge
- In buildings with several tenants, the costs of running shared areas and services, which the landlord recovers from the tenants.
Not Sure Where You Stand?
Tell us about your building and we'll explain what checks apply, what's missing and what it would cost to put right, with no jargon and no obligation.