Requests for Vacant Property Checks, designed originally for buildings left empty long-term, are seeing a sudden increase in interest from clients looking to meet their contractual and practical responsibilities during lockdown.
Even if your property is left unattended for just a week, issues can occur, which can have long lasting and damaging effects.
Allowing water to stagnate in pipework and water systems is one of the main ways legionella bacteria can grow. Legionella is common in all forms of water, but if it builds-up to dangerous levels and contaminated airborne water particles are inhaled, then it can lead to the contraction of Legionnaires Disease, which can be fatal.
Some building contracts call out the prevention of legionella explicitly, so it is important to demonstrate that you are taking the correct precautions.
As part of our Vacant Property Checks, our officers can come in weekly to flush loos and run taps and showers to help stop the growth and spread of the bacteria until the property is in use again. If insurers ask for proof that you have been taking the right measures to control legionella, our reports showing evidence that these tasks have been completed can be easily accessed through your online account.
Empty properties are more vulnerable to vandalism and intrusion, signs of which might not be visible from outside your property.
Our patrol officers are experienced in spotting initial patterns of intrusion over time. They can alert you to the attempt immediately via real time incident reporting with photos so precautions can be put in place to stop it from happening again.
Some building contracts call out the prevention of legionella build-up explicitly, so it is important to demonstrate that you are taking the correct precautions.
Where a property is not maintained properly, longer lasting damage can occur, such as leaking pipes that could damage goods and eventually cause flooding. Alarms could become faulty which is a security risk. It is important that these issues are picked up on and dealt with as quickly as possible.
Our patrol officers will handle urgent matters and email detailed follow-up reports with photos and task notes so you can be kept up to date from afar. These reports are also useful to have on file to show insurance companies evidence that regular checks have been taking place.
In the absence of being able to access properties regularly, many of our clients are understandably struggling to keep up with building admin.
As part of our internal checks, we can take gas, electric and water meter readings, sending clear photos so you don’t fall behind. We can also provide access to engineers, contractors and cleaners so work can continue as lockdown measures evolve.
Vacant Property Checks are designed to be flexible, so customers can choose from over 20 different tasks and scale them up and down as appropriate.
Find out more about our Vacant Property Checks, get a quote for a new property, or book your first check easily via your online account.
