September 22, 2003—Grubb & Ellis Management Services, with 181 million square feet of property under management, advises building managers and owners to take the time to make an assessment of the damage and determine if the building has suffered any structural damage prior to letting anyone other than emergency personnel into the facility.
The company also reminds building owners and tenants that some basic precautions and common sense should be exercised to ensure the safety of employees, including avoiding downed power lines, electrical equipment affected by flood waters, and gas leaks. Gas, electrical and other utilities should be shut off, if necessary and only if shutoff values are safely accessible from outside the building.
As much of the eastern U.S. learned with August’s massive blackout, wide spread power outages put everyone’s property emergency response plans to the test. Since most areas affected by Isabel will most likely experience power outages, Paulson said it’s important to remember that problems can occur as power is restored to a building.
“A predetermined protocol should be in place at each property to reduce power load once power is restored to avoid another blackout or possible damage to equipment,” he said. He added that it may be necessary to determine with the local utility provider whether power conservation measures should be implemented after power is restored, such as shutting down nonessential lighting or curtailing elevator and HVAC service.
Once power has been restored, the building owner or manager should fully assess whether building systems are functioning as designed prior to reoccupying the building. This includes elevators, lighting, HVAC and security systems.
In addition to assessing the potential damage in the wake of Isabel, Paulson recommends that property managers and owners assess the effectiveness of their emergency response plans and critique their performance after the emergency.
“Every emergency, large or small, provides valuable, real life lessons that can be used to enhance our emergency response efforts. We constantly revisit and revise our emergency plans after major events like Sept. 11th, the recent power outage and other emergencies so that we can be better prepared,” he said.
For more information, contact Grubb & Ellis.
