Blinds play a crucial role in maintaining functionality in a workspace and contribute to the comfort of everyone in the building. Due to the vital role of blinds, it's critical to stay up-to-date on their maintenance and keep them performing at their best. Maintenance is a lengthy task, and breaking down the jobs and knowing when to perform them can be confusing. The most effective way to ensure maintenance is carried out appropriately is to follow the SFG20 maintenance specification.
What is SFG20?
SFG20 is a recognised and industry-approved standard for planned maintenance, providing a clear framework for managing the maintenance of various building components. It lays out how and when maintenance should be conducted. Following the standard results in high-quality care and increases the longevity of assets, such as blinds.
Why should you follow SFG20 for blind maintenance?
Maintaining shading is critical as neglected blinds can become safety hazards, become less efficient and fail to meet standards. SFG20 is the optimal tool for blind maintenance as it will help you maintain multiple blind features, including:
Performance: Regular maintenance ensures blinds are in optimal working condition, keeping them functioning effectively and providing temperature and light control whilst maintaining privacy.
Safety: Broken blinds pose a severe risk to those around them, opposing regulation and leaving you in danger of receiving fines or harsher repercussions. Regular maintenance means that any issues with the blinds can be identified and resolved swiftly, rather than leaving the blinds to deteriorate and possibly break or fall.
Longevity: Again, any issues raised during a regular maintenance check will allow any problems to be solved immediately, which increases the life span of the blinds, saving money in the long term.
Energy efficiency: Malfunctioning blinds compromise the efficiency of buildings, and many regulations emphasise the importance of energy efficiency. Heat and light management through optimising shading is imperative and can benefit you long-term by reducing energy bills.
How to implement SFG20 standards
Though you can attempt maintenance on your blinds, the best long-term option is to refer to experts in the field. Labetts’ Gold and Platinum maintenance packages follow the SFG20 meaning thoroughly and ensure that with our maintenance regimes, blinds perform at their highest standard.
The Gold maintenance plan includes receiving a blind-by-blind report (within 48 hours) on the condition of each shading asset, which enables you to view what checks have been completed on each blind. A summary report for a simple breakdown of tasks carried out and the recommended next actions is also issued, alongside a quotation for remedial works if applicable. Any minor repairs and replacement parts required during maintenance are included in the planned preventative maintenance price, as laid out within the PPM proposal. With this package, you will receive two planned visits per blind per year and any call-outs required will be attended to by a blind technician within two weeks, at ‘in contract prices’.
The Platinum package builds on the benefits of the Gold package to give you the ideal maintenance bundle. In addition to the Gold benefits, all replacement parts and blinds are included in the Platinum package! The Platinum package also offers a faster timescale, with callouts attended within 24 hours, free of charge, giving you the confidence that our technicians are right on hand should your blinds fail.
Regular maintenance is crucial for the upkeep of your blinds, and by including Labetts and the SFG20 standards in your maintenance routines, you can be confident in the condition of your blinds. Remember, well-maintained blinds not only last longer and enhance your space's aesthetic but are also a hugely important tool in reducing carbon and saving energy through the reduced requirement of heating and lighting.
If you want to learn more about the SFG20 conforming services that Labetts provide, please don’t hesitate to contact our team.