If you’re a business or property owner there are some key rules in place to protect you, the public and your tenants. Ignoring these important guidelines could mean facing a heavy fine or worse, putting you and your clients in danger. Here, we look at some key responsibilities property owners need to know.
If you’re a business or property owner there are some key rules in place to protect you, the public and your tenants. Ignoring these important guidelines could mean facing a heavy fine or worse, putting you and your clients in danger. Here, we look at some key responsibilities property owners need to know.
Staying Safe
If you own office or industrial space, you’ll be aware that it comes down to you to protect the public and employees from accidents. Failing to do so can, of course, lead to expensive insurance cases and litigation. How can you prevent accidents from happening in the first place?
The answer is regular, systemic inspections of your property. Make it a habit you carry out on a weekly or monthly basis, more often if you have a more hazardous environment, such as an industrial unit.
Once you find something that looks like it may lead to an accident, take action immediately. Don’t wait for someone else to deal with it or hope for the best. Taking care of the problem immediately will give you greater peace of mind knowing that it’s not an accident waiting to happen. Tomas Dupre, a Business Manager at 1day2write and Writemyx said: “While there are always risks when it comes to owning a property, there are measures you should take to make sure these risks are kept to a minimum. Being vigilant and paying attention to detail will help reduce the worry of anything serious happening”.
If for whatever reason the issue cannot be fixed, then make sure the hazard is highlighted adequately to warn visitors. Make it bold and bright and impossible not to see.
Remember too that accidents can occur outside the immediate property, for example if a walkway to your entrance is covered in ice. Have someone made responsible for clearing ice and snow in winter weather.
Keeping Things Fair
There are other, less tangible but equally as important responsibilities that business and property owners must adhere to. One such regulation is to actively follow anti-discrimination laws.
In short, this means that when interviewing potential tenants for an apartment or to rent workspace you must not discriminate on grounds of disability, color, race, gender, religion or family status (having young children for example). Your decision must be fair and based on a set of principles applicable to all applicants such as credit history, references, and so on.
“Laws on anti-discrimination vary from state to state, so make sure you’re fully up to speed on what is required of you as a business owner. They are in place to protect all parties and make the whole system fair, so be proactive about how you carry out interviews for your property or business space”, says Lisa Ferguson, a Legal Writer at Originwritings.
Don’t Skip the Details
It might be tempting to skip going through reams of paperwork to save both time and money but setting out everything in a legally binding agreement protects both you and your tenant. Make sure the tenant and you go through the agreement together and understand any waivers and areas of liability.
Disputes are far less likely to occur when both parties are fully aware of their responsibilities.
Have a lawyer look over any agreement you have drawn up to make sure it meets legal standards and give some time for your tenant to do the same.
Finally, whether you are a business owner or landlord you must ensure that your building regulations are up to date.
If you’ve been meaning to check that smoke detector for a couple of months or make sure the fire door is functioning properly, don’t delay any longer. There’s never a better time to ensure everyone’s safety than right now.
There are other maintenance jobs to be done too. Making sure that carbon monoxide detectors are in place, keeping common areas clean and tidy, removing litter, and keeping gutters free of leaves and debris.
Whatever business you run, whether a property or business owner, just a few simple tips can help make sure you don’t expose yourself to expensive litigation and safety issues. It’s your property and your responsibility to keep yourself, your tenants, and your community safe.
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