Older buildings carry history, character, and risk. Surprises hide in walls, ceilings, and contracts. A good renovation starts before the first hammer swing. Facility management plays a key role in reducing uncertainty, protect people, and control costs.
1. Verify the building story and prioritize sampling
Pull deeds, age, prior permits, and any old environmental reports. Note original materials and later additions. Walk the site with facilities, security, and an industrial hygienist, and flag suspect materials, such as floor tiles, joint compound, and pipe insulation.
Plan destructive probes in tight zones first. Document photos and locations, and confirm the chain of custody for samples. Consult an environmental consultant and an asbestos lawyer on obligations, notices, and contract wording. Be sure to put a red line through scopes that skip testing. Do not start demolition until testing is complete.
2. Lock compliance, insurance, and contract language
List every permit you will need, including building, fire, elevator, sidewalk, and waste transport. Confirm who files each one and the target dates. In addition, you should review certificates of insurance, limits, and additional insureds. Be sure to add language for hazardous materials, stop work, and change order triggers. Require licensed abatement where needed, and define how you will protect adjacent tenants and public areas.
You should also align with HR on worker training and fit testing. Set escalation paths by name, and keep a one-page compliance map that travels with the foreman and project manager.
3. Source the right team with a tight request for proposal (RFP)
Only invite firms with relevant licenses and hospital or occupied-building experience. Ask for a site-specific plan, not boilerplate, and request a critical path schedule with hold points for inspections and air clearance. Add line items for soft protection, negative air machines, and after-hours work.
Be sure to separate unit prices for unforeseen conditions, such as chase discoveries. Request safety statistics, supervision ratios, and emergency contacts. Score bids on value, not price alone. You can also hold a pre-award meeting to resolve assumptions.
4. Design controls that work in a live building
Define containment shapes, entry points, and worker routes. Isolate the HVAC system serving the work zone. Be sure to verify pressure differentials daily and log readings. Protect shafts, sprinklers, detectors, and egress paths.
Label waste drums and secure holding areas. Establish a rapid stop protocol for odor or dust complaints. Brief reception, security, and janitorial teams, and post simple signs that say what is happening, where to go, and who to call.
5. Budget, schedule, and handover without drama
Always build in extra time for permit reviews. Check the timelines with the relevant authority and expect slower processing during holidays or peak seasons. Include buffer time for completeness checks and possible resubmittals. Arrange a pre-submittal meeting and send early drawings for informal feedback. Track review periods by discipline and maintain direct contact with each reviewer.
Protect the project’s critical path by not linking mobilization to the best-case approval. Insert hold points before procurement and demolition, and keep alternate tasks queued while you wait for approvals. Hold weekly check-ins with the design and permitting teams, and log all comments, dates, and promised responses. If delays consume the buffer, escalate early and adjust scope or sequencing as needed.
Endnote
Renovating older properties is risk management first, construction second. Checklists make blind spots visible and fixable. Test early, write clear scopes, and hire teams that value safety and schedule. When the groundwork is solid, work flows, budgets hold, and people stay safe. This is how facility managers turn historic buildings into reliable assets without stress.
