When you picture an unhealthy building, you likely conjure up images of dilapidated buildings with broken windows and overgrown lawns. But the health of a building is often something not so easily spotted by the naked eye, and there are many structures that look pristine but may have fallen behind on critical building health and safety aspects.

An unhealthy building is in a state in which necessary fire-protection and life-safety systems have not been properly maintained—the facilities team might not even know the last time that they were serviced. This lack of documented, regular maintenance puts the building at risk of being in a situation where those fire and life-safety systems won’t operate as they were designed to, therefore compromising the building’s integrity and occupants’ safety in the event of a fire.

Reprinted courtesy of Shawn Mahoney, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.