Dealing With Floor Dilapidation Works-Advice for Tenants & Landlords

Dilapidation work is an important consideration for both tenants coming to the end of a lease agreement and landlords preparing to re-market a commercial or industrial building - as for both it can result in costs, prolonged labour, operational downtime and potentially unforeseen expenditure.

The focus of dilapidation works might be different for each party – as the tenant is looking to avoid breaching the terms of their contract and the landlord wants to quickly return the property to an as-new state so that it is ready for market as soon as possible.

However the floor of the premises is often an area of concern – as it is invariably the part of the building that has weathered the most use and abuse. The floor finish of an industrial site such as a warehouse or factory will have been exposed to impacts from heavy equipment, spillages of corrosive oils, liquids, greases and worse.

And as tenants become increasingly aware of the importance of having a good quality floor surface, it places more emphasis on the landlord to ensure that this area of the site is prepared for the new tenant’s potential workload or they will risk losing clients who don’t want to take a chance on a floor liable to fail and cost them money.

In particular, tenants will be looking for a hard floor that is designed to withstand the impending loads, especially from racking and fork lift trucks. It is also important to ensure that dusting will not take place and that any existing floor cracks are examined and fixed prior to the application of a floor coating.

This combination of factors calls for a refurbishment solution that can minimise costs, cope with the on-site conditions, allow for a rapid return to service and also provide a long lasting, functional finish.

To achieve these criteria, sites undergoing dilapidation work can make use of epoxy resin coatings such as Flowcoat SF41. The robust nature of this system means that it can provide a reliable surface within large-scale manufacturing environments for an extended period of time.

Flowcoat SF41 has a proven track record of use in high-end industrial and warehouse facilities around the world, including at Bentley Motors production headquarters in Crewe,Ryanair Airlines’ hangar in Prestwick, John Lewis’ UK warehouse and Iveco’s vast plant in Pretoria.

The ability to customise a Flowcoat SF41 finish means that it will not only revitalise the floor surface but it can also add valuable benefits to the site that will make the facility stand out to prospective tenants.

For example the slip resistance of this FeRFA Type 3 rated resin floor can be tailored to match the needs of a site. This is achieved by varying the quantity and size of the silica sand aggregates that are incorporated into the resin material to provide extra traction underfoot precisely where it is required.

Landlords looking for the ultimate in durability can utilise solutions such as Flowshield SL. The exceptionally hard wearing nature of this self smoothing epoxy resin floor finish is ideal for landlords who want to reduce the frequency of upgrade works as much as possible, as its dependable, colourful and multi-functional finish is suitable for even the most heavy-duty industrial environments.

This solution has been utilised by high-end UK manufacturers such as Rolls Royce, for whom it was important to have materials that maintained an aesthetically attractive and hygienic environment despite the site’s intensive activity.

Landlords and tenants can take advantage of the life cycle cost savings of resin floor solutions to minimise maintenance and refurbishment costs in the future. Thanks to the long lasting nature of systems such as Flowcoat SF41 and Flowshield SL, the initial outlay can be divided into many years of reliable service, meaning that costs are reduced over the long term when compared to cheaper but more failure prone alternatives.

If you are a tenant or landlord undertaking a floor dilapidation works project and would like to talk to one of Flowcrete UK’s resin flooring experts about the ideal system for your facility then please ring 01270 753000 or head to Flowcrete UK’s website to find your local representative.