Scissor lift in a warehouse working on the exterior of a mezzanine office.

Moving Offices? Plan Your Make Good Early

Posted by Chas on

There are a lot of reasons a business may decide to relocate. Business relocations happen all the time. Sometimes a business grows and needs a bigger premises. Sometimes a commercial lease is set to renew and the business doesn’t like the terms or has found something better. Sometimes a business gets smaller or has more people working offsite, requiring a smaller office. Sometimes business needs change and the old office isn’t fit for purpose anymore due to location or facility features. There are many reasons why a business may move.

Regardless of your business’ need for moving, there’s a lot that needs to happen both at the old office and the new one. One of the things that has to happen at the old office is the make good.

What Is An End Of Lease Make Good?

An end of lease make good is the process of getting a commercial building back to its original state.

Unlike a residential lease, where tenants don’t make many changes to the property, in a commercial lease, it’s expected that the tenant will have a full commercial fit-out down. Often a commercial building is given to a tenant as an empty shell; it’s up to the tenant to install their own signage, carpeting, painting, partitions, and more. While this varies from tenancy to tenancy, it’s always expected that a tenant will make some alterations to a building.

A make good is the process of removing the alterations that a tenant has made, returning the building back to how it was at the beginning of a lease.

Are All Make Goods The Same?

No, every make good is different. What happens at a make good will depend on what is in the commercial lease contract and what’s been agreed upon between the commercial landlord and the tenant. As mentioned, in many cases, the tenant is leased an empty building and they’re then expected to return it back to how it was. However, in some cases, the building may have existing fixtures or upgrades such as carpeting, and because of that, these things aren’t expected to be removed. In other circumstances, the tenant may have upgraded the premises in some way and the landlord will agree that they can and should remain.

The exact nature of a make good and what’s included will often be negotiated with the landlord. From there, commercial builders like A1 Precision Solutions can come in to complete the work that’s been agreed upon. We can then work with both the tenant and the landlord to ensure the work has been done to a high enough standard.

When Should A Make Good Be Organised?

If your business is planning on moving, speak with us as soon as possible to start talking about your make good. Depending on the size of the make good, the time it will take can vary. Having this information will help when working with your landlord to ensure you get your business out in a timely manner and avoid any penalties. We can also help plan the make good in conjunction with the relocation so that the whole process goes smoothly.

Custom fabricated steel security gate in a warehouse filled with pallet racking.

Pallet Racking Safety Tips For The New Year

Posted by Chas on

With the new year commencing, it’s often a good idea to take a look at a business, see how it’s operating, see what worked last year, and what can be improved. The new year is an opportunity for a fresh start and a good time to make changes that may be needed.

It’s also a great time to look at your warehouse storage and make sure it’s as safe as cane be. Pallet racking is an important part of a business, but if it’s not set up and maintained properly, can also be a dangerous part of a business. Here’s how to start the new year safely when it comes to your racking.

When Was Your Last Pallet Racking Inspection?

By law, all pallet racking needs to be inspected by a competent person every 12 months. Pallet racking inspections are extremely important to ensure the ongoing safety of of the racking and to make sure any damage or wear and tear is repaired quickly.

The new year is a good time to check that your pallet racking is compliant and to book in your next racking inspection, even if it’s awhile away. That way you won’t forget when the time comes.

A pallet racking inspections thoroughly goes over a warehouse’s pallet racking looking for damage, signs or corrosion, over loading, and more. From there, a plan can be made to repair any damage in order to make it safe again. Once the damage is rectified, the pallet racking is certified for another year. It’s a basic first step to ensuring safety around pallet racking.

Check The Pallet Racking Yourself As Well

Even if you don’t have a yearly inspection coming up, checking the pallet racking yourself for signs of damage is important. As people get tired towards the end of the year, they can start to cut corners and make mistakes. This can lead to accidents both large and small, with the smaller ones sometimes going unreported. A small dent in racking or slight overloading may have gone overlooked just before Christmas, so check everything at the start of the year to make sure your pallet racking is as it should be.

Often times correcting problems or repairing damage early is faster and less expensive than waiting until it’s an emergency. So get things done early.

What Else Was Forgotten Last Year?

With that in mind, as the year ends, it’s easy to think “let’s just leave it until after the break.” This is normal and usually fine, so long as you and the team actually do the task after you’re back! Whether it’s something to do with the pallet racking, like a minor repair, or some other non-urgent warehouse task, be sure to prioritise it now that the team are back at work.

What might have been a small issue before Christmas can quickly turn into a large issue, and a safety risk, if it’s not attended to.

Consider If Something Needs To Be Replaced Or Updated

Again, this may not be just about pallet racking, but consider if equipment needs to be replaced or updated due to business operations or safety reasons. As business needs change, the equipment and pallet racking being used can change. And, if these things aren’t being used as intended, at best your warehouse isn’t as optimal as possible, and at worst it’s dangerous.

For example, a business may be fine operating with selective pallet racking but, as it grows, may benefit from something slightly denser like double deep pallet racking. Although the update may be costly, it could introduce a number of efficiencies into the business that will save money in the long term.

If You Need Help, Get In Touch

If you need a hand with your pallet racking and warehouse safety, get in touch with us right away. We’re happy to to speak about what your business and warehouse needs and suggest the best course of action.

Person welding together two large I beams.

Why Australian Made Is Important

Posted by Chas on

We’ll start this post by admitting we’re pretty biased in our opinion here. After all, we are an Australian commercial construction company. So naturally we’re going to prefer Australian businesses and Australian made products. We get it though, when we have a choice of what to use for building supplies, using foreign made materials can be tempting; but we’re not willing to compromise quality just to save a few dollars, so we’re always careful when sourcing materials.

So why, exactly, is buying Australian made important and why is it in a customer’s best interest to support Australian businesses? Let’s explore.

It Helps Create Australian Jobs

The most obvious and often sited reason for going Australian made is that it help create and encourage Australian jobs. More Australian jobs means a better Australian economy and that’s better for all businesses. For us, if we support Australian businesses, we find that it comes around and helps our business as well. It’s as simple as that!

You Have Quality Guarantees With Australian Made Products

A big advantage to buying local is that you have some pretty good assurances of quality. That’s not to say that a product will be good just because it’s Australian, but if the quality of an Australian product is lacking, it’s easier to follow up with the company that made it. If you’re not satisfied after that, Australian consumer law will likely be on your side.

Take pallet racking, for example. We supply and install a variety of both new and used pallet racking brands, but we often recommend Australian made Colby pallet racking. For warehouse mezzanines, we often use Colby products or Australian made steel. We also custom fabricate anything else we need in our own Australian based factory. What this means for our customers is that we’re easily contactable if there’s a problem with any of our work or with something we supply. We’re located in Dingley Village and work with clients across Victoria. Customers know who we are and we can fix a product if a mistake is made. It doesn’t often happen, but it does give customers peace of mind.

Australian Products Also Adhere To Australian Standards

Staying with pallet racking, it’s important that any racking installed at a business in Australia adheres to relevant Australia Standards like AS4084. As an Australian based company, we know AS4084 and other standards well and can guarantee and certify that anything we build and install adheres to the relevant standard. If it doesn’t, it’s on us to fix. If, for example, a business orders pallet racking from an overseas supplier that only says that the racking adheres to standards, there’s little recourse if it turns out that it doesn’t.

Adherence to the right Australian Standards is the same for everything else we build or custom fabricate, whether it’s a mezzanine for an office, custom fabricated racking, or anything else. And you just can’t get that sort of guarantee with something made overseas.

 

Pallet Racking Installation

Can You Install Your Own Pallet Racking?

Posted by Chas on

Here at A1 Precision Solutions, we both supply and install pallet racking. We understand that for many businesses, pallet racking can be a significant expense. Because of this, a lot of businesses look to save money where they can when it comes to their racking. For some this may mean buying used pallet racking. Used pallet racking can be a good option for businesses on a budget, although it can sometimes limit what’s available when it comes to warehouse storage.

Other businesses often look to install their pallet racking themselves, and we often get the question “can we do this?”

The short answer is yes, you can install your own pallet racking. However, there’s a “but” to consider.

Although installing pallet racking isn’t a difficult job, there are a few challenges that businesses may face in the installation process. Firstly, making sure the business has the right tools to install the racking. This may not be a challenge for some businesses, but for others, they may not have the right equipment to properly secure the pallet racking to concrete floors (for example). For smaller racking set ups, self installation may not be a problem, but as warehouses get bigger, more pallet racking is required, and often higher pallet racking. Installing something like this requires special equipment like scissor lifts and safety concerns about working at height, something a business may not be able to do.

The True Limitations Of Installing Your Own Pallet Racking

Even if a business has the required equipment to install pallet racking themselves, the true limitations in the self installation may not be immediately obvious.

Firstly, a business needs to consider how good a job its own team will do at installing pallet racking themselves. A business may have top notch warehouse staff, but how much pallet racking installation experience do they have? Pallet racking installation isn’t a complex job, but like anything, experience helps. Workers with lack of experience may take longer and make small mistakes that need to be corrected in the future. Additionally, while workers are erecting pallet racking, they’re not doing other tasks required to keep a business operating, so in a lot of ways, a business owner is paying for workers time to put up the pallet racking and then paying them again to catch up on their regular duties. The savings can quickly go away.

However, the biggest issue when it comes to pallet racking self installation is ensuring it’s certified for safety in line with relevant Australian Standards, notably AS4048:2023. Not only does AS4048:2023 say that a pallet racking inspection needs to happen at least once a year, it also needs to be certified as safe once it’s put up. If a company puts pallet racking up themselves, how is it supposed to be certified? Many companies won’t certify pallet racking if they know nothing about the installation itself, making it cost more time and money finding a company that will. With that in mind, if a business installs pallet racking themselves without completely understanding the Australian Standards, they may make mistakes that need to be fixed or rectified before the pallet racking can be certified; again, costing more time and money.

Get Your Pallet Racking Professionally Installed

Although it’s certainly possible for a business to install pallet racking itself, it’s usually not the best idea to do so. There may be some initial money savings, at least on paper, but those savings can quickly go away when you consider taking staff away from their other duties and their experience. At best, the pallet racking will be installed properly, but getting it certified may be difficult. At worst, the pallet racking won’t have been installed correctly, which will require even more time and money to get it fixed.

If you need help with your pallet racking installation, contact us today.

A good looking office fit-out.

Is It Time For An Office Refurb?

Posted by Chas on

Regardless of what your business does, it’s important to have a good office. An office needs to be comfortable for employees and look professional for when clients come in. Because of that, an office can’t just be a big room full of desks; it needs a professional office fit-out in order to look good and be presentable.

That being said, even the best office fit-out can become dated or worn out after 10 years or so. Styles and fashions change over time, which may make a modern office space look old. With that in mind, high use areas of the office like entrances, receptions, break areas, and toilets can quickly suffer from wear and tear issues that need repair or replacements.

These issues are often a slow process and difficult to notice. Because of this, business owners, facilities managers, and employees often don’t see a problem with their office fit-out until things get quite bad. When this happens, it’s often easy to jump straight to wanting a full office fit-out. While this can be a good idea, it can be an option that has businesses put off the work because of the expense and the time it will take.

An option that doesn’t go quite as far as a full fit-out is an office refurbishment or upgrade. The scope of a refurbishment (or refurb for short) completely depends on what’s needed/wanted, a business’ budget, and project timelines. An office refurb can be used to buy time until a larger fit-out is done, or simply to update and office and fix some worn out items.

The scope of an office refurbishment can vary depending on what’s needed, and sometimes this scope is narrowed to only a few things. That’s fine; whatever it takes to create a more modern and comfortable office for everyone.

What Parts Of An Office Should Be Part Of A  Refurbishment?

What parts of an office should be part of a refurbishment really depends on what’s needed: what needs to be modernised or what has worn out? We have some ideas for more common areas that often need a refurbishment.

New paint throughout the office can go a long way. Fresh paint can brighten an office and, with a different shade of colour, can really make an area feel brand new. This can be combined with new carpeting to create an even more dramatic change in the office. It’s simple, but it’s also a big change that will make the office feel new again for everyone.

Kitchen and break areas are another good area for refurbishment. These areas are often high traffic, so suffer from earlier wear and tear than other areas of an office. In addition to this, although employees usually spend most of their day at their desks, having a good break area is often more important to them. So having a clean a modern kitchen area with a great place to take a break is a good choice if you’re looking for an update.

Bathroom and toilet areas are similar to break areas in that they’re high traffic and that they’re another area where people care that they’re modern and clean. A bathroom update can go a long way in keeping employees happy.

Breakout and meeting areas are another great candidate for a refurbishment. Since these are communal areas, more people will get a benefit out of them. These also have the added benefit of being areas that clients will often see when visiting an office, making your business look tidier and more professional.

Talk To Us About Your Office Refurbishment

If you think your office needs a bit of an upgrade, get in touch with us today. Even if you’re not sure where to start, we’re here to help you plan your project.

Double storey mezzanine with pallet racking and shelving.

All About Custom Designed Warehouse Mezzanines

Posted by Chas on

A warehouse mezzanine can serve a lot of purposes and, depending on its purpose will be designed in different ways. Because of this, clients often wonder if a warehouse mezzanine can be custom designed to fit specific purposes.

The short answer is, yes, we can custom design and build a mezzanine based on the specific needs of a business. Basically speaking, if you can think of it, we can design and build it.

That being said, we have a number of different ways to build warehouse mezzanines depending on different business needs, and often times when a business thinks they need a completely custom option, it’s often not needed.

What Is A Custom Designed Warehouse Mezzanine?

Firstly, let’s look at what exactly a custom mezzanine is. Since different business have different warehouse layouts and different needs, it’s natural to think that every mezzanine needs to be custom designed and built, but that’s usually not the case. Sure, most mezzanines are fairly unique, but we wouldn’t call them custom either in design or build.

Instead, many of the warehouse mezzanines we build for customers are modular in design. This means that, for most business needs, we don’t need to create anything unique for a business. Instead, an existing design can be adapted to suit the needs of a business. Different modular options can be configured for different set ups and different needs including longer spans, having pallet racking supporting the mezzanine, and more.

Of course some mezzanine situations require something a little more “out of the box” and, as the need becomes more unusual, more modifications can be made until it becomes a truly custom job.

Completely Custom Warehouse Mezzanines

Even with modular mezzanines, some aspects still need to be customised. This may included customised supports for very long spans, custom fabricated staircases for unusual layouts, and more.

For customers who need a fully customised mezzanine design, however, it’s important that the mezzanine is strong and safe to use. Because of this, we here at A1 Precision Solutions not only build warehouse mezzanines, but we’re also able to handle the full design of the mezzanine including the engineering aspects of the project. All of this will ensure that the mezzanine being built complies with relevant Australian standards and, more importantly, warehouse safety expectations.

Talk To Us About Your Mezzanine Needs

It can be difficult to figure out whether you need a completely custom warehouse mezzanine or whether a more modular design would be sufficient. After all, you’re probably not aware of the various different options that are available. If you’re in need of a warehouse mezzanine, speak to us about your specific situation. We’re happy to find out what you need the mezzanine for, what your current warehouse situation is like, and more, in order to find a warehouse storage solution to suit your needs.