Property Owners. risk management bulletin

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1 Property Owners risk management bulletin

2 Welcome to the property owners edition of our risk management bulletin Are you interested in risk management? Have a look at our other risk management bulletins Seasonal Editions Spring Summer Autumn Winter Sector Editions Motor Trade Construction Our property owners risk management bulletin has been designed to help you increase your risk management awareness to protect you and your business. This edition focuses on some simple risk assessment advice specifically for property owners, see how equipped you are and understand how well prepared your business is to face challenges. Helping to protect your business can be done in just a few easy steps and we re here to help you. We d love to know what you think of this risk management bulletin and what topics you d like to see covered in the future. Just us at riskadvice@aviva.co.uk

3 Composite / Insulated Sandwich Panels Over the last 2 decades the use of composite panels, also known as sandwich or insulating panels, has increased due to a range of factors, such as their insulating properties and architectural characteristics. Composite panels are building products comprising two, generally metal, faces sandwiching a core of insulating material. These panels don t start fires, but when involved, they ve been implicated in its spread. Understanding the types of panels used in your property is essential in ensuring that your fire risk assessment adequately considers any additional risks that might have been created and in implementing appropriate fire risk management, prevention and containment measures.

4 Welcome Escape of Water Water damage is one of the most common sources of property insurance claims for owners of office buildings, hotels, retail premises and other commercial buildings including blocks of flats. In the UK, burst pipes and leaks cost insurers and property owners over 860 million a year*, but the cost and disruption to businesses after a major escape of water incident, is far greater than this figure suggests. Reducing the risk of damage to your property such as fixtures and fittings, contents, machinery and equipment and IT systems will avoid interruption to your business. *Association of British Insurers

5 Electronic Gates You have to ensure that any electronic gates on your premises are safe. There are several safety issues from someone being trapped or even crushed. It s important to have the right gates installed at your property from design manufacture and installation to maintenance.

6 Flood For businesses, flooding can not only cause serious damage to your property, contents, production and ability to trade, it may also impact on your employees, as well as deliveries that may need to travel through flood affected areas to reach you. Equally, if not more importantly, it will affect your ability to supply your customers. Not only can you suffer the trauma of seeing your business assets damaged and lost, your business turnover may not recover to pre loss levels for many months, if not years. Indeed, some businesses fail to recover at all. While it may not always be possible to eliminate the risk of flooding altogether, many practical steps can be taken to reduce the risk of flood damage and assist with recovery times. composite panels escape of water electronic gates flood kitchen extraction solar panels unoccupied properties

7 Kitchen Extraction 25% of all commercial fires are kitchen-related*. Most of these occurring within the extraction ducting, suggesting that poor duct cleaning was a significant factor to fires. A fire risk assessment should be completed to understand the hazards posed by the presence of a commercial kitchen, to ensure that appropriate controls and procedures are in place. *Association of British Insurers

8 Solar Panels There have been a number of reported fires involving PV solar panels, mainly in Germany and North America where the majority of these panels have been installed. A number of fires have been caused as a result of poor PV panel installation, using incorrectly specified equipment, faulty equipment, panel faults or electrical system failures.

9 Unoccupied Property From arsonists to thieves, vacant properties can attract a lot of unwanted attention. It s important for companies to ensure that their unoccupied properties don t look like an attractive target to would-be criminals. There are a variety of problems that can affect empty buildings from vandalism to squatters and fly-tipping to arson. Unoccupancy risks can affect both residential and commercial property owners.

10 We hope that following this advice will put you in a position to face risks to your business. However, if you would like more information or assistance with any of these issues, visit Aviva Risk Management Solutions or contact us at riskadvice@aviva.co.uk Please also visit our knowledge store which contains over 200 useful risk management fact sheets on a range of subjects to support your business. Aviva Insurance Limited. Registered in Scotland No Registered Office: Pitheavlis, Perth PH2 0NH. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.