Most of the time, as a facilities manager, the decisions you make will be discussed, reasoned, and decided by those that have more authority, or who own the facilities. The problem is, when things go wrong it falls on your shoulders. Can you afford to risk your career on decisions made by others, who don’t know all the facts. One career killer is in case of an emergency the back up systems don’t work. Who’s neck is on the line?

Therefore, when it comes to the decisions you have to make regarding the backup generator system, your word, and your recommendations need to carry a great deal more weight than ever. You know how important it is to have a backup system in place. Almost everything that we use today for business operates on electricity. From computers to life support systems, to production equipment and so much more, when we lose power, everything comes to a crawl or completely shuts down.

You may find that the facility your manage requires a generator, on average, once a year. You may lose power for a few hours or even days. While most businesses can shrug these losses off and get back to earning revenue relatively quickly, when you sell those businesses, or your supervisors, on them, it’s absolutely essential that they work.

Perhaps your facility relies on the backup generator for vital components. Refrigeration, computer servers, medical care, and so many other factors make having power at all times more important than almost any other facet of your operation.

You already know this. You understand it. But it can be a challenge to get those who make the ultimate decisions to understand this. For them, it’s often about saving money. But again, it’s your reputation and even your career on the line when that backup generator needs to work. The last thing you want is to have a system in place, with so many moving parts, with so many interconnected aspects, that isn’t maintained properly or that might not work when you need it to.

Think about a car that sits outside all year long, unused. Are you sure that it will turn over when you need it to just because you put a new battery in it? The natural elements, such as wind, rain, snow, ice, and everything else can impact these moving parts to the point of making them suspect for operation.

When your backup generator could be the lifeblood of your facility, you want a company in your corner that will maintain it and that has the experience to ensure that it will operate the way it should when you need it to. There are no second chances as a facilities manager. Make sure you won’t need one when it comes to backup power generation.