Your building's parking garage is usually the first impression to tenants and guests. Your building's focus is on tenant relations and the spot occupied by those tenants. It's easy to overlook parking structures and focus solely on parking availability.

If the management and maintenance of your building's parking garage are outsourced to a professional parking operator, you should regularly walk through the parking garage with the parking operator to ensure that your tenants and guests' first impression of your building is a positive one. Follow these tips, according to buildings.com, to determine if your parking operator is taking the necessary steps to run a safe, efficient parking facility.

• Review parking-management agreement. The agreement should define which expenses are to be reimbursed to the parking operator. The agreement should call for the operator to submit an annual budget, usually three months prior to the beginning of the fiscal year.
• Housekeeping. A basic inspection of the parking facility should be done on a routine basis. Look for litter; check for excessive oil spots, full trash cans and odors.
• Lighting. Lighting influences the perception of the building's safety and security.
• Drain water and sprinkler systems. The garage may have fire sprinkler systems and drain water lines that need to be checked for signs of leakage, which could cause damage to vehicles and the building.
• Ceiling insulation. Some garages have insulation applied to the ceiling. Check that the material is in good condition and secured to the structure.

Garbage room. This area is where the garbage shoots drop to the bins. Ensure fire doors are in good working order, the room is kept clean and doors are not blocked or left open.

Parking garages are easy to overlook, but they're often the first and last parts of the facility that tenants and guests are exposed to. They should be closely monitored and regularly checked by building management.

For information on property inspections, click here.