← Back to Blog · December 2025 · Seasonal
By Adan Miranda, CPMM · The Woodlands Facilities Group · The Woodlands, TX
December is a complicated month for facility managers. Holiday programming means the building is in heavy use at the same moment everyone's attention is elsewhere. That's exactly when deferred items become problems. These are the checks I recommend getting done before January.
Fire extinguisher annual inspections are due for many organizations at year-end. Exit signs and emergency lighting need to be tested. The bulbs fail silently and you won't know until someone checks. If your building has a monitored fire alarm or sprinkler system, confirm the annual inspection is current. These are the items that cause liability exposure if they're missed, and they're easy to overlook when December programming is consuming everyone's schedule.
The Woodlands doesn't get a true winter, but it gets enough cold snaps to matter. Change HVAC filters now if they haven't been changed in the past 60 days. If your system has heating capability that you haven't tested since last winter, test it before you need it. A furnace that fails during a December event is an urgent problem at the worst possible time.
February 2021 affected commercial buildings as badly as it affected homes. Shut off and drain irrigation systems now if you haven't already. Insulate exposed pipe runs in unconditioned spaces like storage rooms, garages, and mechanical closets. Know where your building's main water shutoff is and make sure it works. For churches, the person who holds that knowledge often doesn't put it anywhere that survives a staff change.
If you haven't had a post-storm roof inspection this year, December is the time to do it before winter weather adds any load. Check gutters and downspouts. They fill with fall debris and can back up under shingles when winter rains come. Walk the parking lot and look at caulking around exterior doors, windows, and any penetrations. Gaps that were small in October get worse through a winter of rain and temperature cycling.
December is the right time to write down everything the building told you this year: what broke, what was repaired, what was patched but probably needs real attention, what's aging toward replacement. That record becomes the basis for next year's capital budget request. Boards and finance committees respond better to documented history than to general concerns. "The HVAC on the east wing has had three service calls this year and the unit is 14 years old" is a more compelling budget argument than "we've been having some issues."
If this is familiar, we should talk. A free walkthrough takes about an hour and gives you a clear picture of where your facility stands.
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