Facility & Property Management in Northern Virginia

A commercial building in Northern Virginia answers to more offices than most owners expect. The county or city enforces the building and fire codes. A water utility runs the backflow program. A state agency certifies the boilers. Each one keeps its own calendar, and none of them reminds you of the others.

Levaru provides facility management and commercial property management across Northern Virginia from our only office, at 5510 Cherokee Ave Ste 300, Alexandria, VA 22312. The address is in Fairfax County, in the Lincolnia area just inside the Beltway near I-395. This page covers what we do in the region, which buildings and submarkets we serve, how the rules here differ from DC and Maryland, how to compare providers (including us), and what drives cost.

What does Levaru do in Northern Virginia?

We run the physical building and, where the owner wants it, the business around it. One team, one contract and one record:

• Facility management: HVAC maintenance, electrical and plumbing, janitorial, landscaping and grounds, snow removal, pest control, security, preventive maintenance, compliance inspections and emergency response.
• Property management: commercial, retail, industrial, multifamily and HOA management, plus lease administration and tenant relations.
• Projects: construction and project management, tenant improvements, space planning, move management and capital planning.
• Real estate: tenant and landlord representation, investment sales and market research.
• Sustainability: energy management, ESG reporting, LEED and EV charging.

The work is split in a simple way. Our technicians self-perform the routine maintenance layer. Licensed trades (electrical, plumbing, backflow testing, elevator, fire protection and similar) are performed by licensed professionals under Levaru’s supervision. Either way, the job lands in our in-house CMMS, which is included with service: a client portal, photo-documented work orders, QR asset tags, preventive-maintenance schedules, and 360° photo documentation. Owners can export the asset register and work-order history themselves; we export the vendor list and parts inventory on request.

Facility management or property management: which do you need?

Facility management keeps the building working: equipment, maintenance, vendors, cleaning, grounds and compliance. Property management runs the asset as a business: leases, rent, tenant relations, budgets, CAM and owner reporting. The two overlap at the work order, which is why many owners want one firm for both.

A quick way to decide:

• You have an asset manager and leasing team, but no one owns the equipment. You need facility management. Our guide to what a facility manager does shows the scope.
• You own a multi-tenant office, retail or flex building and want it run for you. You need both. The CAM reconciliation guide shows why the maintenance record and the tenant bill have to agree.
• You sit on an HOA or condo board. You need association management plus common-area maintenance.
• You have in-house staff and are weighing a switch. Start with in-house vs. outsourced facility management.

Which buildings and submarkets do we serve?

We provide building maintenance and management for office, retail, industrial, multifamily, medical and association property across twelve Northern Virginia cities, each with its own page. They fall into four corridors:

• Inside and along the Beltway: Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Annandale and Springfield. Dense office and mixed-use, older retail centers, and garden and mid-rise apartments where equipment age drives the maintenance plan.
• The Dulles corridor: Tysons, McLean, Reston and Ashburn. Metro’s Silver Line extension opened on November 15, 2022, with six new stations from Reston Town Center out to Ashburn. Mixed-use buildings near those stations share loading docks, garages and systems between uses, so coordination matters as much as repairs.
• The I-66 and Route 28 corridors: Fairfax and Manassas. Office parks, flex and light industrial space.
• The I-95 corridor: Springfield and Woodbridge. Shopping centers, warehouses and multifamily communities.

One honest limit: eastern Loudoun is known for data centers. Those are critical environments run by specialist contractors, and we do not present ourselves as a critical-facilities operator. We serve the office buildings, retail centers, industrial and flex space and residential communities around them.

Why does the jurisdiction matter more than the mailing address?

Because the jurisdiction, not the post office, decides who enforces your codes. Northern Virginia is made up of four counties (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William) and five independent cities (Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park), plus incorporated towns such as Herndon, Leesburg and Vienna. The Northern Virginia Regional Commission lists them. A Virginia city is independent of the county around it.

Several familiar names are not cities at all. Tysons, McLean, Reston, Annandale and Springfield are census-designated communities in Fairfax County. Ashburn is in Loudoun County, and Woodbridge is in Prince William County. In those places the county is your building official and fire marshal. Postal names also cross lines: our own Alexandria, VA 22312 office is in Fairfax County, not the City of Alexandria.

Utilities split the region too. Backflow programs follow the water provider: Fairfax County (with Fairfax Water), Arlington County, Virginia American Water in the City of Alexandria, Loudoun Water and Prince William Water. Electric service can come from Dominion Energy, from NOVEC (a cooperative serving parts of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the City of Manassas Park, among other areas), or, inside the City of Manassas, from the city’s own electric utility. Put the jurisdiction and each utility on the first page of every building’s compliance file.

How does Northern Virginia compliance differ from DC and Maryland?

Virginia sets most building rules statewide and lets localities enforce them. DC and Maryland add energy mandates that Virginia does not have.

• Energy. DC requires private buildings over 10,000 gross square feet to benchmark every year by May 1, and Maryland requires most commercial and multifamily buildings of 35,000 square feet and up to report by June 1 (Montgomery County runs its own program). Virginia has no benchmarking mandate for private buildings. In Arlington, projects that win bonus density under the voluntary Green Building Incentive Policy are asked to share Portfolio Manager data each year for 10 years after occupancy. The DC and Maryland BEPS guide covers the other two jurisdictions.
• Boilers. DC requires covered boilers and pressure vessels to be inspected at least once a year. Under Virginia’s Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety program, heating boilers and most pressure vessels need a certificate inspection every two years and power boilers every year. DOLI does not do routine inspections itself; your insurer’s inspector or a contract fee inspector does.
• Backflow. Since January 1, 2023, Virginia testers must be DPOR-certified Backflow Prevention Device Workers (12VAC5-590-630). Then each program adds its own rules. Fairfax County assigns each property a test month and accepts tests only from authorized vendors.
• Codes. The Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code governs, and its maintenance part (the Virginia Maintenance Code) is enforced locally where a locality chooses to. It makes the owner responsible for maintaining the building and its systems unless that duty is expressly or impliedly the tenant’s.

Northern Virginia compliance at a glance

Topic	Virginia rule or regulator	What owners do	Our guide
Backflow	12VAC5-590-630; local water programs	Annual test by a DPOR-certified tester; confirm the report was filed	Backflow testing
Boilers	DOLI; Va. Code 40.1-51.5 et seq.; 16VAC25-50	Keep certificates current: power yearly, heating every 2 years	Boiler inspections
Generators	Statewide Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 110); DEQ 9VAC5-80-1105	Test to NFPA 110; log hours to keep the air-permit exemption	Generator testing
Energy	No private-building mandate; Arlington GBIP	Benchmark if a site plan or your own goals call for it	Benchmarking
Fire and life safety	Statewide Fire Prevention Code; local fire official	Keep inspection and test records for every system	Fire and life safety
Upkeep	Virginia Maintenance Code, where enforced locally	Keep systems in repair; answer code notices	Compliance calendar

For generators, the fire code requires emergency and standby power to be maintained and tested to NFPA 110. DEQ exempts emergency engines from its air permit requirements within stated limits, including no more than 500 hours of operation a year per engine, and the owner keeps the records that prove it. This page is general information, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm current rules with the agency named.

How does response work from an Alexandria headquarters?

Everything runs from one office, and all twelve cities on this page are within about 24 miles of it. Arlington, Alexandria, Annandale, Falls Church and Springfield are closest. Ashburn and Manassas are at the outer edge.

Two separate facts apply, and we keep them apart:

• Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The phone is answered 24/7 for building emergencies at managed properties.

Response time depends on where the building is, the hour, the trade involved, and traffic on I-495, I-66, I-95 and the Dulles Toll Road. Get the after-hours path in writing from any provider, including us: who answers, who decides, who goes, and what the record looks like afterward. At Levaru, emergency work is recorded in the same photo-documented work orders as routine work. The emergency preparedness guide covers the owner’s side of the plan.

How do you compare facility management companies in Northern Virginia?

Ask every bidder the same questions, including us. A fair checklist:

1. Self-performed or subcontracted? Ask for a trade-by-trade list, and who supervises each subcontractor.
2. Licenses. Check each licensed contractor on DPOR’s License Lookup. A backflow tester needs the DPOR certification and, in Fairfax County, authorized-vendor status.
3. Coverage. Where do technicians start the day, and which of your buildings sit at the edge of their area?
4. After hours. Who answers the phone at 2 a.m., and is that separate from office hours?
5. Compliance ownership. Who tracks your backflow test month, boiler certificates, generator tests and fire inspections? Ask to see the calendar.
6. Records and exit. Does every work order carry photos? Can you export assets, work-order history and vendor records if you leave? See what software should come with facility management.
7. Insurance. Request certificates that match your COI requirements.
8. Scope and measures. Get a written scope and agreed maintenance KPIs. Our RFP template puts these questions in one document.

What does facility or property management cost in Northern Virginia?

There is no honest flat price without seeing the building. Facility management is usually priced as a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope, a per-square-foot rate, or cost-plus with a management fee. The main cost drivers:

• Building size, type and class.
• Age, count and condition of equipment.
• Service frequency: janitorial nights, day porters, PM visits.
• Hours of coverage, including after-hours and weekend needs.
• How much work is self-performed versus subcontracted.
• Compliance load: backflow assemblies, boilers, generators and fire systems to test.
• Snow: per-event or seasonal pricing, and how many storms arrive.
• Spread: one building in Arlington costs differently from a portfolio running out to Ashburn and Woodbridge.

For ranges and benchmarks, read facility management cost per square foot and commercial property management fees. The FM budget calculator helps you build a first estimate.

How do you get started?

Send us the basics for each building: address, jurisdiction, size, type, major equipment, current vendors and any open code notices. We walk the property, because a site visit is the only honest way to scope and price it. The written proposal that follows names the scope, the exclusions and the service levels. Request a proposal or contact us, and see how we work first if you prefer.