Managing Maintenance Operations

Property managers can add value to a property by increasing maintenance efficiency, controlling and reducing costs, and extending the life of building equipment. Maintenance costs are some of a property’s more controllable expenses and can have a major impact on Net Operating Income (NOI) related to the property.
 
The best property managers have a maintenance policy, procedure manual and program all of which is geared toward minimizing unexpected building expenses while ensuring the safety of tenants. It’s important to distinguish between maintenance and repairs. Maintenance is keeping something in an existing state while repairs involves fixing something that is broken. There are several types of maintenance including preventative,corrective,routine, cosmetic,emergency, and deferred. Among these types, preventative maintenance is the most important and requires the most planning. Developing and meeting maintenance objectives will add value to a property by lowering maintenance costs over time and optimizing property assets. Our maintenance objectives are fix it right the first time, establish and maintain optimum property conditions, and lower maintenance costs.
 
We find that having a software program for preventative maintenance is very important because it helps us store important  information about building systems and equipment, procedures, and maintenance records. We use a program that can automatically prepare schedules for preventative maintenance activities.  Knowledge of the major maintenance systems such as roofing, Heating,Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning(HVAC), plumbing and electrical at a property is important  because these systems have the greatest potential risk in terms of malfunction, loss, and expense. Proper quality maintenance can help reduce this risk.
 
Property managers should be supervising maintenance activities by matching the tasks to the applicable contractor or  staff member, promoting safety, using preventative maintenance checklists, performing regular inspections and keep records of property equipment such as make, model, and serial number of equipment. Each property type-office,residential,industrial,and retail-has some unique maintenance  needs and challenges.
 
The best property managers have a good maintenance program in place which ultimately helps attract tenants and keep skilled and experienced technicians onsite.