Maintaining and cleaning a property is no joke. It takes a lot of experience and a great deal of work to achieve the safest and best result. A building is made up of many different systems that require continuous, controlled maintenance to prevent safety incidents and knock-on faults. There are several common mistakes that are important to avoid, so we have gathered them here to help you steer clear of them.
Low pricing: Sometimes, when you pay less, you can end up paying much more. Quality care for the building's various systems is as essential as oxygen is to people. Quality care may cost more, but it prevents wear and unnecessary faults. Investing in quality equipment lets you use it for longer and requires fewer repairs and less servicing. This category also includes the cost of professionals. The building's systems can be very complex, so it is important that the right hands handle them. Servicing and repairs require certified, experienced professionals, and there must be no compromise on that. Remember, the cheapest option can turn out to be the most expensive.
Skipping inspections and postponing servicing: Yes, problems usually come up when it is inconvenient for us to deal with them. In fact, that is almost always the case. But when it comes to inspections and servicing, you need to clear your schedule and make time for them. Regular inspections enable early detection of problems and keep small problems from escalating into big ones. For example, regular inspection of the water system makes it possible to find leaks, mold, incorrect pressure and other problems. As with inspections, it is very important to deal with a problem the moment it occurs, because postponing it or not handling it immediately can cause a lot of damage and unhappy residents.
An unrealistic budget: Sudden servicing and repairs can be very expensive, so it is important to build a monthly budget dedicated solely to such cases. If you hire a building management and maintenance company, you don't need to worry about this, but if you do it yourself, you need to build emergency money into the residents' committee fees.
Allocating the wrong number of cleaning hours: Dozens and sometimes hundreds of people pass through a building every day, so it is very important to allocate enough hours for cleaning the property inside and out. A building needs thorough cleaning every day, especially on the last day of the week. If you don't know how long the job will take, we recommend not taking a risk on time and asking for more time to ensure a good result.
Because every building has different needs, it is worth using an organized cleaning plan that defines in advance the right times to do the job, which saves time.
The cleaning plan also helps with supervision, providing oversight of the work and a way to check that it is done properly and within the time set in the plan.
The wrong methodology: Every management approach follows a certain model, which contains all of its methods and approaches. The management and maintenance of a shared building also needs a clear methodology tailored to that specific building. The methods and rules of building maintenance companies must be precisely suited to each building, because the wrong methodology can lead to compromised safety, unnecessary spending, excessive use of manpower and many other problems.
Bottom line: We have gathered here the common mistakes made in the management and maintenance of a shared building.
What ties it all together is simply making sure your building's management and maintenance are precisely matched to its needs, in terms of cleaning, professionals, pricing and methodology.
