Step 1: Read the current contract before you give notice
Three clauses decide everything: the notice period, exit penalties if there are any, and the end date, meaning whether the contract renews automatically and when the exit window opens. If there is an exit penalty, check with a lawyer whether it is enforceable. Harsh clauses in management contracts do not always hold up.
Step 2: Document the condition of the building today
Before you give notice, photograph and document the lobby, the elevators, the machine room and the parking garage. Ask for the latest financial report and the building account balance. This record is your baseline. Without it, you cannot prove what was neglected or what went missing during the transition.
Step 3: Written notice, with a list of demands
The notice itself is short. The important part is the list of what the outgoing company must hand over:
- Full financial reports and an up-to-date account balance, including the list of debtors
- Equipment files and warranty certificates for every system
- Active supplier contracts and their end dates
- Access codes: access control, cameras, management systems
- Keys to all technical areas
- Service call history and open faults
Step 4: A 30 to 45 day overlap
A serious incoming company starts before the outgoing one leaves: it maps the systems, meets the current suppliers, sets up collections and opens a service center for residents, so that everything already works on the first official day. Our onboarding takes 30 to 45 days and is priced upfront in the proposal. A company that promises to "start tomorrow" is skipping the stage that prevents chaos.
What can go wrong, and how to prevent it
The two biggest risks are debtors who disappear from the records (so demand the list of debtors in writing before the end date) and "orphan" faults that neither company handles during the transition month (so set one cut-off date in writing: the outgoing company is responsible up to it, the incoming company from it onward).