Preventive maintenance and proactive maintenance can also reduce the costs of your property. Operators, managers and investors can make a huge difference in their long-term maintenance costs with preventive maintenance or proactive maintenance.
First of all, what is the difference between these two concepts? In the first case, we focus on maintenance activities to avoid breakdown costs. In the second case, we focus on identifying capital and expense changes that will alter the maintenance profile or requirements of your property. Both can reduce costs and, at the same time, improve customer service. Of course, in the ideal world, maintenance would work like the old Maytag repair ads. Nothing would break and the maintenance person would have nothing to do. What better service can you offer than this?
3 preventative maintenance tips: Set up a rotating 90-day schedule to check each unit for persistent issues that turn into expensive repairs. Some things to check include:
- Make sure air conditioners are working properly and chemical levels are as required. The big result is that you’ll identify leaks faster, allowing you to fix them and reduce costs.
- Check each unit for water leaks and drips. You’ll save your residents’ water bill costs. You will avoid wood rot. You will save maintenance costs.
- Check window sills and doors for signs of water damage. You’ll avoid the cost of replacing wood, doors and windows while improving livability.
6 proactive maintenance tips:
- Look for alternative materials and systems that reduce operating costs. A good example is the long-lasting carpets available today which absorb odors, resist stains and offer an extended life of 7 years. This product can save $100 per year on maintenance costs.
- Regularly collect utility bills from residents looking for discrepancies compared to average costs. You can reveal problems and repair them before you can call for service, improving satisfaction, reducing fire risk and lowering repair costs.
- Clean the drains quarterly. You’ll avoid flood damage and avoid angry residents.
- Clean the gutters twice a year to prevent roof rot and prevent water damage.
- Review and consider new products to reduce system-by-system costs annually or more often.
- Visit other properties to identify maintenance and service steps you may not have considered.
Property managers, operators, and owners who consider the options outlined above and consider their maintenance needs in the context of these two ideas will save money, improve asset value, and improve customer satisfaction.