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11/10/2008 13:02:39
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Subject: Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Elizabeth Scott
Joined: 10/03/2008 08:08:12
Messages: 206
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Question from an IREM member:
"We currently do annual inspectio"ns to identify maintenance issues and address housekeeping needs. I'm wondering which staff should handle the inspections? Maintenace? Property Manager? Both? Could you offer any guidance?"
Also, I've seen some recent information that notes a formal inspection could be dismissed if a property has regulary scheduled maintenance (change air filters, smoke detector batteries, tune up furnace, etc.). The idea is that you check out the unit while you are in it doing routine maintenace. Any thoughts?
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11/10/2008 13:04:26
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Marjean Pountain
Joined: 09/26/2008 09:25:38
Messages: 61
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The regular property inspection can be done by anyone who has an eye for detail. It is important to do a written inspection so you have evidence later to the fact the inspection was completed. The best is to have a comprehensive checklist, and complete one for each unit or tenant space inspected. The most efficient and thorough method is to have two people do the inspection, four eyes see more than two. One can have the clipboard doing the writing and the other can be opening and closing doors, checking plumbing and smoke detectors and so forth. If a property manager and a maintenance person are doing the task together, the maintenance person can be tightening or adjusting or doing quick tasks on the spot as well.
It makes sense to set aside the time and do one thorough inspection that covers several basis. Our maintenance staff ALWAYS check the smoke detectors whenever they enter a unit for any reason. Checking for plumbing leaks, evidence of unauthorized pets, housekeeping concerns, needed maintenance of any sort. You need to give the tenant proper advance notice, and while you are going through the process it makes sense to be as thorough as possible. Those unit inspections, if complete, are then great tools for planning and budgeting for maintenance purchasing and unit updates.
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03/23/2009 13:51:20
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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John McDuffie
Joined: 03/23/2009 12:08:15
Messages: 17
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The property manager should do all inspections. Annually? Wow, must be nice. I have my people do them monthly. 
More often than not, people won't find extra work for themselves to do. So if you let the maintenance personnel handle maintenance inspections then you won't get good results. Make the property manager acountable and have them do the inspections and at least do them quarterly. Annually isn't enough in my humble opinion.
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03/23/2009 17:14:44
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Jeffrey Dremel
Joined: 03/23/2009 17:10:40
Messages: 1
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On the conventional side, periodic maintenance inspections are performed annually by our property managers OR as needed.
For our subsidized portfolio, a physical inspection is performed every 1, 2 or 3 years depending on the "score" we received on the prior inspection. The better the score (70/80/90) the fewer inspections by WHEDA (Wisconsin Housing).
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03/23/2009 17:24:23
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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John McDuffie
Joined: 03/23/2009 12:08:15
Messages: 17
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[quote=]On the conventional side, periodic maintenance inspections are performed annually by our property managers OR as needed.
For our subsidized portfolio, a physical inspection is performed every 1, 2 or 3 years depending on the "score" we received on the prior inspection. The better the score (70/80/90) the fewer inspections by WHEDA (Wisconsin Housing).
You are kidding? Subsidized housing should be inspected more often. If you wait until after a bad score to prepare for a REAC then you are headed for failure. Secondly, the manager should not "prefer" anything. They should inspect based on needs and not because they just feel like doing it today.
A 90 on an inspection is one thing. Then an 80 then a 70 then you get worried and decide to fix things. Had you performed regular inspections th cost for repairs would be 60 to 80% less than with the schedule you described.
Doubt me if you must but mark my words - it will cost more and with age you will fail inspections.
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03/24/2009 16:40:22
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Tricia Gaiduk
Joined: 03/24/2009 15:24:32
Messages: 3
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My company manages mostly multi-family and some mixed-use developments. My on-site managers conduct quarterly inspections of every unit where they change air filters, check smoke detectors, and check for any leaks, unauthorized pets, housekeeping issues, or other hazards. I accompany them annually. I have my own checklist to document the condition of floor coverings, appliances, etc.
These inspections have really saved us in several ways. We always find maintenance items that residents have not reported. Those items can now be repaired before they cause more damage. I have also had a law suit where the resident fell down the stairs breaking the railing. She claimed the railing was loose, but we had documentation of quarterly inspections showing the railing was fine. I've also had fires where people barely escaped, to the credit of their smoke detector waking them up. I would not skip these inspections.
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04/03/2009 10:06:28
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Allan Watkins
Joined: 01/05/2009 12:51:20
Messages: 35
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Our property inspections are done on a quarterly basis. However, I manage 2 class A office buildings totalling 1.5m sq ft. It would be impossible to do anything else if I was to to inspcet on a monthly basis. So to perform this task, the entire building gets inspected once per quarter. Each month, I will pick out 20 floors and do a walk through (includes mechanical, electrical, elevator, and machine rooms) to visually check for any issues.
Then I will randomly pick out weekly 20 work orders and 20 pm tickets and check to see how that work was done. This enables me to check the performance of my engineers and cleaning staff. we have out PM's system set up for our cleaning routine maintenance as well as our engineers mechanical maintaince.
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04/13/2009 15:06:35
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Stephen Kleva
Joined: 04/08/2009 12:21:14
Messages: 4
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Elizabeth, we are a safety inspection company headquartered in NY. I’m happy to share our perspective. Building owners carry the risks and liabilities associated with a variety of equipment, systems and infrastructure that requires regular inspection. Facility managers are typically the ones tasked with the day-to-day responsibility for managing and ensuring inspections, repairing equipment, as needed, and ensuring regular, ongoing building and equipment maintenance. Sometimes this responsibility falls to property managers—it really depends on the way this responsibility is structured and how titles work at the company or within the building. The key issue is the ultimate responsibility of building owners if something goes wrong.
Regarding your question about formal inspections vs. regularly scheduled maintenance—it can indeed be a murky, undefined area between the mandated inspection of building equipment and systems and routine equipment maintenance activities or voluntary inspection and proactive maintenance activities.
This is where the facility manager or property manager must balance proactive inspection and maintenance activities with reactive maintenance and repair. The better the facility manager is at the responsibility, the smoother and more predictable are day-to-day operations for the facility manager and building owner.
In our experience in working in New York City for more than a decade, it is not uncommon for facility managers not to know which inspections are mandated, how frequently they must be performed or when they are due. This is one of the reasons NYC boiler inspection laws recently got stricter.
Why and how is this the case? We have found several common causes and issues: 1) the laws pertaining to buildings and equipment can be very cumbersome, if not overwhelming, as they can be up to hundreds of pages long, 2) Fully understanding or interpreting the laws can be difficult, and 3) job turnover amongst facility managers makes it harder for inspection reminders to reach the right person.
Balancing financial and operational efficiencies with safety and productivity and legal requirements is a complex task. We recommend using technology to make it easier. In a nutshell, technology can help track and manage information, which leads to data and information that is more easily accessible/retrievable and visible and can more easily support decision making. Inspection- and maintenance-related documents and information can be easily archived, located and retrieved, significantly reducing incidents of misfiled or lost documents.
Insurance companies, property owners and real estate managers benefit from a comprehensive electronic record of safety inspection and maintenance activities. If liability questions arise, electronic records enable audit trails and accountability that help decision makers/an organization defend itself by showing that all required maintenance was performed in accordance with manufacturer's specifications, legal requirements and on schedule.
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04/19/2009 12:12:55
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Owen Ahearn
Joined: 10/29/2008 19:29:04
Messages: 64
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I read in earlier posts about checking smoke detectors upon every entry in the unit (great idea). We also check CO2 detectors (equally important) as well as a quick laundry list of items (test all four burners and oven), turn on and off faucets (check for proper running water and leaks - bathrooms and kitchens and tub), flush toilet (make sure it operates and stops and does not run), bathroom fans, overhead lighting, and last but not least - check with the tenant. We always ask "is everything working okay". Generally our tenants point out things to our staff (management or maintenance) that was overlooked and they may have forgotten items, if not prodded by our announced inspections.
Preventive maintenance is so important to the operational management of our properties. Stopping leaks saves money and addressing problems early on, prevents some problems to growing to capital expenses.
A good number of excellent posts in this forum!
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06/22/2009 17:01:54
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Subject: Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Wilson "Hoppie" Cantwell
Joined: 06/22/2009 16:53:42
Messages: 1
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Our annual inspections are done by the property managers prior to renewing lease/putting the unit back on the market. If there are repair requests then the vendor responding also does an inspection of the property and reports their findings to Ownership (especially if there is cause for concern/corrective action in immediately required).
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06/22/2009 18:42:00
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Hammad Graham
Joined: 06/22/2009 18:23:06
Messages: 1
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Generally, our management companies maintenance staffs conducts the periodical maintenance inspections without the supervision of property and asset managers. Unfortunately, a lot information on how the tenants feel about the property is lost in the report that the maintenance staff delivers. Given that, I suggest that a property or asset manager go on a couple of maintenance inspections per year.
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06/23/2009 11:02:35
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Marvin Cox
Joined: 06/23/2009 09:18:51
Messages: 1
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You may find a comprehensive inspection sheet in Irem First forms ( Retail, Commercial and Residential )
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08/04/2009 20:12:45
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Christopher Mellen
Joined: 09/16/2008 11:19:56
Messages: 46
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Maintenance inspections should and can be done by both maintenance and management. It depends on the type of inspection and purpose. I have my staff do a number of maintenance inspections throughout the cycle. Examples are safety inspections, smoke detector inspections, marketing path inspections etc. These are in addition to the annual apartment inspection.
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06/09/2010 15:22:21
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Rayna Baumbusch
Joined: 06/09/2010 15:08:42
Messages: 1
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I work in commercial buildings where most of the Tenant's maintain the interior of thier spaces, however I feel the manager themselves should perform inspections on at least a quarterly basis. I feel general exterior inspections or a drive by should be performed almost weekly, such as landscaping and snow removal conditions, or to identify any graffiti if no one calls on it. I agree that having a Tenant survey helps to better gage a response to your maintenance staff and if they feel thier needs are being met. It also asks them to rate the condition of the building, and if thier rating differs greatly from your notes them something is probably being ignored. I always ask for assistance from my maintenance tech regarding electrical, hvac and plumbing systems since I'm not an expert, and he is usally present during my initial walk-throughs when we first take over a building.
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07/23/2010 12:48:19
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Subject: Re:Periodical Maintenance Inspections
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Lynne Miller
Joined: 02/10/2009 17:53:49
Messages: 15
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I require a few different inspections throughout the year. One is a full building annual inspection that is documented on a form provided by our corporate office. The annual inspection is conducted by the property manager, operations manager, chief engineer, janitorial manager, security director and parking manager to ensure every area of the building is covered. Another is the weekly inspection. During these inspections, the property manager, chief engineer, janitorial manager and security director inspect at least one floor of the building together each week for maintenance issues and code violations. Lastly, when regular preventive maintenance is conducted by the engineers, they sign off on the inspection of each piece of equipment serviced. In my opinion, you can never have too many inspections because different issues or concerns are found in each inspection.
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