The purpose of a maintenance plan is to train a board of the homeowners association and the property manager in the ways to properly maintain the common element components. Following a well prepared maintenance plan will help extend the life of the amenities and reduce costs to its members.
An effective preventive maintenance plan must meet the following five key objectives:
- To preserve the investment of the owners. Preventive maintenance can extend the useful life of building components, in turn, maintaining and enhancing the value of the property.
- Buildings operating at peak efficiency. Because preventive maintenance ensures that items are still operating as they were designed, therefore, reduce inefficiencies in operations and energy use.
- Prevent failures of building systems. Buildings that work seamlessly allow occupants to enjoy the property as planned. Preventive maintenance includes periodic inspections and replacement of equipment crucial to construction operations.
- Maintain a safe and healthy environment. Protect the physical integrity of the building, which retains a safe environment for residents.
- Provide cost effective maintenance. Preventive maintenance can prevent small problems from becoming major failures and costly repairs. Preventive maintenance can be handled relatively cheaply, efficiently and systematically throughout the programmed day, while large failures always happen after hours, sometimes inclusive of the top billing and equipment that must be special ordered (Murphy’s Law ).
The Maintenance Plan aims to provide clear guidance to the board and management of how and when to offer repairs to the building and land components. If consistently followed in conjunction with a properly prepared fee schedule, the components will enjoy their maximum useful life and repair costs will be held to the minimum. This is how the successful homeowners’ associations operate.
This article is provided by Riverside Property Management Inc.