Maintenance emergencies at residential and commercial strata complexes put the body corporate at risk of litigation and budget blow-outs. Thankfully, a preventative maintenance schedule can help keep things on an even keel, and save you significant amounts of time and money in the process.
Here are 5 reasons why strata repairs and maintenance should be proactively planned, and how they save you money every step of the way.
1. Planned Strata Maintenance Disrupts Your Tenants Less
Whether you’re in charge of a residential or commercial strata property, happy tenants put more money in your pocket. Planned strata maintenance can be scheduled around the busiest times of the day or year — avoiding maintenance disruptions during peak business hours or prime family time, like Christmas.
An attentive body corporate will develop a reputation for creating fantastic environments for living and/or working. This leads to better tenant retention — cutting down on the administrative costs and time investments of onboarding new ones.
2. Implementing A Maintenance Schedule Is Cheaper Than Retroactive Repairs
Constantly playing catch up with surprise repairs can cost you far more than regular, preventative maintenance. Retroactive body corporate repairs and maintenance can be charged at a premium fee, for example, when your contractors (or even in-house team) have to attend to fixes after-hours.
By the time a repair catches your eye, it can be a far bigger (and costlier) issue than if it was caught early — repairing building cracks are a prime example. And, of course, by the time something is an emergency, you’re also risking secondary damage to property which itself will need attention. Save yourself the headache with a proactive strata maintenance program.
3. You’ll Lower The Risk Of Expensive Litigation
According to the Queensland Government, Body Corporates bear legal responsibility for maintenance of common property. Falling behind on maintenance could expose you to costly litigation as you’d find yourself in breach of the law. Further, you could also be held liable for costs and damages if unmaintained common property negatively impacts a privately owned lot.
Investing in a strata building maintenance plan can help ensure you’ll never run into these (avoidable) unpleasant expenses.
4. A Well-Maintained Property Minimises The Risk Of Exorbitant Insurance Claims
Hard on the heels of litigation comes insurance claims. If a tenant sustains an injury in a common area, you’re less likely to be held liable if you can prove the injury was not a result of your negligent maintenance. We dive into the risks that properties with extensive foot traffic carry in our blog post, 6 Reasons Ongoing Maintenance Is Essential For Commercial Buildings.
5. Strata Maintenance Programs Make Your Budget Easier to Plan And Manage
Give yourself the peace of mind that your maintenance budget will never be blown out of scope. Proactive maintenance minimises the risk of unexpected emergencies and their costs, while developing a long-term relationship with qualified contractors can further maximise your cost and time savings.
Let First Response Take Strata Maintenance Responsibilities Off Your Hands
Even the most efficiently planned strata maintenance programs take time to implement. Working with a qualified team of maintenance contractors can make sure that everything after sign-off practically runs itself.
At First Response, our licensed, qualified and experienced team work closely with body corporates across Queensland to maintain both residential and commercial strata properties. Find out more about body corporate maintenance plans — what they entail and how we can help — on our resource page, Guide to Strata and Body Corporate Building
Maintenance Programs.