Topic: Maintenance Response Time Standard?

What are expected response times to various maintenance problems? Is there a resource available for this information that I could incorporate into a maintenance plan? The law is somewhat vague and so I'm guessing the standard is one that has been set by the industry. I'm providing maintenance to 6-7 multi-family homes (20 units)would like to establish a standard that I can work from when setting up 24 hour maintenance and letting the tenants know what response times to expect.

Thanks!
Bill

In our company for regular (non-emergency) service request, we provide them with a response time of a maximum of 24 hours. Of course, any emergency is handled within hours of the report.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Determining an emergency vs. non-emergency is important as well. Do you have a list of "emergency" problems? If not, do you know where I can get one of these?

Thanks,
Bill

At Apogee we have the following listed as emergency service request:

Fire
Flood
Electrical
AC in the summer
Heater in the winter
Toilet Clog if only one in unit

Hopefully this helps.

Thanks,
Pedro

I would add to Pedro's good list windows on first floor units at any time, any security-related issues like locks or access. This can be a huge deal and you tend to learn the hard way.

The 24-hour service standard became prominent partially because of a class-action lawsuit against a large, now-defunct management firm. The complaint was that tenants were not being treated fairly - some were waiting a week for simple repairs and some were getting things addressed same-day. The plaintiffs alleged this was due to the race or other characteristics of the tenant, not the maintenance problem itself. So a number of management companies sought advice and counsel on what would always be considered reasonable, and settled at 24 hours.

Just to be clear, a squeay cabinet door is not a problem that needs to be done same-day, but anything that impacts a person's living situation should be taken care of promptly, according to the standards you set for your organization.

Thanks for the responses,

I have to establish a standard response plan. Some people consider an outlet being out an emergency that justifies sending an electrician out at 3:00 AM. This doesn't work for the small number of units I have. I have a small number of multifamily homes and cannot pay someone to sit ready to go for 24 hours. I can however afford to pay a serviceperson who responds to a legitimate emergency in the middle of the night because they are on call. I need to work up a good list and cover myself if it goes to court.

One key element to keep in mind regarding maintenance response times is that these opportunities are very impactful customer connection moments. The best marketing programs are centered on providing great customer service that your residents will brag about for days.

In my experience, the maintenance tech is the most valuable position in the apartment industry. Take advantage of this, provide superior proactive service & market it as well.

I think that response times do vary by type of property; are you running a site with 200 apartments all together, or are you managing 200 single family homes all across town??? If you are in the latter category, you need more than a handyman kind of service response. You need a 'black book' of sorts, filled with outside contractors that can respond at a moment's notice, at any time of day or night (plumbers and electricians primarily).

If you are in the first category, you need to have a maintenance team of 2, who settle between them who is to handle after hours emergencies (switching off a week at a time for example). Maintenance issues should be categorized as follows:

Emergency: Fire/Flood/Blood/Electric outlets throwing sparks, gas leak.... have resident call 911 first, then your team.

Emergency: Lock out with child inside and food cooking (I just don't get this one, but I have heard of it happening).. IMMEDIATE response. You can eliminate this by having locksets installed that actually require a key from the outside to lock.

Critical: Toilet clogged in a 1 bathroom unit??? 15 Minute response. Have the resident turn off water supply behind the toilet to minimize damage.

Critical: Heating/AC not working properly...2 hours MAX (less if you are a senior property and there are health issues to consider)

Critical: Electric issue not caused by resident's failure to pay their bill or a larger cause outside the property. 15 minutes. You can eliminate the occurrence of utility shut off, by establishing a 'continuous service agreement' between you and your utility provider, Such an agreement will keep YOU informed if a resident has not paid their bill and gives you an opportunity to intervene and collect the past due amount.

All other maintenance requests, I would establish a 24 hour response time as an actual policy. In the event a repair takes more than 24 hours to resolve, you really need to take the extra steps to document the reason(s) this is the case.


Did I miss anything???

Bill - We take our occupied maintenance seriously and as such require that all on-call techs be within 1 hour from the propety when on call. Regardless of the emergency.
We use an answering service that does a great job of "screening" the calls, weeding out non-emergencies and notifying the on-call when a real emergency does come up.
Our emergencies are as follows: Electrical (as in none or breaker trips, etc.), No Heat or A/C (regardless of temp or season), water issues (leaks, backups, or lack of), anything related to either the smoke detector or CO detector.
However, that said, our maintenance team takes pride in the fact that customer service is the name of their game. We carry a 24 hour completion policy on occupied maintenance orders and also keep a strong list of subcontractors at the ready.
Since your portfolio is sizeably smaller, it would make sense to keep a 24 hour policy on regular work orders and stick to the basic categories for emergencies, keepingin mind fair housing issues as well as liability concerns.

Also add to that list windows and doors (anything that prohibits the apartment from being "secured") and of course fires. Can't forget that one! :P

Thanks for the replies,

I have a small number of places. 7 multi-family homes with a total of 21 units. All within 1.5 miles of one another.

For the people who have these policies in place, I'm wondering how specific the list is. For example do you consider all electrical problems and emergency? If a breaker flips at 3:00 AM and there are no applicances being run on it and other circuits within the apartment, is this considered an emergency? With a water leak, if somebody discovers a leaky shutoff at 3:00 AM and could easily catch the water in a bowl until the morning is this considered an emergency?

MY CONCERN: I will not have a maintenance person on-site 24 hours a day. Only a couple of electricians and plumbing/heating guys who will be on call 24 hours. I do not want to be paying them their after-hours rates for frivolous tenant concerns.

Thanks,
Bill

bill casey wrote:

Thanks for the replies,

For the people who have these policies in place, I'm wondering how specific the list is. For example do you consider all electrical problems and emergency? If a breaker flips at 3:00 AM and there are no applicances being run on it and other circuits within the apartment, is this considered an emergency? With a water leak, if somebody discovers a leaky shutoff at 3:00 AM and could easily catch the water in a bowl until the morning is this considered an emergency?
.

Thanks,
Bill

Let's address the electric outage at 3am first.... It is an emergency if you are in an area where there is a severe weather situation, either extreme heat or cold, and need the HVAC to work..... Water leak is another issue: is it a SLOW leak (drip...drip....drip) from either a faucet or the roof? If this is the case, it MIGHT be able to wait until first thing in the AM (the resident may not even call for this until then); or is it a faucet that cannot shut off, or is it a major series of leaks through the roof in the rain? This must be addressed immediately to minimize damage and water waste.

Bill and Pedro...great comments, input! I agree that rapid
maintenance response time is VERY CRITICAL to the success of EVERY
apt. community.

In the last apt. community I rented at, it was over 9 weeks for
maintenance to get to 10 items. They did get to my front door issues...a lose door that was ajar even when both locks were locked and the peep-hole was BLACK. After I had given notice and moved out early on my lease...the Corporate VP e-mailed me attachments of "work orders" that were "back-dated" to a day 2 weeks BEFORE I moved out. I took digital photos of all of the problems the day before I moved out. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. I would consider that "fraud" or at least very dishonest business practice.

Every Manager and Corporate Office should understand that "maintenance" has to be the most important issue to almost every tenant.

Bob Wainner
Plano, Texas

Do your maintenance techs get extra compensation when they are on call? Even if there is no emergency call, being expected to remain within an hour of work at all times is anintrusion into their personal lives.