The Annual Maintenance Plan And What Goes In It

Most properties are maintained by waiting for something to break.

Which costs more, because a failure is always more expensive than the service that would have prevented it, and because a failure happens at the worst time and gets priced accordingly.

An annual plan is not complicated. It is a list of items, each with an interval, each with a month, and somebody who owns it.

The compliance items, which are not optional

These have intervals set by legislation or by a standard, and they come first because the consequence of missing them is not a repair bill.

Smoke alarms, tested and the batteries replaced at the required interval, with the unit replaced at the end of its life. The requirements for a rented property are in [smoke alarm compliance in a rented property](/blog/smoke-alarm-compliance-in-a-rented-property).

Electrical safety switches, tested at the set interval, which is the work in [safety switches and electrical testing](/blog/safety-switches-and-electrical-testing).

Test and tag on any appliance or lead on common property, per [electrical testing and tagging for common property](/blog/electrical-testing-and-tagging-for-common-property).

Emergency lighting and exit signs, on their required test cycle, which is [emergency lighting and exit signs](/blog/emergency-lighting-and-exit-signs).

Fire doors, inspected and tagged at the required interval, as in [fire doors in residential buildings](/blog/fire-doors-in-residential-buildings).

Gas appliances, serviced, which matters most in older buildings, per [gas work in older apartments](/blog/gas-work-in-older-apartments).

Anchor points and roof access, certified where anybody has to go onto a roof, which is part of [gutter guard, roof safety and working at height](/blog/gutter-guard-roof-safety-and-working-at-height).

The seasonal items

These are quick, they cost little, and they prevent the expensive failures.

Before storm season: gutters, valleys, downpipes and stormwater pits cleared. The highest return maintenance item there is, and the reason is in [stormwater pits and grates on a property](/blog/stormwater-pits-and-grates-on-a-property) and [roof tiles, ridge capping and the leaks they cause](/blog/roof-tiles-ridge-capping-and-the-leaks-they-cause).

Before summer: air conditioning serviced, filters cleaned, condensate drains cleared. A unit serviced in October works in January; a unit serviced in January is serviced in a queue. The failure modes are in [split system servicing, what goes wrong](/blog/split-system-servicing-what-goes-wrong) and [air conditioning condensate and where the water goes](/blog/air-conditioning-condensate-and-where-the-water-goes).

Before winter: exhaust fans and ventilation checked, because condensation season is when mould appears, as in [bathroom condensation, mould and the exhaust fan](/blog/bathroom-condensation-mould-and-the-exhaust-fan).

Annually: sump pumps tested, on any building with a basement, because a pump that has not run in a year is a pump nobody knows about until the carpark floods. That is [basement carpark drainage and sump pumps](/blog/basement-carpark-drainage-and-sump-pumps).

Annually: pest entry points checked and closed, per [pest entry points and the trades that close them](/blog/pest-entry-points-and-the-trades-that-close-them).

The items on a longer cycle

Not annual, and they belong on the plan with a year against them so they are expected rather than sudden.

Silicone in wet areas, replaced on a cycle rather than when it fails, because failed silicone is a water leak into a wall. The interval and the reasoning are in [silicone joints and when they need replacing](/blog/silicone-joints-and-when-they-need-replacing).

External painting, which protects the building rather than decorating it, and the timing question is [external painting and when to repaint](/blog/external-painting-and-when-to-repaint).

Flexible hoses under sinks and behind toilets, replaced on a cycle, because a burst hose in an apartment is a claim across several units. The quiet version of that risk is in [vacant property checks and what fails while empty](/blog/vacant-property-checks-and-what-fails-while-empty).

Hot water units, with the anode checked and the unit replaced at the end of its life rather than after it fails on a Friday night.

Window and door seals, which affect comfort and energy before they affect anything else, per [window and door seals, draughts and noise](/blog/window-and-door-seals-draughts-and-noise).

Carpark and driveway surfaces, per [carpark and driveway maintenance](/blog/carpark-and-driveway-maintenance).

Writing it so it actually runs

A plan that lives in somebody's head is not a plan. Four things make it work.

A month against every item, so it is scheduled rather than intended.

Batched by attendance, so a single attendance covers the six things due that month rather than six separate trips. This is where most of the saving is, and it only works if one team can do all six.

An owner for each item, named.

A record of what was done and when, because the compliance items need evidence and the long cycle items need a date to count from. The photo record described in [the photo report and why it settles arguments](/blog/the-photo-report-and-why-it-settles-arguments) does that job.

What the plan is worth

Three things, and only the first one is money.

Lower total cost, because planned work is priced as planned work and a failure is priced as an emergency.

Fewer failures that damage something else, which is where the real cost sits. A blocked gutter is a small job and a ceiling repair is not.

A building that holds its condition, which shows in how it presents, how quickly it relets, and what tenants and owners think of the people managing it.

For a manager, the plan also removes the thing that consumes the most time: the unplanned call. A year of scheduled attendances with one point of contact is a different workload from a year of reacting, which is the case in [one contact for every trade, what it removes from an agent's week](/blog/one-contact-for-every-trade-what-it-removes-from-an-agents-week).

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