Improve Board Approvals with New Architecture Change Request

Note: This blog post has been updated in June 2023 to reflect new functionality in the Architectural Change Request module.

HOA managers have a wide array of responsibilities all aimed at creating better community experiences for their residents, and one such goal is to help residents maintain or increase property value.  To enable our HOA clients to help residents in improving their properties, our team has been hard at work to develop new functionality.  We’re excited to introduce to you the new Architecture Change Request functionality, where managers can work directly with residents on their home improvement requests.   

The Architecture Change Request module empowers managers to process resident requests faster while ensuring complete transparency and accountability.  Here’s how the new feature works:

Residents can submit architecture change requests

A resident’s goal is to sustain or increase their property value through minor improvements or major architecture/equipment upgrades.  The architecture change request module’s integration with the resident portal allows managers to work with residents directly on their home improvement requests.  In the portal, residents can submit an ACR, set a due date, and attach relevant documentation to assist with the approval process. They can also log back in at any time to view the status of their requests and comment on them.    

Managers can also create ACR tickets on behalf of residents

In the manager portal, managers can create and assign tickets to themselves or other managers to stay on top of architecture change requests.  When creating the ticket, managers can set a due date, associate it to a unit and resident account, adjust occupant permissions, and attach documents.  Furthermore, managers can collaborate throughout the process of the request to keep other staff and residents in the loop.  In our upcoming December 2019 release, resident Board Members will be able to manage the entire workflow of architecture change requests for the community(ies) they live in.  

Create and manage committees

To help you better streamline the approval process for ARCs, we have introduced a committee role. You can now assign residents and board members the role of a Committee Member so they can oversee the ACR process from creating ACRs to approving them. This new role enables your Committee Members to gain insight into all the ACR requests your community is receiving. Simply navigate to the User Roles Administration page in the Pilera app and set up your users to become Committee Members. Learn more in our recent release notes!

Approve or reject requests

Once the manager has looked into the request thoroughly, they can approve or reject it and inform the resident of the same.  If the request is not ready to be approved yet, managers can use statuses such as “In Review” or “On Hold”.  You also notify residents of the status while progressing through the architecture change request from the “acknowledged” stage to “completed”, “cancelled”, or “rejected” stages by making the ticket visible by them and notifying the main contact.

Track each action on a request

As the architecture change request from residents progresses through various stages, Pilera’s ticketing system tracks it all automatically.  The ticket details provide a comprehensive audit trail of each action taken on an architecture change request.  Managers can revisit tickets at any time to see status changes, assignment changes, and all comments, thus improving accountability within the company.  

Gain high-level or detailed insights

Pilera’s portfolio-level dashboards give managers the capability to gather high-level or detailed insights based on their business needs across multiple communities that they manage.  Staff can filter specific criteria on the dashboard to view the requests that are pending responses. Managers can answer high-level questions such as how they can improve the approval process internally and for residents by viewing a list of the ACR’s that were rejected or which employees have a heavy workload.  

We’re excited for you to try the new Architecture Request Change feature as it’s been highly requested by our customers and it’ll help streamline the resident request process and improve satisfaction within the community.  Stay tuned to our blogs and emails on new updates to learn more about the Architecture Change Requests module. If you’d like to learn more about this new module, please contact us at [email protected].  

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About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management suite that has helped thousands of community managers and back-office personnel enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations.  May we help your community achieve these success stories?  Book a demo to see how Pilera’s community management suite can help your company.