Tips to Create an HOA Maintenance Checklist
Maintenance is vital to keeping the community safe and providing an enjoyable resident experience, but it can often be difficult to keep track of all the maintenance tasks you need to perform. With other responsibilities that the HOA board is responsible for, like yearly planning, budgeting, keeping up with property care, and auditing, it’s easy to miss the important details without proper guidance. That’s why it’s essential to create an HOA maintenance checklist.
The importance of an HOA Maintenance Checklist
Every HOA needs to have routine checks and upkeep performed on it. In this approach, you can head off potential significant problems by identifying and fixing smaller ones as soon as they arise. Fixing issues when they arise without delaying them can significantly reduce unexpected costs for the community, ensuring the integrity of a structure and preventing significant damage.
After completing the checklist, you should prioritize any following action items. Regular inspections are essential because common areas are the responsibility of the HOA. This makes the HOA a more secure environment in which its members may relax.
How to create a Maintenance Checklist for your HOA
Keeping track of necessary repairs in your neighborhood using a checklist can be quite helpful. It helps to reduce the number of issues that could occur. The following items should be included in any well-rounded HOA maintenance checklist, regardless of the age or size of the community:
Exterior
Preventative maintenance for your HOA should begin with inspecting the building’s façade. Move on to houses after you’ve finished inspecting the buildings. See if there is damage to the walls and the foundation.
It’s possible that painting the walls will be necessary to keep the area looking nice. Occasionally, you’ll need to replace a building’s outside vents. Be sure to inspect the windows, too, because they may have developed cracks that necessitate replacing.
Interior
The interiors of your HOA or condo maintenance checklist should be tackled after you’ve finished with the exterior. Suggest to homeowners that they check the screens and vents in their attics. Inspect the flooring for signs of deterioration or unevenness that could lead to trips, falls, and injuries.
Leaks are another thing that homeowners should look for. Those who have experienced water damage know how much hassle it can be to fix. Consequently, being proactive is essential for success.
Utilities
Your HOA or condo should also have a maintenance checklist for utilities. Every homeowner is responsible for this, but the HOA also must ensure that shared amenities like the clubhouse and the fitness center are in working order.
If you want to stay cool in the summer, check that all of your air conditioners are in working order. Make sure the condenser is working correctly as well. Look at the heaters, heating systems, and water heating systems. Inspect any lines that enter the house or building through outside walls.
Common Areas
Up next on the HOA maintenance schedule are the shared spaces. Everything outside of a house or condo. The landscaping should have a tidy and professional appearance. Check that your grass, trees, and bushes are at their proper heights and widths. A preventative maintenance plan for your HOA increases your property value. An association that is well-maintained welcomes and attracts new homeowners, and encourages its current members to maintain their homes.
After all, nobody enjoys seeing unkempt bushes and grass. Uniformity in landscaping is vital for aesthetic reasons and replanting or trimming trees and plants can reduce potential safety hazards.
Structural Components
The walls and the foundation are one of the first places an HOA will look. You need to double-check that the walls are painted in the same style as the rest of the neighborhood and that the foundation is sound.
Windows and vents are another element of your building’s exterior to inspect. The need for window repair is expected because of the frequency with which windows break. The vents are another everyday wear and tear item that must be regularly updated if they are not in excellent shape.
Electrical Supply Boxes
Any electrical supply boxes must be checked as part of a routine HOA maintenance inspection. Similarly, this includes any power lines that might traverse your land. Since it could be risky to evaluate these on your own, it may be wise to hire an insured and licensed contractor.
Wood Decks and Patios
The HOA will also conduct inspections of wood decks and patios. This is because mold may quickly form on these decks and can serve as a home for termites. Possible consequences include the need for deck repairs or even replacement. Association rules could stipulate that members conduct periodic checks for pests.
Wooden decks must also meet specific structural standards to prevent them from being blown away in a high-wind event like a hurricane or tropical storm. Professionals or homeowners in the HOA may conduct these checks.
How technology can help you manage your HOA’s maintenance checklist
Many software solutions are available that are both inexpensive and simple to adopt, allowing you to modernize your community maintenance tasks without breaking the bank. Instead of leaving access to maintenance checklist documents to chance, you can foster an atmosphere of trust and transparency by storing them digitally and making them readily available to all relevant parties, including homeowners.
With Pilera and other maintenance solutions, you may drastically cut response times by centralizing the management of thousands of work order requests across your communities. It’s a great way to boost your town’s allure and keep your locals in the know.
Work orders
Work order tracking saves time and effort throughout the maintenance process. It’s important to make sure that your maintenance solution can help your team boost productivity and resident satisfaction, rather than create more work.
Document storage
Minutes, proxies, annual meeting records, and other papers and information may be lost if only stored physically or be damaged during a storm. Managers, boards of directors, and residents have access to and can keep tabs on essential documents and processes when they are stored in an online document repository. It’s a great place to store the community’s maintenance checklist for managers, board members, and residents to access.
Conclusion
Maintaining your HOA’s well-being requires regular maintenance. Common areas are generally under the control of the board of directors. Property owners are responsible for maintaining their properties.
But everyone should keep an eye out for flaws and report them to the board. Avoiding hazards can be easier this way. Creating a maintenance checklist for your HOA and tracking work orders using an online tool are the most effective ways to handle it.
Pilera Software is here to make it easier for you! With our property management software, managers, board members, residents, and vendors can all work together to improve the community’s maintenance operations. Managers and board members can create work orders, assign them to vendors, and collaborate internally to ensure no tasks are forgotten. Residents can submit their own unit and common area work orders in an easy-to-use portal and get updates to save managers and board members time.
About Pilera
Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. To learn how Pilera can help to improve efficiency and reduce costs, book a personalized demo.
