Working as a property manager can feel like you’re being hit by a constant barrage of problems. Whether that’s tricky clients or unexpected structural problems with your buildings, staying on top of things – let alone getting ahead – can feel like a pipe dream at times.
To have a chance of staying ahead, you need to think strategically about every aspect of your job. Today we decided to hone in on plumbing in particular, an area that will be relevant to pretty much all property managers. From committing to preventative maintenance to changing your relationship with tenants, these are our three top tips.
Commit to preventative maintenance
The most important thing you can do to keep your plumbing problems to an absolute minimum is to commit to preventative maintenance. Make a maintenance schedule, including annual servicing for your boilers, obtaining a valid gas safety check certificate (with the average gas safety check cost typically ranging from £60–£100 depending on the property and appliances), and general inspections of the rest of the water system, and make sure that you stick to it.
Replace water pumps and water pipes before, not after they break, to avoid downtime and potentially far more extensive repairs. This requires having a plumber who you know you can trust, and who can spot issues before they escalate into something that could have been avoided.
Identify a good plumber
If you’re a property manager, your plumbing maintenance needs likely won’t just be a one-off. If you have multiple properties, you’ll need to identify a reliable plumber who can help you out whenever you need. While you can go with individual tradespeople, in many cases it might be more appropriate to go with a bigger provider such as Able Plumbers.
That way, when you need emergency services, it’s more likely that the plumbing provider will have someone available to send over to help you out. If you’ve got clients who need help quickly, this can make the difference between being able to provide a good service or not.
Encourage tenants to reach out
Lastly, there’s a bit of a culture of discouraging tenants from reaching out for assistance at the moment. While this might keep costs down in the short run, this will often result in far more substantial and costly issues emerging in the long term.
It’s important to make it clear that they should reach out to tell you about plumbing problems as soon as they happen, so that you can get any issues sorted out as soon as possible. Not only will this keep maintenance and repair costs to a minimum in the long run, but it will also result in fewer significant disruptions for the inhabitants of your buildings – absolutely a win-win situation.
Sticking to these three simple but highly effective tips can make your life as a property manager a whole lot easier. They can be applied not just to plumbing maintenance, but also to most other practical aspects of keeping a property in good shape. Whether that’s the water or electrical system, keeping on top of things and sorting issues out early on is always in your best interest.
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