Systematic Maintenance & Repair policy
Background: Several good initiatives for important maintenance and repair (M&R) work have been started by the current Committee. Even though these initiatives are appreciated by the apartment owners, the owners would like to see an even more structured, systematic and proactive approach for the M&R work, as was also discussed in our AGM 2018.
Status: This policy was approved on our AGM on February 27th 2020.
Introduction:
We would like to see a set of best practices for planning and execution of M&R work in living complexes like ours. It would normally consist of the following main points:
a) A periodic systematic conditional survey of the whole complex with all main elements, such as the outer walls, roof, corridors, stairs, lifts, garage, water-pipes, sewage pipes, gas supply, electrical infrastructure, TV/internet cables, swimming pool etc. Relevant aspects of conditions should be recorded, such as:
i) Materials and construction methods
i) Age
iii) Typical durability in the current region
iv) Known problems and repair history
v) Other conditional findings from the survey/inspection
vi) Cost estimate for any needed repair/maintenance
b) A classification of all findings, based on criticality and risks for future worsening of the situation. The classification should be divided as follows (or similar):
i) immediately hazardous conditions
ii) potentially hazardous violations
iii) non-hazardous violations
c) A periodic M&R plan should be derived from the complex condition report. It should address the schedule and budget for the M&R activities in a prioritised order and divided into time perspectives (like 0-1 year, 1-3 years, 3-5 years, 5-10 years or similar).
Priorities in the M&R plan should be based on criticality, risks and estimated cost of repairs, and should be recorded as follows:
| EMERGENCY | Conditions that threaten health or safety. |
| PREVENTIVE | Conditions that if left unresolved will become emergencies, leading to major damage or destruction of the building, and will cost significantly more if done later rather than sooner. |
| COSMETIC | Repairs that only affect the appearance of the building, an apartment, or a public area. |
d) Bidding rounds covering the period ahead, with several relevant and classified vendors. Evaluation and decisions by established criteria that are also communicated to the vendors up front. The attendant/custodian should carry out significant parts of the M&R, within his/her competence, experience and capacity.
e) Execution of the M&R activities under close follow up, evaluation and communication with the chosen vendors.
The expected and positive outcomes of such an approach are:
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- First things first: We attack what seems to be the most critical issues within M&R at any time.
- Cost saving i) By starting with the most critical issues, we also save money, as repair work tends to become more expensive as time passes by and the condition gets worse.
- Cost saving ii) It is also a clear potential for saving money when setting up competitions by using systematic bidding rounds with relevant vendors.
- Risk mitigation: We lower the risk for severe incidents within our complex and for the persons living there.
- First things first: We attack what seems to be the most critical issues within M&R at any time.
A more elaborated proposal for M&R policy was sent to the Committee in May 2019, but there are no records in any meeting minutes indicating that it was dealt with. The text above can be seen as a shorter and simpler version of the same.