Property maintenance has always been vital for the long-term health of your assets. And today, it is arguably more important than ever. From the rising cost of new builds to concern about construction’s impact on the climate, maintaining property correctly helps avoid expensive refurbishment and waste. But property management businesses and commercial landlords often experience real headaches with managing their portfolios. And this is where property maintenance software can help.
What is property maintenance software?
Property maintenance software (also known as Computerised Maintenance Management Software – CMMS), provides you with a system for organising all maintenance operations across buildings in your portfolio. It digitizes tasks a manager would have assigned manually, speeding up workflows, boosting efficiency and reducing the risk of mistakes. Using digital technology also allows you to easily track jobs and generate reports.
Learn more: What is computer-aided facilities management (CAFM)?
5 headaches that maintenance management software solves
So, how does property maintenance software help commercial landlords and property management companies? Here are five major headaches that property maintenance software can address:
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No evidence of completed tasks
If you send out contractors to complete maintenance tasks, you have very little evidence of completed work – or its quality. While trust is important in your relationships with maintenance teams, sometimes you will require solid proof of the works. That’s especially true if you’re working with a new contractor. In the traditional approach, it was very difficult to get evidence that tasks had been completed.
How property maintenance software solves this headache: Using facility manager software, you can request your subcontractors take a photo on their smartphones which is uploaded to your database and can be viewed from your office desktop.
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Time wasted around task allocation
At many property management businesses, the maintenance team leader gives out tasks at the beginning of the day. Alternatively, they assign tasks when contractors physically return to the office to find out what the next job is. This means it’s usually only possible to give out jobs in person. That often leads to a lot of wasted time travelling between sites and the office.
How property maintenance software solves this headache: By using a mobile app, you can assign tasks within seconds, while taking into account each of your contractors’ competencies and availability. The assignee will automatically receive an in-app notification (also available via email) which will remind them to complete the maintenance task.
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Not enough data to make informed decisions
Which contractor works most efficiently? How long does it take contractors to complete specific tasks? How long is your backlog and do you have enough resources to complete all maintenance tasks?
With the traditional approach to property maintenance, answering these questions is very challenging and it’s also easy to make mistakes. You also rely too heavily on everything being inside the head of the maintenance team leader. But what if that person gets ill, goes on holiday, or leaves the company?
How property maintenance software solves this headache: By using smart technology, property management businesses and commercial landlords can instantly generate reports on tasks completed. You can see who has done what work, when, how much it’s costing you and how efficient they are being. Additionally, you will have the data to back up any decisions you make.
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Can’t access the information you need
Imagine you are visiting a facility that you maintain and realise that you do not have the logbook of previous maintenance tasks completed. It becomes very difficult for you to work out what previous contractors have done and why. You would therefore waste time travelling back to your head office to access this information.
How property maintenance software solves this headache: By using a cloud-based Computerised Maintenance Management Software, you can simply log into your database from the app and view a diary of previous reports compiled by earlier contractors – and save yourself a frustrating journey.
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Challenging to prove you maintained assets
The worst-case scenario for any property management business or commercial landlord is for a disaster to happen at one of their sites and for them to be unable to prove they complied with regulatory standards.
If you are ever audited, taken to court or sued, it is essential to be able to find your historical maintenance records. That way, you can prove that you followed all required rules and regulations and demonstrate that your business is not liable. But if you rely on verbal instructions or easily damaged paper checklists, it becomes a whole lot harder to provide evidence of your work.
How property maintenance software solves this headache: By using a digital application to allocate tasks, generate reports and store all your building documents, you have an easy way to access records of all your decisions and can demonstrate your compliance – and defend yourself if ever required.
Related reading: Find out how PlanRadar gives you smart insights for optimised real estate property management
Time to start using computerised maintenance management software?
Ever more property management firms and commercial landlords are turning to property maintenance software to keep their buildings in order. With an easy-to-use platform like PlanRadar, your company can quickly resolve many of the headaches facing property maintenance teams today.
Contact us for a demo of our property maintenance software, or begin your free 30-day trial.
