Hello Maintenance Managers!
 
Thank you to everyone who attended May’s Maintenance Department conference call. The topics covered on these calls will be ever-evolving, but initially they’ll be geared towards opening up the lines of communication. We’ll talk about our current initiatives, share how the pilot programs are progressing, launch new policies/procedures, share best practices and ultimately create an open dialogue. We’ve chosen a few key takeaways from this meeting to highlight here:
 

• Work Order Training Series – In an effort to establish a solid educational foundation for understanding Yardi Work Orders, and how we plan to leverage them over the next few months, we’ve been developing a training series. This training series is already being well received and we’re excited to take it to the pilot phase. We’ve selected 6 properties to participate, two from each region:

                       Thank you to the properties that volunteered:

                                    Nor-Cal - Lawrence Station
                                    Nor-Cal - Via
                                    Seattle - Bellcentre
                                    Seattle - Highlands of Wynhaven
                                    So-Cal - Belmont Station
                                    So-Cal – Allegro

• Work Order Attribute Changes – The above training series involves a few additions to our work orders, such as a new status of “AWAITING PARTS” & “ASSIGNED TO CONTRACTOR”. We’re working through the proper use of these new changes, but in the meantime, we’re asking you not to use them until we’ve had an opportunity to vet the new work order management procedures.

• Turnover and Structural Repair Cost – Our Turnover cost have increased by 10% YoY with the same number of move-outs. Please do your best to apply additional scrutiny of the vendors, their pricing and the scopes of work, especially when it comes to remediation jobs. Don’t be afraid to push back on them if something doesn’t feel right. You manage your property and should feel empowered to save expenses when appropriate.

• Vendor Escalation Process – In order to maintain seamless services from our property vendors, it’s important to follow the proper vendor escalation process. If you have a struggling vendor that you’d like to address, please use the provided flowchart to help escalate the issues to the proper people. We’d encourage you to print and post this within your shop as a quick resource.
  
  Vendor Issue Resolution

   

• Call/Web Script – All work orders created by the resident using the Resident Portal used to go into the WEB status. Several of you asked to have these placed into the CALL status, so that you’d be able to quickly see them on your dashboard. You asked and we listened! All Resident Portal work orders will now automatically be moved to the CALL status.

• Resident Portal verbiage Update – In an effort to reduce unnecessary calls to maintenance, we’ve asked support to update the verbiage used in the resident portal. These updates may take some time to be applied to every property, but we’ve provided the verbiage below:
• Old – “If this is an emergency, please call the toll free line for immediate assistance”
• New – “Maintenance Emergencies are issues that require immediate attention for the safety of the occupants, the property and your belongings. Please do not submit an emergency maintenance request online. If your request meets these standards, or you require a response within 48 hours, please contact the office by phone immediately at (xxx) xxx-xxxx, so that we can respond more promptly." 

 
The above highlights are just a fraction of what was covered during our time, so be sure to hop on our next call! You can find the information within the Buzz calendar here LINK.
 
Want a Meeting Invite?
If you weren’t able to make the call, or would like an invitation, please send an email to ssteele@essex.com.