Maintenance Strategy for an Inner City Estate - Assignment Example

Maintenance Strategy for an Inner E YOUR In recent years, the conditions within this e have grown to be cause for concern. The lack of proper maintenance has caused expensive damage and so maintenance costs have actually increased. This dilapidation has driven away several tenants and made vacancies difficult to fill, further complicating the financial situation. In order to turn this around, the building management must invest in some serious repairs and come up with new policies that encourage the tenants to take better care of their properties. With any luck, the strategies here listed will result in an improved reputation which will attract good tenants, creating a positive cycle in which a well-maintained building attracts the kind of tenants who would like a well-maintained building and they in turn contribute to the building's maintenance. At the moment the estate is trapped in an opposite cycle, in which a poorly maintained building attracts the kind of tenants who don't care about the state of their homes, and they in turn cause damage to the property. This cycle must be stopped and a positive one created in its place. To begin with, a bare minimum standard of maintenance must be met at all times for the health and safety of the tenants. A new system for assessing the conditions of a dwelling has recently been implemented in the Housing Act 2004 and these standards should be taken into account when considering repairs. According to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the new Housing Health and Safety Rating System, implemented April 2006, outlines hazards that will be assessed. Those hazards which may affect this estate include: damp and mould growth, excess cold, excess heat, domestic hygiene, lighting, and noise (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2006). Although the maintenance department is technically responsible for the health and safety of the building, there are a lot of preventative measures that tenants can be encouraged to take, through incentives if necessary. Also, with a little investment in the right infrastructure, problems can be prevented before repairs are needed. One of the most pressing concerns in any building is moisture. An apartment with too much moisture will inevitably become a mouldy apartment. Mould causes: health risks, such as respiratory problems and allergies; a dirty, unmaintained-looking appearance; and even damage to building materials (Building Management, Mildew, 2006). For this reason, management should offer to split the cost of a low-end humidifier with any tenant who agrees to buy one. This not only demonstrates management's genuine concern for the health of the tenants, it also creates a solid infrastructure of moisture prevention which can prevent costly mould problems in the future. Excess cold and excess heat are problems within this estate during certain seasons, particularly excess cold. A lot of cold gets in through poorly sealed windows and poorly insulated walls. A temporary solution for this problem is to provide any tenant who is willing with weather stripping for the windows. This reduces heating costs and improves the temperature of the property by a sizable amount. However, due to the poor insulation in the building, cold still gets in through the walls. Replacing the insulation should become a priority in the long term. Excess heat is less of a problem, and mainly results from poor ventilation. Ventilation is also an important factor because a lack of ventilation can cause moisture to collect and allow for the growth of dangerous mould. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that every room of the building be well-ventilated. Although the approximate installation cost for a ventilator is $225 (National Center for Healthy Housing, 2005), it is necessary to prevent dampness and mould. Every kitchen and bathroom in the building should be checked for a working ventilator, and where necessary, a new one installed. The domestic hygiene or cleanliness of the home may be seen to be the responsibility of the tenants, however, there are some ways that this can be made more convenient for them, making them more likely to keep their homes clean. This is important because a lack of proper cleaning and care usually results in some form of damage to the premises. According to Gary Minto, former Executive Director of the Raonoke neighborhood Alliance, a great deal of the damage in low income housing is caused by mistreatment of the premises. Surfaces such as walls and floor as well as fixtures can become so saturated with dirt that they are very difficult or even impossible to clean. In addition, uncontrolled dirt can attract infestations that can even cause structural damage. So clearly it is important to encourage the tenants to keep their properties clean. For starters, if the public areas are cleaner, the apartments are more likely to be kept cleaner. A tenant who feels like they live in a dump will not be as motivated to clean his or her own property, whereas a tenant who enters the building into a clean lobby and walks down clean halls is more likely to feel it would be worthwhile to clean his or her home. Furthermore, a clean building attracts tidy tenants. A cleaning service for the public areas would be a worthwhile investment. There are also several things that can be done to make an area seem cleaner. First and foremost, all indoor brick surfaces in the common areas should be treated with a penetrating sealer finish to make them easier to clean and less prone to dust (Field, Brick, 1998). Concrete floors can be sealed in a similar manner (Field, Concrete, 1998). Vinyl floors can also be treated with a "self-cleaning finish" which prevents dirt and damage (Field, Cleaning Vinyl, 1998). To give common areas a cleaner feeling, proper hundred Watt lighting should be maintained in all common areas activated by either a motion sensor or timed switch. This is also important because well-lit halls and stair wells discourage intruders. In addition all windows in common areas should be cleaned regularly so that the maximum amount of natural light reaches the interior of the building. Since there will already be a cleaning service at the building, they should be able to offer the tenants a reasonable price on cleaning their homes. This will make them much more likely to have their homes cleaned, because it is convenient, and more affordable than hiring a private cleaner. For those tenants that can't afford this service, or don't want it, a public collection of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies can be kept in the housing office. The cost is very small and it will encourage tenants to keep their homes clean. Clean homes will in turn encourage tenants to keep their homes in a better state of repair, and all of these things will go towards preventing damage. Domestic hygiene also means freedom from infestation. An infested apartment can turn a building's reputation completely upside down. Cockroaches especially, are seen as unclean and unhealthy. "Roaches often associate themselves with filth and are known to be involved in the spread of bacterial organisms which cause gastroenteritis and other intestinal infections" (Ellis, 1998). Each unit should be checked for pests and even if none are found, the seals around doors, windows, and vents should be carefully checked and resealed if necessary. The cost of this is extremely reasonable, at about $30 per unit (National Center for Healthy Housing, 2005 ). In addition, the maintenance of a clean apartment can prevent cockroaches (Ellis, 1998), and tenants should be made aware of this. If cockroaches or other insects are found during inspection, the species should be identified and dealt with accordingly. Several common species of cockroach can be dealt with using chemical-free traps (Ellis, 1998). As for any large upgrades to the building, it may be useful to conduct a survey of what the tenants would value most. The newest upgrades available don't necessarily attract new tenants (Building Management, Technology, 2006). Instead, it would be useful to find out what the current tenants, as well as prospective tenants, would appreciate the most. This way, any large upgrade the building buys is guaranteed to be paid for by new tenants and old tenants who renew their leases. The reputation of the establishment could be negatively impacting the attitude of tenants towards their own responsibilities in the maintenance and repair of homes. As Lee's Building Maintenance Management reminds us "[t]he attitudes of the owner are distinguished .. from those of the occupier" (Lee, 2000, p. 58). Since this clearly plays a role in why tenants are less involved in the maintenance process, it could be exceedingly beneficial if the attitudes of the tenants shifted in the direction of the attitude of an owner, rather than just a temporary user. The transient mentality could be overcome and replaced by more of a feeling of ownership if the tenants could somehow be made to think of the home as more of an investment. If this could be accomplished, it would also attract a more responsible, committed clientele who were interested in long-term investment. This in turn would go a long way towards improving the reputation of the establishment. Since resources are limited at this point, it would be beneficial to involve the tenants in the maintenance process, and for that, proper motivation is required. A well conceived incentive plan can hopefully be "cheaper than cash" allowing the maintenance to be done cheaper, possibly much cheaper. We already discourage people from doing damage to a property by collecting from them, a deposit, only to be returned if the apartment is returned in as good a condition as it was given. To quote a paraphrasing of the Landlord Tenant Act 1985, as described in Lee's Building Maintenance Management: "in the case of certain small dwellings let for a period less than three years there shall be an implied term in any contract of letting that the house is at the commencement of the contract 'fit for habitation' and shall remain so during the tenancy" (Lee, 2000, p. 59). It is expected that a tenant will return the apartment in a condition that is fit for habitation, similar to that in which he or she received it, upon which he or she is given back his or her initial deposit. In a similar spirit, we shall instate a reward system for those tenants who return their apartment in a better condition than that in which it was given to them. After all, as Economist Steven Levitt articulates so clearly: "[w]e all learn to respond to incentives, negative and positive, from the outset of life" (Levitt, 2005, p. 20). For those tenants who choose to take their dilapidated premises and transform them into a more valuable space through redecorating, repairs, and installation upgrades, why not provide them with a greater deposit than that which they left Not only will they have made the property more valuable, but they will have saved the building the cost of doing the repairs and maintenance by taking upon themselves, the initiative to improve their homes. The reward system shall work as follows. A record shall be kept for each apartment outlining its basic condition. Tenants shall be encouraged to document any improvements that they make, and their records can then be compared with the building's records as proof that the apartment has actually been improved. After a year, if the apartment has been sufficiently improved, the original deposit shall be returned. Upon leaving the premises the lessor will be entitled to an incentive bonus amounting to between half and three times the original deposit amount, according to the amount of home improvement in evidence. The tenants should have access to maintenance guidelines so that they have the option of taking the initiative to improve their homes. They should also be made aware of their right to do so. As the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985, section 11 states, "In any case where...the lessor does not have a sufficient right in the part of the building or the installation concerned to enable him to carry out the required works or repairs" the lessor is not required to make repairs. As such, it is essential that all tenants are enabled to perform any repairs that they are qualified to perform. It is conceivable that this set of possible maintenance options will vary from tenant to tenant and they may not themselves be the best judges of their skills. If different tenants are able to and willing to perform different levels of maintenance, this situation needs to be analyzed and assurances given that the able tenants are within their capabilities and that suitable confirmation of their rights to do so is given. Aside from encouraging tenants to do their own home improvements, this strategy has several other benefits. Probably the primary benefit is the change in the outlook of the tenants. By making their home into more of an investment, the tenant may feel he or she has more of a stake in the entire property and this will create a marked increase in his or her attitude towards property maintenance (Egbu, 1999). After all, as Larry Summers said, "In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car." People will take much better care of something that they feel a certain ownership for. This strategy won't simply change the attitudes of current tenants; it will also attract a certain type of person as a new tenant. New tenants are more likely to be long-term and committed. This is beneficial not only for the obvious reason that they will stay longer, but also because if they know they are staying longer they are less likely to allow the apartment to fall into disrepair and more likely to make improvements. The new tenants this reward system would attract, would be the kind of people who are interested in making an investment in their home. They will be much more likely to try and improve the value of the property, not just for the sake of the reward, but for their own comfort as well. So there is a certain value in having committed tenants. And conversely, the most detrimental tenants must be dealt with. Of course, eviction should be avoided if necessary because this creates a loss of income in the form of vacancies, and possibly an increase in legal expenditures, however, in certain cases, the detriment of having the tenant is far greater than the loss of their rent. These are generally cases where the tenant in question's neighbours become unhappy and likely to leave. In cases where a tenant's presence is no longer acceptable, necessary steps should be taken for his or her eviction. The first step should be proper notice. If sufficient notice is given the tenant is less likely to protest and costly legal steps are usually not necessary. A month's notice should provide the tenant with ample time to find a new arrangement. In the case of a tenant who is thought to endanger the safety of the other tenants, less notice should be given. For those tenants who cause minor problems not meriting eviction, should be reminded of the rules of the building through written notice. Otherwise, there is little to be done unless they cross over into the suitable-for-eviction category. One step towards encouraging neighbourly behavior is to install fake video cameras. This is incredibly cheap and would likely prevent vandalism, and other crime. In order to effectively implement these strategies, a planned monthly routine is essential. This should consist of the schedule for tasks that must be exercised every month, as well as annual tasks, however the schedule of annual or less frequent tasks should not be done too far in advance unless they are of an extremely predictable nature. Barrie Chanter aptly puts it: At the beginning of each year, monthly programmes may be produced by simply breaking down the annual programme into twelve workloads. Monthly programmes produced in this way will almost certainly have limited value and, bearing in mind the principle of ensuring that planning should be relevant and realistic, caution should be exercised. (Chanter, 2001) The annual tasks shouldn't be scheduled simply at random. Instead, Chanter suggests that a month in advance, more might be known about a situation that may help to more accurately schedule tasks. It is difficult to predict which large tasks will need to be done and which things will need to be fixed very far in advance. This fact should be appreciated when creating a routine schedule. The strategies outlined in this report should be implemented immediately. Building staff should be made aware of new maintenance procedures to maintain a minimum standard of safety and cleanliness in public and private areas as outlined in this report and a basic plan for their immediate implementation into daily, weekly, and monthly routines should be put into action over the next few weeks. The system of tenant incentives should be fine-tuned and tenants should be informed in letters and in notices on the building's public bulletin boards. In the process tenants should be made aware of their right to do a certain level of home repairs and they should be made aware of the simple process for gaining permission to do more advanced home repairs. Problem tenants should be dealt with, if possible, and those tenants that are a nuisance to the other tenants through destructive, disruptive, or criminal behaviour, or who cause a great amount of destruction to the building including their own property, should be evicted. By bringing maintenance standards up to a reasonable level, and focusing on the prevention of future maintenance problems, management can bring the building out of the deplorable state into which it has fallen. By encouraging the tenants to take an active role in the maintenance and improvement of their own property through incentives, thus making them feel more like owners, a positive cycle can be created, in which good tenants are attracted by a good building, and a good building is in turn maintained by good tenants. References Building Management. (2006). Does Technology Attract Tenants Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.buildingmanagement.com/cob/tcb4.html Building Management. (2006). Mildew, Prevention/Control. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.buildingmanagement.com/cob/tcb7.html Chanter, B., Swallow, P. (2001). Building Maintenance Management. London: Blackwell. Egbu, Charles O. (1999). Skills, Knowledge, and Competencies for Managing Construction Refurbishment Works. Construction Management and Economics, 17 (29-43). Retrieved April 3, 2006, from http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(4mcmcv5555lrwsjx2gckhpvp)/app/home/contribution.aspreferrer=parent&backto=issue,5,14;journal,61,77;linkingpublicationresults,1:100154,1 Ellis, T. (1998). Cockroaches. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod02/01500526.html Field, A. (1998). Brick-Traits and Cleaning. Retreived April 5, 2006, from http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod02/01500108.html Field, A. (1998). Cleaning Vinyl No-Wax Floors. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod02/01500139.html Field, A. (1998). Concrete, Cement Floor Car and Cleaning. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod02/01500145.html Housing Act 2004. (Part 1, Chap. 1). Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2004/40034--b.htm#1 Lee, R., Wordsworth, P. (2000). Lee's Building Maintenance Management. London: Blackwell. Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.letlink.co.uk/GeneralInfo/Stat3LT1985.htm Levitt, S. D., Dubner, J. D. (2005). Freakonomics. New York: Harper Collins. National Center for Healthy Housing. (2005). Steps for Creating a Healthier Home. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.centerforhealthyhousing.org/NCHHCostSht3.pdf Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. (2006). Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS): An Overview. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.aspid=1152825 Read More