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Declining maintenance and service levels are responsible for more move-outs than any other category of complaints. The quality of maintenance service to residents is a vital aspect of a successful apartment community. A resident's request for service is the single most important responsibility of the property staff. The way in which the request is handled reflects on the entire management staff. Timely, professional response is paramount.

1. Procedures for making work order requests should be explained to residents when they move in and should include the following:

a. Direct routine work order request to the property office so that a record can be kept of the work order request. These requests can be by telephone, in person or in writing. Encourage residents to direct all work order requests to the property office.

b. Needed repairs should be reported as soon as problems are noticed in order to minimize damage and costs.

2. The employee who receives the work order request should obtain as much information as possible from the resident describing the problem. This is best accomplished by asking detailed questions to determine the exact nature of the problem. It also increases the effectiveness of the Maintenance Staff by avoiding wasted time on travel to and from apartments to gather information which should have been received at the time the service was requested. Sample questions to ask when taking a work order request: Do you have special instruction for entering the unit, such as is there a pet? Will

you be at home? Where is the location of the problem? Ask clarification questions, like, “Which sink is leaking?” After the work order is returned, should the resident be charged? If so please refer

to the Damage Charge Listing (Form F-15)

3. Good communication among residents, management, and maintenance personnel is extremely important in handling work order requests satisfactorily. When handling work order requests remember and practice the following:

a. All residents should be treated with courtesy.b. Never make promises you cannot fulfill and fulfill promises you do make.c. If you are unable to comply with a promise or schedule, it is imperative that

you contact the resident immediately and explain the reason.d. Always thank the resident for notifying you of problems.

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4. All work order requests should, if possible, be handled within 24 hours of receiving the request from the resident. Optimum performance would be same day service. Same day work order requests can be your competitive edge in retaining good residents.

5. Work order requests from residents regarding inoperative locks on windows or doors and smoke alarms are to be treated as emergency work orders. Never delay a work order request for a broken lock or inoperable smoke alarm until the next day. It must be completed as soon as possible.

6. As each work order request is completed, the cause of the problem, its solution and/or any parts needed should be noted on the "Resident Work order request" form. The form should be signed and dated by the person completing the work and the resident if he/she is available.

7. The office staff must ensure that work order requests have been satisfactorily completed. Follow-up calls can be made to the resident either at the end of the day or the following day. The purpose of the follow-up call is to:

8. If a work order request cannot be attended to within 24 hours, the resident should be informed by the office staff of any delays or problems and should be advised when the work will be completed. However, promises should not be made to residents which set unrealistic schedules for the maintenance staff.

a. Give residents the opportunity to comment on the timeliness and quality of the maintenance service.

b. Help the Manager and maintenance personnel assess how maintenance is perceived by the residents.

9. All completed work order requests should be filed for future reference as they provide a history of services performed in each apartment.

10. Occasionally, maintenance personnel will not be able to perform the work requested because the apartment could not be entered. For example, this situation can occur due to the fact that it was an inconvenient time for the resident. In these cases, the resident should be notified to contact the office and set an appointment for making the repair.

11. In some cases, a resident will insist that repairs be made only when they are present. It is our policy to cooperate whenever possible but not to the extent of making calls after hours, except in an emergency.

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12. If an outside contractor is involved, an explanation should be given to the resident that every attempt will be made to coordinate the visit but management cannot dictate a contractor's visit.

WORK ORDER PROCEDURES

Work orders must be written for every maintenance request whether prompted by the resident or on site staff. Do not allow maintenance personnel to complete a repair at the resident’s request. Ever request must come thru the community manager.

All pertinent data for the work order shall be entered into Yardi to generate a hard copy for the maintenance technician.

In emergency situations the Maintenance Technician should do any necessary repairs to ensure the health and safety of the resident and the property, but should notify the Community Manager as soon as possible.

The maintenance technician is responsible for writing all data on the work order such as date and times in and out of the apartment, what work was performed, materials used and their cost, what they observed to have caused the problem, etc.

If the resident is not home, a “door hanger” should be left to notify them that maintenance has been in their apartment.

The completed work order must be filed in the unit maintenance file. Work orders are to be completed within 24 hours unless a part needs to be ordered

or a contractor called. All work orders must be filled out in their entirety by the maintenance staff. Work orders that are pending must be filed in place where they are easily

accessible. The community manager shall take a completed work order and enter all data into

Yardi including maintenance technician notes and materials used and show it as completed in Yardi.

Upon completion in Yardi, the completed work order should be signed by the Community Manager and attached to the Maintenance Technician’s copy and placed in the unit maintenance file.

COMMON MISTAKES Insufficient detail. For example, writing a work order for “make ready

apartment” does not provide enough information on what is being done in the unit. You must write a work order for each activity or repair taking place in the unit.

Maintenance being completed in a unit without a work order at all. Often, a resident will approach the maintenance technician about some work needed in their apartment. If it is a simple task, it is easy to comply with this request but this is not allowable under company policy. The Maintenance Technician should refer the resident to the Community Manager should this occur.

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Allowing completed work orders to pile up on the community manager’s desk before closing out in Yardi and filing hard copy.

Community manager does not obtain sufficient or accurate information on the nature of the work order so the maintenance technician is not prepared with the proper parts or tools when they enter the unit.

Improper prioritization of maintenance. When the workload is high, the community manager and maintenance staff should communicate daily on the priority level of certain work orders and other maintenance needed.

Maintenance is generally divided into five areas:

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1. Corrective Maintenance ~ Work orders2. Preventative Maintenance ~ Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Semiannually or Annually3. Emergency Maintenance ~ Not Scheduled4. Vacant Units ~ Second Highest Form Corrective Maintenance5. Deferred Maintenance

CORRECTIVE MAINTENANCE

As described in the work order procedures above, corrective maintenance is work order driven.

INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPLETED A WORK ORDER

Step 1. Sign into yardi

Step 2. From Yardi main screen from side bar choose Work Orders, click on add wo

Step 3. Select call from the drop down menu (this should already be there)Chapter 13, Section 3 Work Orders December 2013

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PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

Routine maintenance is work that is completed on some agreed upon schedule. This work is repeated thus, it is routine. Example would be the care of laundry facilities, bathrooms, shop, and cleaning of refrigerator coils.

Checklists are required to be completed and signed. A file should be maintained for the preventative maintenance checklist, schedule

and work orders as shown in Chapter 1 Section 5 of the Procedures Manual.

EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE

Maintenance performed under duress due to concern for property damage or personal injury.

VACANT UNITS

Vacant units are the second highest form of corrective maintenance. Vacant units are the most costly of all maintenance functions. All staff must be in sync on the scheduling of vacant unit maintenance.

Step 4. Click on property and select property code you use for your property or just type it in.

Step 5. Click on the unit link, click on the box next to the unit you want to select. Then choose ok. As a note, if you manually type in the unit it will not save if it is not typed identical to the yardi information. The Unit Number is VERY IMPORTANT, then click the Save button

Step 6. Type in nhe for the vendor if maintenance technician is completing the work order. Otherwise click vendor drop down menu and select the outside contractor used to complete the work repair/replacement

Step 7. Type in a brief description of repair needed this should be very short. This is what shows up on the work order directory log

Step 8. Select a priority from the drop down menuStep 9. Select a category from the drop down menuStep 10. Select a sub-category click on the sub-category linkStep 11. The section called Caller, name should populate the residents name when you put in the unit

number and save, if it does not then type in the person’s name who reported the problem. If this is a work order for a common are or office, leave blank.

Step 12. In problem description type in a full description of what problem is. Need to ask the resident what is the problem, where is the problem, do they know how it occurred, when the problem started, etc. Include all of this information in the problem description. There should be enough information that the maintenance technician can decide what tools and supplies they need to take with them to the unit.

Step 13. OK to enter drop down menu select yesStep 14. Select authorized by from the drop down menuStep 15. Under status history section enter the date and time you received the request for the repair to

be completedStep 16. Click Save

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DEFFERED MAINTENANCE

Deferred maintenance typically occurs when a maintenance plan does not exist at a property or funds are not available for corrective and preventative maintenance. Deferred maintenance devalues the property as well as creates a less desirable place to live.

Step 17. Near the top left of the screen you will see the word status, next to it is a drop down menu, select scheduled

Step 18. Click Save Step 19. Under status history section enter the date and time you scheduled the request for the repair to

be completedStep 20. Click SaveStep 21. Click Print Step 22. Select yes you want to display non secure items, (This question may not come up)Chapter 13, Section 3 Work Orders December 2013

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Step 23. Another screen will pop up, this is your actual work order in the right hand corner above the work order is a small printer icon, click on the printer icon, another box will appear click print and select your printer you want to use then print

Step 24. Close the box with the work order request, the red x in the top right corner, it will bring you back to the screen you were entering the work order data. If you do not have any more work orders to enter log off of yardi

Step 25. Give work order to maintenance technician to complete the following:Technician Notes: It is your responsibility to make sure your maintenance technician is thorough in their notes. They need to answer questions about: what the problems was; what caused it; where was the problem located; what they did to fix it; what supplies they used to do the repair; did they have to order supplies (invoice number) or was it in stock; was this damage

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normal wear and tear, was it product defect, or was it negligence or intentional damage; what is the serial number/model number of the supplies (if applicable); the date and time in and out of the unit (if more than one trip to complete the work, date and time in and out for each trip; and any other relevant information that is required to properly describe what they did and observed in this unit. Make sure your maintenance technician sign and dates his copy of the work order when they complete it.

Step 26. Maintenance Technician needs to sign bottom of work orderStep 27. Maintenance Technician needs to date bottom of work orderStep 28. Maintenance Technician needs to write if any invoice numbers at

bottom of work orderStep 29. Maintenance technician returns completed work order to the community managerStep 30. Community manager reviews the information and then sign back into yardi to close out work

order

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Step 31. From Yardi main screen from side bar choose Work Orders, click on review woStep 32. Select your propertyStep 33. In status area select scheduled from the drop down menuStep 34. Make sure all other areas are blank then choose submit, or if you want to you can type in work

order number and choose submit.Step 35. On the left hand side under the words work order you will see a list of all scheduled work

orders, look on the paper work order top right side for the work order number then click on that number in the list, the work order you entered will appear on the right

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Step 36. Near the top left of the screen you will see the word status, next to it is a drop down menu, it should be showing scheduled, change to work completed

Step 37. Click Save Step 38. Under status history enter the date and time the work order was completed, this information

should come from the maintenance portion of the written work orderStep 39. Click Save

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Step 40. Scroll to the bottom under technician notes, type in information from the maintenance work order, then click Save

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Step 41. Scroll back to middle and click on the labor tab. NOTE: IF NHE MAINTENANCE STAFF DID NOT COMPLETE THE WORK ORDER SKIP STEPS 41 through 47.

Step 42. Click on the box next to employee and choose nhe, or just type nhe.Step 43. Click on the box next to skill and choose nhe, or just type nhe.Step 44. Enter the actual start date and time the actual finish date and time (If it took more than one

day. You would enter the days on separate lines)Step 45. Click SaveStep 46. Check the number of hours showing for accuracy. If it is not correct, fix this section before

continuing. Step 47. If you made any changes Click Save again.Chapter 13, Section 3 Work Orders December 2013

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Step 48. HERE IS WHERE YOU PICK UP IF AN OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR DID THE REPAIR. Click on the Materials tab.

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Step 49. If your maintenance did the repair do the following: enter the quantity of stock used, click on the box next to Stock. Select the stock used from the drop down menu. If you have more than one item, repeat this step in the next material line. However, if you do not see the stock item you need from the drop down list, you can leave the stock blank and fill in the description manually but please email your Regional Property Manager and ask that the item be added. So that on future work orders the items will be listed. Click Save

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Step 50. If you had a vendor complete the repair do the following: If the contractor has broken their invoice down between labor and materials, do the following:

For Labor – enter 1 for quantity then click on the box next to Stock and select Vendor (not the vendor name just the option called vendor) then click Save.

For Material - enter the quantity of stock used, click on the box next to Stock. Select the stock used from the drop down menu. If you have more than one item, repeat this step in the next

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material line. However, if you do not see the stock item you need from the drop down list, you can leave the stock blank and fill in the description manually but please email your Regional Property Manager and ask that the item be added. So that on future work orders the items will be listed.

If the Vendor does not break down their invoice between labor and materials, then the entire invoice amount will be applied to the stock called “Vendor”.

Step 51. Click Save

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Step 52. Click on the Pay/Charge tab (Yardi will already have the material items and labor times listed). You should not have to enter a labor charge for nhe as it will default to $16.00.

Step 53. Enter the unit price and include tax for each item. For instance if your purchase is $2.50 plus $.25 tax, you will enter $2.75 under the unit price, we do not separate the tax out of the total cost. If a vendor charges tax on their invoice, apply the tax to the materials used.

Step 54. FOR AN OUTSIDE VENDOR DO THIS: If you are using an outside vendor to complete the work and they separate the labor/supplies on their invoice then you will enter the full amount of labor charge in the section you created called vendor. Then for the materials you will put the total amount charged for each material type next to the material to include the taxes. IF they

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do not break down labor and material on the bill put the entire cost of the invoice next to the stock called vendor under the materials tab.

Step 55. Do not check the Pay? Chg? Tax? Comm? Boxes

Step 56. Click Save

Step 57. Reprint completed work order, community manager to sign off if work is completed

Step 58. Community manager is to staple completed work order to maintenance hand written work order (scheduled one)

Step 59. File in unit work order file in dated order

Step 60. If charging tenant keep copies of invoices with work orders.

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