Commercial real estate is an ever-growing sector with many new entrants into the market. While many companies may enter in the hopes of creating a successful enterprise, doing so is not that easy. There are several responsibilities, from managing lease agreements and contracts to conducting regular maintenance and engaging tenants. Property management is a complex process. In this piece, we will unpack the importance of maintenance processes within property management and how to simplify the processes.
Maintenance management is a vital part of property management. After all, forgetting to conduct regular maintenance can quickly snowball into many vocal tenants voicing their frustration.
With many companies owning several properties at once, the easy option may be to outsource certain aspects of property management, such as maintenance. But how do you know that your company’s maintenance requirements are being fulfilled? There is another option for businesses, implementing a CMMS.
What is a CMMS?
A computerized maintenance management system, CMMS software for short, is a platform popularized in the 1980s for asset-intensive industries. The system provides a platform for companies to manage maintenance on their assets by scheduling maintenance, assigning work orders, and storing maintenance and asset data.
The benefits of a CMMS system can be carried over to the property management sector. Buildings and facilities require maintenance to maintain their value, operate efficiently, and provide a positive return on investment.
Why is a CMMS crucial for property management?
Property management is a competitive sector. By providing the best possible service could mean the edge over the many competitors out there. By providing well-maintained facilities for tenants or companies, a property management business can ensure satisfaction from its customers.
How does a CMMS streamline the maintenance process for a company?
Unpacking the functions of a CMMS shows us how the solution can assist a real estate and commercial property management company in conducting its maintenance management activities.
Simplify maintenance work order assignment
The chances are that the property under maintenance is not in the same location as the property management company. This is why a simplified work order assignment function is vital.
CMMS provides a platform on the system for employees to send a receive work order assignments. Conducting worker order assignments through a single platform also means that none will be overlooked, and all parties will be held accountable in the order. Rather than an old system of calling the employee, or sending an email, which could be missed. Many CMMS systems are also operable on smartphones. This means that the maintenance request, or update, can include video and pictures for further context.
Operable on smartphones
CMMS systems are operable on smartphones. Having the ability to operate a CMMS on an employee’s smartphone increases productivity and aids communication for property management employees. Often the employees from different departments have different responsibilities and are not based in the same office. Using the CMMS on a mobile phone, which many employees already own, enables employees to better coordinate and communicate their activities.
Employees will also become more efficient because they will be able to work on the move. Accessing all their maintenance needs on their phone means that employees do not need to spend their time in an office but rather be at the locations where they are needed.
Simplify maintenance scheduling
Scheduling maintenance activities is a crucial part of the maintenance program. The last thing a property management company wants is disgruntled tenants complaining about the remodeling at four in the morning.
CMMS maintenance downtime according to data collected on the platform. Maintenance work orders can be scheduled according to a time that works for both the company and tenant.
Securely store important data
Collating and storing maintenance information for several buildings can be complex and overwhelming. This no longer needs to be the case. With a CMMS, employees can upload data onto a single platform, either at their workplace or through their phone. This means that all the information required is stored securely in a single cloud-based platform. This also makes for easy access to data if needed by employees.
Manage multiple properties simultaneously
CMMS is scalable, so whether your company is managing one property or several, the platform can store data related to all of your properties and facilities.
Asset mapping
A crucial function found on a CMMS system is the map layout functionality. If a specific asset, such as a firehose in a housing apartment requires maintenance, the asset can be located easily through the map layout function on the CMMS system. This convenient function makes specific maintenance assignments much easier to conduct.
Conclusion
With the functions offered by a CMMS, we can see how it would be beneficial for property management companies to implement a CMMS software for properties. Rather than outsource the responsibilities. A CMMS simplifies maintenance, and with many cost-effective solutions available, choosing and implementing one would be an advantage to many property management companies.
