How to report repairs or damage in flats

While property managers aim for frequent visits and inspections, they can never be as thorough as 100 residents passing in and out of the building every day. Two pairs of eyes may be better than one, but just think what100 pairs can do!

But property managers can struggle to diagnose damages or problems when some residents report them. To try and assist, we'll set out some guidance to help you get the best possible result and fastest response from your property manager.

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Location, Location, Location

First thing first - where is the problem? We receive a high number of maintenance reports with no description of the location, their address, or even the name of the building! While you may expect your property manager to have email addresses or names for the residents (and indeed we do for all the owners), it is impossible to keep a detailed list of every tenant in every property - as well as their most up to date email address.

Providing the address of the building, even if you don't want to share your home address, is a huge help to clarify the issue and ensure it goes to the best person to handle the problem. After that, you need to be specific about where in the building the problem is. If it is a light, which floor is it on? Is it inside or outside the building? Is it a ceiling light, wall light or bollard light? All these descriptions help narrow down the location, and avoid errors further down the line.

Nature of the problem

What exactly is wrong? All to often we hear "the light doesn't work" or "the door is broken". But with a door, there are a lot of things that can go wrong - is it stuck open, or is it stuck closed? Is the door closer not working smoothly, or not working at all? Does it slam too hard? Does the door work fine, but the lock doesn't catch? Does the lock catch, but the key or fob cannot open it?

These might sound like silly questions, but a good property manager will hopefully work this out quite quickly during a call, or a couple of emails. Even with the door example above, there are 3-4 different trades that would attend to specific problems, and of course nobody wants to pay for 3 different call outs because the manager didn't go to the right person first time.

It is therefore important to be specific about what is wrong, when you report an issue. How should it work, and what exactly is not working properly?

Impact and severity

What is the effect of the problem? In simple case, it is both obvious and unimportant. The effect of the light not turning on is that when it is dark, and people cannot see. However, for other problems such as leaks, door malfunctions, water pressure, vehicle gates and lifts, it can solve a large part of the mystery by understanding the impact of the problem on the residents.

Issues like leaks can be complex. If a leak appears on your ceiling, you see water drip through and it is quickly found to be leaking from a pipe in the flat above - easy. But leaks can be very complicated, and take hidden routes - they can travel within floors and walls, traverse through hidden spaces and appear in isolated areas with no obvious sign of how they got there. Understanding the effect it has, for example a small damp patch or water pouring through like a waterfall, helps a property manager assess both the urgency as well as the likely cause - rainfall, waste pipe or supply pipe. These issues can require different trades, as well as needing their own access arrangements (onto the roof, or into other flats) that need to be established before a contractor can attend.

It is important to highlight that you need to be honest, and not exaggerate problems. Often residents will exaggerate a problem, especially a leak, in the hope it gets resolved sooner - which is human nature and entirely understandable. Unfortunately though, this can cause confusion for an experienced property manager, who can feel like they are playing Cluedo to work out who did it, with what leak... only to be told something that can undo all their previous investigations and set them back to step one. Not only is it impossible to know who is being honest (therefore making everyone a suspect) but it can stall repair works, as a half-truth or exaggeration prohibits a contractor attending based on the impossibility of finding an issue relevant to their trade. Please therefore always be honest - and don't be afraid to say you do not know!

Duration

Another useful indicator of can be the time frame. While it is not always relevant, sometimes understanding the duration of a problem can help identify the cause. For example constant leaks tend to be supply pipes, whereas intermittent leaks are usually waste pipes or rainwater - therefore connecting the time frame to weather events helps to rule out possibilities, especially difficult to trace ones like roof repairs.

Again, it is important not to exaggerate - saying a leak is constantly dripping may impress the urgency upon your property manager, but it makes them more likely to call a plumber when in fact the leak has not dripped for a couple of days and instead requires a roofer.

A picture is worth 1,000 words

Photos are everything! So many problems can be identified from photos alone - to the extent that some apps will identify the correct trade purely based on AI reviewing photos and videos.

The main downside with photos is often the zoom - residents want to get a clear, close-up view of the leak and show the damp patch staining their room. The problem is, their property manager cannot tell if it is a wall or ceiling, which room it is, or even where in the building it is. A close up can definitely help to understand the problem, but a wider shot of the room showing the problem and the nearest window or door is often far more useful. These types of photos can be used by a property manager to compare the location to a floor plan and find the exact area with the problem, or to better describe the position to a contractor. Key identifiers (like nearby windows) will help a contractor get to the right location and not replace the wrong light fitting, for example.

To assume makes a... fool of us all

Assumptions are the Achilles Heel of property managers. It is impossible to do the job without making assumptions, and yet every assumption made is a gamble and a risk that may go wrong. Such problems are only compounded if residents make assumptions as well, and so it is better not to assume anything you do not know for certain or cannot see.

If you must make assumptions, as we all do from time to time, then clarify that when reporting the problem. "I assume this because of that" is a very helpful qualifier that helps your property manager understand the nature of the issue, your justification and reasoning in your description of the issue - to better decide which contractor needs to attend first.

Do you have the right agent?

Most residents are very practical, they understand what a property manager needs and they are quick to pass it on. Quite often, things fall down when residents do not feel heard, or when managers are not quick to react.

The symptom of this is often poor reports or low quality messages, and frustration that reported issues do not get resolved. The actual cause though, tends to be the wrong partnership between agent and residents. If you find yourself immediately frustrated when reporting a new problem, consider that it might be time to consider a new agent. If you're currently looking, feel free to contact us.

Click here to download our handy defect reporting guide.