Maintenance and Repairs

November 25, 2022 Published by Huronia Chapter - By Jeff Struewing

Importance of Fall Maintenance & Preparedness

From the CCI Huronia Fall 2022 Condo Buzz Newsletter

Now that we are seeing a taste of winter weather, is your condominium prepared? Fall maintenance and preparing for winter are very important to ensure your condominium minimizes risk to the building structure as well as liabilities with residents and guests.

Proper tree maintenance for example can reduce the risk of falling limbs or the whole tree when there is heavy snow load or strong winds. Cleaning out eavestroughs, downspouts and ensuring the downspouts lead water away from the building and pedestrian surfaces before winter sets in is also important to avoid leaks into buildings and reduce slip and fall opportunities. It’s also good practice to check parking lots, walkways and stairs for trip hazards and pooling water in the fall and again in the spring. Pooling water can quickly freeze, and trip hazards can easily be hidden by fresh snow.

When going through your Fall preventative maintenance checklist, don’t forget to review your grounds maintenance contracts and ensure that winter maintenance includes salting and sanding of all parking lots and walking services as required and make sure the contractor is reviewing site conditions at least daily and keeping logs. We are seeing more frequent and higher values of slip and fall claims in recent years so having good records is a must.

With the shortage of laborers in our region and many contractors booked many months out and many short on staff, be sure to book repairs well in advance and consider installing some self-serve ice melt bins in problematic areas of the property. In some of the towns and cities where contractor availability is difficult and they struggle to find staff, you will want to develop backup plans in case the contractor doesn’t have enough staff to effectively remove snow and apply salt and sand. Hopefully your contract has a clause to allow you to charge back the costs of supplemental work to maintain safe conditions.

Jeff Struewing
Shore To Slope Management Services Inc.