This is an example of a property management company’s maintenance on-call rotation. At CMS, a rotation like this is used for property maintenance emergencies or other after-hours situations that require maintenance attention. What constitutes an emergency or urgent maintenance issue is up to the property management company. When we encounter an issue that our client […]
This is an example of a property management company’s maintenance on-call rotation.
At CMS, a rotation like this is used for property maintenance emergencies or other after-hours situations that require maintenance attention. What constitutes an emergency or urgent maintenance issue is up to the property management company.
When we encounter an issue that our client considers an emergency, we utilize the on-call schedule to contact the appropriate maintenance staff member or escalate the call if that employee is unavailable.
Every property management company is different, and our on-call procedures are 100% customizable, so this is merely an example of what is possible.
If you are looking to establish a maintenance rotation for your property management company, take each individual element and alter the details to match your situation (e.g., if you only have one staff member that takes maintenance calls, you can skip the on-call rotation schedule and focus on relay procedures).
Staff Overview
In this example, the property management company has three people on its maintenance team: two junior maintenance technicians and a maintenance supervisor. The company’s operations manager is included in the rotation as a last resort.
On-Call Rotation Schedule
The on-call schedule is valid for 30 days at a time. The two junior technicians take turns as the primary and backup on-call. The maintenance supervisor is always the third contact and the operations manager is only contacted if the maintenance supervisor is unavailable.
Example Rotation
November 2012
- Primary On-Call: Junior Technician A
- Secondary On-Call: Junior Technician B
- Backup On-Call: Maintenance Supervisor
- Last Resort: Operations Manager
December 2012
- Primary On-Call: Junior Technician B
- Secondary On-Call: Junior Technician A
- Backup On-Call: Maintenance Supervisor
- Last Resort: Operations Manager
Relay Procedures
Relay procedures are the rules and processes for reaching specific members of the on-call rotation. The relay procedure can include the same steps for each person on the list, but because different people may have their own preferences, and because the urgency of the call may increase as you go further down the list, there are often different steps for each person or level.
Sample Relay Procedure for November 2020
- Text the call to Junior Maintenance Technician A and wait 15 minutes for a response
- If no response in 15 minutes, call Junior Maintenance Technician A on cell. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 15 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 15 minutes, call Junior Maintenance Technician A at home. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 15 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 15 minutes, text Junior Technician B and wait 10 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 10 minutes, call Junior Technician B on cell. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 10 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 10 minutes, call Junior Technician B at home. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 10 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 10 minutes, call the Maintenance Supervisor on cell. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 5 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 5 minutes, call the Maintenance Supervisor at home. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 5 minutes for a response
- If no response in 5 minutes, call the Operations Manager on cell. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 5 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 5 minutes, call the Operations Manager at home. If no answer, leave a voicemail and wait 5 minutes for a response.
- If no response in 5 minutes, start over at step 1.
Key takeaways from this relay procedure:
- The time period between steps decreases as you move down the list, which indicates the situation is becoming more pressing as time goes by
- The text message contact method is skipped for the final two contacts. This could be due to the increasing urgency or because these contacts do not like being reached by text.
- Although it may seem unlikely that all these steps could be completed without reaching someone, the process is repetitive and does not stop until the call has been addressed.
