One of the benefits of living in a homeowners association is enjoying access to common areas such as a swimming pool, clubhouse, lawn area or exercise room. When a resident sees something that needs repair they are encouraged to submit a maintenance request to inform the HOA board and manager of the issue.

From time to time, residents submit maintenance requests and become frustrated when something isn’t attended to immediately. Part of the reason for the delay is that the association develops and follows an annual maintenance schedule, and the manager knows that next month’s routine maintenance will take care of the issue. The schedule is also used to address small unseen problems before they become noticeable.

Short term maintenance tasks might be landscape upkeep, pool treatments, or garbage collection. Long term tasks consist of building upkeep, road paving, or responding to law changes in order to remain compliant.

The homeowners association schedules routine maintenance for a number of reasons:

• It eliminates unexpected replacements and breakdowns
• It keeps costs down because repairs are not made on an emergency basis
• It extends the lives of expensive common elements and reduces reserved funds
• It stops problems before they occur

The HOA board and manager works with qualified vendors and other experts to help develop the maintenance schedule. The schedule should usually specify when common elements will be routinely inspected, adjusted and repaired. Regularly monitoring the property eliminates surprises. With this, the association is able to catch minor problems and correct them before an expensive repair is needed. This of course, helps control costs by extending the life of the common elements, which in turn reduces the money that must be reserved for an eventual replacement.

The maintenance schedule is a useful tool that keeps costs down and property function and appearance up. If you’re feeling frustrated be patient, eventually everything will get done in the most efficient, economical way possible.

The HOA board and manager always has the best interest of the association in mind. They serve to maintain and enhance the community. This is important because the way the property is taken care of reflects the quality of the homeowners association.

The HOA managers at The Hignell Companies have access to the Hignell service departments including: heating and air, plumbing, electrical, painting, or will work with your board to find the best vendor for your homeowners association.