Management of Complex - Caretaker or Contracts

anotherlostie

Hi All,
My query relates to management of apartment complexes, specifically the use of a full time caretaker employed by the managing agent to carry out day to day jobs including cleaning, refuse segregation, maintenance of lighting, painting etc vs having the managing agent contract out a set number of services such as cleaning company, gardening.

It's in relation to a gated development of approximately 200 units . At this size of development, is a caretaker potentially more cost effective than having several contractors? I'd be interested to know if anyone switched to a caretaker approach and how they found it compared to the other model.
Thanks.

athtrasna

anotherlostie wrote: »

Hi All,
My query relates to management of apartment complexes, specifically the use of a full time caretaker employed by the managing agent to carry out day to day jobs including cleaning, refuse segregation, maintenance of lighting, painting etc vs having the managing agent contract out a set number of services such as cleaning company, gardening.

It's in relation to a gated development of approximately 200 units . At this size of development, is a caretaker potentially more cost effective than having several contractors? I'd be interested to know if anyone switched to a caretaker approach and how they found it compared to the other model.
Thanks.

It depends on what you want done, and how well maintained you want the place. Do you want to re-sell in the short term?

We have a part-time caretaker, 8 hours a week. He comes in, 3 evenings and Saturdays for 2 hours...does a litter sweep..checks common areas, lists rule breaches such as satellite dishes and does maintenance of lights, locks etc. We bring him in a full Saturday a couple of times a year for big jobs such as step cleaning and skip filling.

Our refuse company look after the bins, bringing them in and out etc but our caretaker sweeps the sheds.

A full time caretaker could potentially take on the cleaning, on top of what I've just listed. But painting and gardening??

We have 81 units and had a 4 man team in for 3 weeks to do an exterior paint job. With specialist equipment etc. How could a caretaker manage this in a timely manner. We also switched last year from a company that did cleaning and "gardening" to separate cleaners and a horticulturalist. Cleaning costs the same but is done to a higher standard. Landscaping costs have doubled, but the place looks so much better than it did, and units are letting/selling much faster.

Luca Brasi

If you take on a caretaker you will incur all the costs of employment e.g Employers PRSI, Holiday Pay, Health and Safety requirements, sick pay etc.
Also while a caretaker can do certain tasks will your insurance company cover him for electrical work etc.
And as one poster has said does the caretaker have the capability for the bigger maintenance jobs?

godtabh

Luca Brasi wrote: »

If you take on a caretaker you will incur all the costs of employment e.g Employers PRSI, Holiday Pay, Health and Safety requirements, sick pay etc.
Also while a caretaker can do certain tasks will your insurance company cover him for electrical work etc.
And as one poster has said does the caretaker have the capability for the bigger maintenance jobs?

take them on as a sole trader

Luca Brasi

godtabh wrote: »

take them on as a sole trader

That is an option.

Paulw

You still have to provide facilities - a rest/break area, a toilet, etc.

The_Conductor

We offered the role to a retired gentleman who is an owner occupier. He was particularly fond of gardening and we have a lot of common area landscaped- so it suited us all. Sadly as he's advanced in age, hes not interested in continuing to do the same job, and we have outsourced it to an external company (who will remain nameless). They pay lipservice to doing everything- but make a complete mess. E.g. They did the annual cleaning of gutters 3 weeks before all the trees lost their leaves- so now in the middle of winter, despite the gutter cleaning, we have blocked gutters. No out of hours service when something like blocked sewage pipes or burst water pipes happens. No assistance when its subzero and as we're on a hill, people can't get in or out of the place for ice. No consideration for additional refuse collection after Christmas. Weeks without lights in the carpark. Installation of a security system without any notice to owners, or how it might protect our properties (or more pertinently, how much it might cost). Gardiner brought in to manage the landscaped areas who didn't recognise specimen trees and chainsawed them (I nearly cried when I saw what he'd done). No power spraying of moss/slime on external steps- so the place is slippery as hell. No laying of bait for rodents (we are near a river and liable to them). Weeks to fix gates- during which time small children used to playing in the common area made bolts for the main road, and accidents were only narrowly averted. No indication of when pedestrian gates and exit mechanisms for vehicles might be repaired, despite being reported by almost half the residents. Salt and grit box for the carpark (its on a hill) removed and not returned- so its impossible to get in or out of the place once temperatures hit subzero. No returned calls from the agents voice mail- aside from the odd time when the agents manager might ring to tell you the agent is on holidays (he must be the most rested agent ever). I could go on and on...........

cookie1977

We have a full time caretaker who has a rake of jobs (bins, cleaning etc...). But also is able to do some other jobs like paint touch-ups. Some owners have wanted to retire the role and farm out the work to contract companies so we've done extensive research on all of this in relation to cost and service and we've found very little difference in a full time person and contracting services. There's a lot the caretaker provides which is unquantifiable such as security, he knows everyone in the complex coming and going. He's able to meet workmen which we hire from time to time to do specific jobs and is able to receive large parcels.

Plus if there's any issues we can deal with them directly rather than having to deal with lots of individual companies and middle men. I think also if you get the right person they will take pride in their job as it's more of a connection as it's only one property. Not so for contract companies who are servicing multiple complexes in a day.

It's also a great selling/renting point for owners too.

captain_irish

I'm a caretaker. It all depends on the person you get to do the job and what their exact role is. I done my usual tasks for years and have recently taken over the cleaning too (at no extra cost) I constantly get in trouble with the agents for doing jobs that "they have contractors to do" I don't see why contractors should be brought in when I can happily do it myself in a few mins (again no extra cost). I've stopped telling them I've done it now. I know other caretakers who won't lift a paint brush (or sweeping brush for that matter)and get contractors in to do it. like I said depends on the person. Very good value IF you get the right person.big if though

captain_irish

Forgot to mention I don't do the gardening but id have no problem if I was asked to.id just readjust my rota

anotherlostie

cookie1977 wrote: »

We have a full time caretaker who has a rake of jobs (bins, cleaning etc...). But also is able to do some other jobs like paint touch-ups. Some owners have wanted to retire the role and farm out the work to contract companies so we've done extensive research on all of this in relation to cost and service and we've found very little difference in a full time person and contracting services. There's a lot the caretaker provides which is unquantifiable such as security, he knows everyone in the complex coming and going. He's able to meet workmen which we hire from time to time to do specific jobs and is able to receive large parcels.

Plus if there's any issues we can deal with them directly rather than having to deal with lots of individual companies and middle men. I think also if you get the right person they will take pride in their job as it's more of a connection as it's only one property. Not so for contract companies who are servicing multiple complexes in a day.

It's also a great selling/renting point for owners too.

Firstly thanks to everyone for replying.

In relation to the full time position referred to in this post, I was wondering if there were any requirements to provide services to the person - basic things like somewhere to have your lunch, bathroom breaks etc?

I understand that some managing agents employ the caretakers themselves so the individual management companies do not have to take on the employees, as this was a significant concern I would have had too in terms of pension, PRSI, sick pay etc.

cookie1977

anotherlostie wrote: »

Firstly thanks to everyone for replying.

In relation to the full time position referred to in this post, I was wondering if there were any requirements to provide services to the person - basic things like somewhere to have your lunch, bathroom breaks etc?

I understand that some managing agents employ the caretakers themselves so the individual management companies do not have to take on the employees, as this was a significant concern I would have had too in terms of pension, PRSI, sick pay etc.

We have a small janitor's room for him to sit and have tea/coffee lunch. There's also a toilet but these were all built into the complex when it was first designed. I'm not 100% sure of the legal requirements.

In our case we employ the caretaker directly as the management company.