Property maintenance glossary
For property managers and their teams, from the makers of now ours. The terms that show up in work orders, vendor emails and management agreements, each in a sentence or two.
The words for each stage of a repair, from Ana’s first text to the closed work order, and the people who move it along.
A plain description of exactly what a vendor will do on a job, and what they won’t.
A clear scope keeps quotes comparable and stops a small repair from growing on the invoice. It names the problem, the fix, the materials and who removes the old parts.
Read moreThe work order process
The short list of small items left to finish before a job, or a unit, counts as done.
Punch lists are common at the end of a make-ready: a missing outlet cover, a door that sticks, touch-up paint. Each item gets checked off, ideally with a photo.
Read moreMake-ready
Repairs that have been put off, usually to save money now, and that tend to cost more later.
A slow drip left for months can become a rotted cabinet floor. Keep a list of deferred items per property and share it with the owner, so the decision to wait is theirs.
Read morePreventive maintenanceOwner approval limits template
A tenant’s report that something in the home needs fixing, by text, call, email or portal.
The request is the tenant’s words. The work order is what you do about it. One request can become one work order, several, or none if it turns out to be a question.
Read moreThe tenant maintenance request processThe work order processTenant text messages
Sorting a request by how fast it needs a person: emergency, urgent or routine.
Triage starts with safety questions, like whether water is near an outlet, and with steps that stop the damage, like the shut-off valve.
Read moreThe tenant maintenance request processEmergency definitions templateWhat counts as a maintenance emergency
The record of one repair: what is wrong, where, who is doing it, when, and how it ended.
A work order usually starts as a tenant’s maintenance request. It lives in your property management software and moves through stages: open, assigned, scheduled, done and closed.
Read moreThe work order processWork order templateHow it works
The person who takes maintenance requests, finds the vendor, books the visit and follows up until the job is closed.
Coordinators field tenants asking for updates and chase vendors who haven’t replied. Many work office hours, so nights and weekends fall to someone else: you, a rotation or an answering service.
Read moreWhat a maintenance coordinator really costsMaintenance cost calculator
Scheduled work that keeps things from breaking: filter changes, gutter cleaning, water heater flushes.
Preventive work is planned, so it is cheaper than the same repair as an emergency. It also gives owners fewer surprises on their statements.
What to collect from vendors, and what to call the people on your own payroll.
The IRS form a US vendor fills in with their legal name and taxpayer number, so you can report what you paid them.
Collect it before the first payment. At year end you use it to file a 1099 for vendors you paid enough to require one.
A flat fee some vendors charge to come out to a property, before any work starts.
Trip charges add up when a visit is wasted because nobody could get in. Agree on them up front, and confirm access with the tenant before the vendor drives over.
Read moreVendor onboarding checklist
The higher price a vendor charges for work at night, on weekends or on holidays, sometimes called an emergency service charge.
An after-hours rate is what a vendor charges for coming out outside normal business hours. It can be a higher hourly rate, a flat emergency service charge on top of the normal one, a minimum number of billable hours, or all three. Vendors set their own, and they vary by trade and by area.
Read moreEmergency definitionsExplaining an emergency repair to an owner
A company certified by the EPA under the Renovation, Repair and Painting rule to do paid work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978.
Under the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, usually called the RRP rule, anyone paid to do work that disturbs painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 must be a lead-safe certified firm and use a certified renovator who follows lead-safe work practices. The EPA names residential rental property owners and managers among the firms covered, along with plumbers, carpenters, electricians and painters.
Read moreLead paint rules for rental repairs
An outside company or tradesperson you hire for repairs, like a plumber, an electrician or a handyman.
Vendors work for many property managers at once, which is why a clear job, a quick reply and steady follow-up decide who gets their time first.
Read moreOnboarding vendorsVendor scorecard templateBuilding a vendor benchWhy vendors don't answer
Someone on your own payroll who does maintenance, as opposed to an outside vendor.
Teams with technicians usually want jobs to go to their own people first, scheduled into each technician’s day, and to outside vendors only when the team is full.
Read moreIn-house technicians
A one-page document from a vendor’s insurer that shows their coverage, the limits and when it expires.
Ask to be named as additional insured, so the vendor’s policy can cover your company too. Certificates expire, so track the dates and ask for the new one before the old one runs out.
Sending a failed repair back to the vendor who did it, to fix under their warranty at no charge.
It only works if you can see who did the last repair and when. A sink that leaks again two weeks after a plumber fixed it should go back to that plumber.
The share of closed work orders fixed in a single visit, with no return trip. A measure of how well jobs are described and matched to the right vendor.
First-time fix rate counts how many repairs were finished on the first visit. Take the closed work orders that needed only one visit and divide by all closed work orders in the same period. Track it per vendor and per trade, because a plumber and an appliance technician fail for different reasons.
Read moreMaintenance KPIs
Terms that come from leases and local law. The details change by state and city.
The work that gets a unit ready for the next tenant after one moves out: cleaning, repairs, paint and checks.
Also called a turn or a unit turn. Every day the unit sits empty costs rent, so make-readies run on a tight schedule with several vendors in a row.
Read morePunch listThe work order process
A tenant remedy in some states: after notice and a wait, the tenant pays for a repair the landlord didn’t make and takes the cost off the rent.
Repair and deduct is the rule that turns a slow repair into a smaller rent check. Where a state allows it, a tenant who has given notice and waited the required time can hire someone to fix the problem and subtract the cost from rent, within limits the law sets.
Read moreRepair timelines by state
The basic condition a rental home must be in to live in: safe, weatherproof, with heat, water, power and working plumbing.
Most US states treat this as a promise in every residential lease, often called the warranty of habitability. What it covers and how fast repairs must happen depends on state and city law.
Read moreEmergency definitions templateWhat counts as a maintenance emergency
The advance notice a landlord gives before going into an occupied unit, for a repair or an inspection.
Many states set a minimum notice, often 24 to 48 hours, with an exception for emergencies. Check your state’s rule and your lease, and tell the tenant the day, the time and who is coming.
Read moreTenant text messages
Billing a tenant for a repair caused by their damage, rather than normal wear and tear.
Photos and a vendor’s note on the work order are what make a chargeback hold up. Rules on what you can charge and how differ by state.
Read moreThe work order process
Response time is how long a tenant waits for a real reply. Resolution time runs until the repair is confirmed fixed. Both start at the first report.
Response time and resolution time measure two different waits, and teams that track only one tend to look better than they are. Response time ends when the tenant gets a reply that says what happens next. Resolution time ends when the repair is done and confirmed. A fast reply followed by a two-week wait is still a two-week repair.
Read moreMaintenance KPIs
The limits and agreements that decide when an owner hears about a repair.
The owner of 9 Pine St approves work over $1,500. Send them an approval link for the $1,850 water heater repair?
#2063 · water heater · owner limit $1,500Approval link sentMonday 10:00 AM ETThe most a vendor can spend on a job without asking for approval first.
NTEs protect owners from surprise invoices and save everyone a phone call on small jobs. Set one per property or per owner, and write it into each job offer.
Read moreOwner approval limits templateVendor onboarding checklist
The contract between a property owner and a property manager: fees, duties, and spending and approval limits.
For maintenance, the key lines are the approval limit, the emergency clause and how the owner is told about repairs.
Read moreOwner approval limits template
An owner’s yes to a repair that costs more than the manager may approve alone.
A clear limit and a fast way to approve, like a link with the quote and photos, keep the work moving. Write down what happens in an emergency, when there is no time to wait.
Read moreMaintenance markups and coordination feesOwner approval limits templateOwner updates and approvals
Money an owner keeps with the manager to pay for repairs without waiting for a new transfer.
A reserve lets you pay a vendor on time. Agree how much it holds and when it is topped up, and show every draw on the owner statement.
Read moreOwner approval limits template
What counts as an emergency, and the ways teams cover the hours nobody is in the office.
Not an emergency service. For a fire, a gas leak or anyone in danger, call 911 or the gas utility.
A company that answers your phone line when you can’t, takes a message and passes it on.
Most answering services take messages and forward emergencies by your instructions. Calling the vendor, booking the visit and checking the fix still fall to your team.
Read moreWhat an answering service costsvs an answering serviceAfter-hours call scriptCovering after-hours maintenance calls
A problem that puts people or the building at risk right now and can’t wait for business hours.
Typical examples are water that won’t stop, sewage backing up, no heat in cold weather and a door that won’t lock. A fire, a gas smell or anyone in danger is a 911 call first.
Read moreEmergency definitions templateWhat counts as a maintenance emergencyAfter hours and emergencies
The schedule of who answers emergencies after hours, in what order, with a backup if the first person doesn’t reply.
A rotation only works if the emergency reaches the right person, and a backup gets it when the first person does not answer.
Read moreAfter-hours call scriptWriting an after-hours maintenance policyCovering after-hours maintenance calls
No. They explain how property managers use the words day to day. Habitability, entry notice and similar terms are set by state and city law and by your leases.
You set a spend limit for each property. On Cautious, the default, Ours asks you before it spends money. On Standard, it approves up to that property’s limit.
Email support@nowours.com with the term and we will consider adding it.
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