Writing an after-hours maintenance policy

A tenant calls at 2:00 AM ET with water on the floor. Whoever answers has to decide three things fast: is this an emergency, who fixes it, and what does the tenant do until help arrives. An after-hours policy answers those questions once, in daylight, so nobody has to guess at night.

1. Decide what counts as an emergency

An emergency is something that will hurt someone or badly damage the building if it waits until morning. Write the list per property, because a building with a shared boiler and a house with its own furnace fail in different ways.

Start from the list in the policy above, or the emergency definitions template, then add or remove items for each property. For heat, pick the outside temperature that makes it an emergency in your area. See maintenance emergency.

Keep the list short. Every item on it wakes someone up. If you are unsure about an item, ask yourself whether you would pay a night rate to have it fixed tonight.

Then write down what can wait, so the person answering can say so with confidence: a dripping faucet, one outlet that stopped working, a running toilet when there is a second toilet, an appliance that quit, a bathroom fan, a slow drain.

2. Put the safety line first

Some calls belong to 911 or the gas utility before they belong to you. Put that in the first lines of the policy, in plain words:

If there is a fire, you smell gas or anyone is in danger, call 911 first. If you smell gas, leave the building and call the gas utility from outside.

Repeat the same line on your after-hours phone greeting, in the move-in email and in the reply tenants get at night. Your on-call person should never be the first call for a fire.

3. Set the on-call order

Name who gets called first, who is the backup and how long to wait before moving on. Write it as a rule rather than a list of names, because the names change from week to week. For example:

1. First: whoever is on the on-call calendar this week.
2. Backup: the second person on the calendar, after 5 minutes with no answer.
3. Nobody answers: the property manager for that building, told who was called and when.

Then agree as a team on what counts as reached. The on-call person replies or calls back to say they have it, so nobody else gets woken up for the same leak.

On your own? Put yourself first and add a backup for the nights you can't pick up, such as a business partner or a vendor you trust. The post on running an on-call rotation covers schedules and pay, and on-call rotation defines the terms.

4. Say what waits for morning, and when tenants hear back

Most calls at night can wait. The tenant still needs to know someone heard them, so give a time instead of "soon", and tell them to call back if anything gets worse.

Then keep that promise. A morning call that never comes teaches tenants to report every request as an emergency. The after-hours call script gives whoever answers the exact words for both cases, and the tenant text messages cover the morning follow-up.

5. Tell tenants what to do until help arrives

A tenant who can stop the damage saves you a bigger repair. Put the basics in the policy and in the move-in packet:

• Where the main water shut-off is, and the valve under each sink and toilet
• Where the breaker panel is, and to switch off anything sparking only if it is safe to reach
• Who to call when the whole street has no power: the electric utility
• To move valuables away from water and take photos for you

6. Send it, and review it twice a year

A policy in a drawer helps nobody. Add it to the lease or a lease addendum and send it at move-in. If you have a tenant portal, post it there too. Read the safety line on your after-hours greeting.

Review it before winter and after any emergency that went badly, and send tenants the new version when it changes. Winter is when frozen pipes and no-heat calls arrive, and a gas smell or a CO alarm needs the safety line every time.

Rules on repairs, heat and habitability differ by state and city. Check yours, or ask your attorney, before you put response times or temperatures in writing.

State law can set some lines for you. Washington requires a landlord to begin repairs within 24 hours of written notice for a loss of heat, hot or cold water or electricity, Texas requires a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect health or safety, and California lists heat, water, plumbing, gas and safe wiring among the basics of a habitable home. For a sounding CO alarm or a gas smell, the policy should send tenants outside and to 911 or the gas utility first.