Property maintenance is essential for keeping building occupants safe and happy. It’s also an effective way to retain property value and comply with local codes and ordinances.

However, property maintenance has some built-in challenges. Keeping essential services like air conditioning and elevators up and running, repairing leaky pipes, and caring for buildings and their grounds can be a juggling act. That’s where a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) comes into play.

A good CMMS can help property maintenance teams avoid asset failure and maximize limited resources. In this article, we’ll dig into exactly how property maintenance works. We’ll also look at some examples of property management and explore how a CMMS and other PropTech can help.

What Is Property Maintenance?

Property maintenance includes all the tasks and procedures necessary to ensure that buildings are safe, comfortable, and in good working order. It’s a broad category that encompasses everything from pest control and garbage disposal to HVAC maintenance. Property maintenance refers to both residential and commercial maintenance.

Successful property maintenance includes routine tasks like cleaning, janitorial work, and walkthrough safety inspections. Equipment repairs and basic upkeep of assets like HVAC units and boilers all fall under the property maintenance remit. Depending on the building, property maintenance may also include groundskeeping, landscaping, and other related tasks.

One of the major challenges in property maintenance is balancing routine upkeep — mowing lawns, cleaning hallways, etc. — with emergency maintenance tasks like fixing leaky pipes. An effective property maintenance strategy requires careful planning, asset management, and resource allocation, which are all areas where a CMMS can help.

Main Types of Property Maintenance

There are a few key categories of property maintenance. Most maintenance of property tasks can be defined as:

  • Preventive maintenance
  • Corrective maintenance
  • Emergency maintenance

Preventive maintenance tasks are all the routine tasks that keep your property in optimal condition. Cleaning, safety inspections, and waste disposal all fall into this category. Regularly servicing HVAC units and boilers are other examples of preventive maintenance.

Building a strong preventive maintenance program will lower your overall costs and will cut down on the need for emergency repairs. Preventive maintenance also makes spare parts and inventory management easier by allowing you to predict when you’ll need parts and supplies.

Corrective maintenance refers to non-emergency repairs. This includes anything on the property that isn’t life-threatening or urgent but still requires maintenance. A slow-draining sink, a broken ceiling fan, or a few loose tiles are all examples of corrective maintenance.

Staying on top of corrective maintenance tasks can increase your property values and boost the satisfaction of building occupants, leading to better long-term relationships.

Emergency maintenance, as the name suggests, refers to repairs that need immediate attention. Gas leaks, power outages, and electrical issues all call for emergency maintenance. A broken HVAC unit in the middle of a summer heatwave can also be classed as a maintenance emergency.

Examples of Property Maintenance

Every property is different, but some of the most common examples of property maintenance include the following.

Preventive and routine maintenance:

  • Cleaning and waste disposal
  • Safety inspections, including routine checks of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
  • Preventive maintenance on boilers, elevators, and other assets

Corrective maintenance:

  • Fixing minor leaks
  • Unclogging drains
  • Minor electrical repairs

Emergency repairs:

  • Repairing HVAC units, boilers, elevators, or other critical assets
  • Replacing broken windows
  • Repairing major electrical issues

Buildings and Industries That Manage Properties

Property maintenance is essential for a wide range of buildings and facilities, including:

  • Apartment buildings and complexes
  • Community living facilities like retirement homes
  • Healthcare facilities
  • Educational facilities
  • Commercial real estate

The larger the property, the more maintenance it is likely to require. This can create challenges for property managers: How can you ensure that buildings and grounds are well-maintained while still providing quick and reliable repairs for the building’s occupants? Most managers today operate on a lean budget with limited resources, making these challenges even tougher.

Digital tools can help. A good CMMS, like eMaint, streamlines workflows and standardizes processes so that maintenance tasks are completed correctly every time. CMMS software also helps with asset management, preventive maintenance strategies, and inventory management.

CMMS for Property Maintenance

A good CMMS plays a role in just about every aspect of property maintenance.

eMaint CMMS can extend the lifespan of your boilers, HVAC units, and other critical assets by tracking and analyzing real-time asset performance data. eMaint can even generate work orders when assets show signs of trouble. The result? You stay a few steps ahead of asset failure, helping you minimize the cost of repairs and ensure that your equipment stays in optimal condition for longer.

eMaint can also help set maintenance priorities, create schedules, and track preventive maintenance completion rates. The software can create checklists for maintenance crews to follow, helping ensure tasks are consistently performed.

eMaint acts as a central repository for all your maintenance data. You’ll always have instant access to everything — from inventory to inspection records. That means it’s easy to stay on track and provide the best possible property maintenance, ensuring your building’s occupants stay happy and safe.

PropTech for Property Maintenance

Property management is getting smarter thanks to integrative technology and artificial intelligence (AI). PropTech, or Property Technology, describes digital solutions that monitor activities within properties and can allow remote intervention.

For residents, PropTech can be smart locks or thermostats which can be integrated with property management systems. Video intercoms and streamlined security systems are another example of property technology. There are also PropTech solutions to assist building owners manage resident requests and communications, as well as for realtors to offer virtual tours of buildings.

For property maintenance, PropTech has huge potential when it comes to ensuring buildings are future-proofed and responsive, with hardware that monitors changes and opportunities to streamline energy usage and prevent breakdowns in service. According to Deloitte, investing in Internet of Things devices and smart technologies to track energy consumption was the top sustainability-related initiative by global real estate executives for 2024.

Digital Twinning

Digital twinning is an approach that is being adopted for property maintenance. The idea is to create a real-time digital replica of a building in order to provide a dynamic overview of its performance, allowing operators to manage activity and predict and potentially resolve potential issues before they become breakdowns.

Digital twins is a concept which originated in the construction industry about a decade ago, and is used to track materials and resources, with information from a building’s design and construction phase used to operate and maintain it more efficiently.

The digital twin is linked to the physical building using an array of sensors and a management system. The twin is constantly informed about the state of the building, able to assess factors such as temperature and air quality and make adjustments in real time. It can also flag problems with building systems and be used for predictive maintenance to mitigate the risks of component failures.

As well as helping manage efficiency during the life of a property, digital twinning can also help with sustainability by providing a baseline of information for the reuse of materials and machinery contained in assets like property when it reaches the end of its lifecycle.

Smart Building Systems

Smart Building Systems, also known as Intelligent Building Management Systems, are integrated technologies that use sensors, software, connected devices, building automation, energy management and security controls to manage what goes on within large buildings.

Examples include lights which automatically turn on or off based on occupancy and daylight levels, smart HVAC systems which adjust temperature and ventilation in response to the weather or the number of occupants, remote security monitoring and access control, smart parking systems that guide drivers to open spots, and digital dashboards for building managers which offer a visual guide to the general performance and efficiencies.

Internet of Things (IoT) usage data enables you to monitor and analyze patterns, helping asset owners to make informed decisions, identify waste and optimize systems.

Taking a smart approach can save operational resources and money, as well as help fight climate change. Buildings are responsible for more than 39% of carbon emissions worldwide. Smart Building Systems have the potential to reduce global energy consumption by 3 to 5%.

Budgeting for Property Maintenance

Estimating maintenance costs depends on the asset’s size, function, condition, and system complexity. Typically, between 1.5% and 2% of the property’s value should be spent each year on maintaining it. When looking at commercial scale properties, the difference in that half a percent could be enormous.

It’s generally acknowledged that preventive maintenance comes with higher installation costs (such as IoT technology, sensors, integrated analysis software, and CMMS software) but will save on energy and breakdown costs over time by helping property managers tackle and resolve potential issues before they become expensive emergencies.

Reactive maintenance (responding when something breaks down) lacks installation costs but has potential for greater long-term costs. For example, repairing or replacing a broken HVAC during extreme summer or winter temperatures is sure to be expensive.

Whatever your approach, using a mixture of data, regular inspections, and expert analysis can help you estimate and account for potential costs.

Seasonal Property Maintenance Checklist

While you can’t always predict which assets will need repair or upkeep, there are things you can account for depending on the season and climate.

From extra strain on HVAC systems during a heatwave or a cold snap, to increased reliance on electrical light in winter, here’s what to look out for each season:

Fall/Winter

Roofs and Gutters: A building’s first line of defense from water damage is a fully watertight roof and properly functioning gutters. In fall, leaves can overload gutters and downspouts, so ensure the removal of debris to ensure proper drainage during fall. Rainwater can freeze and cause fissures, so regular inspections after cold weather are key.

Brickwork: Inspect for damage after winter weather, repair any cracks or gaps to prevent damp or mold.

Exterior: Remove dirt by power washing brickwork, decks, and other external areas. This helps identify and problem areas hidden by dirt, as well as preserve the condition.

Plumbing and windows: Make sure exterior pipes are insulated to prevent freezing and bursting, and that all the windows open, close, and seal properly.

Heating system: Make sure the HVAC unit or other heating system is fully serviced and clean. Replace filters as needed and inspect chimneys and fireplaces for functionality.

Safety: Verify that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are fully functioning, and that lights in communal areas and external shared areas work and go on at the right time of day.

Spring/Summer

Roof and Gutters: Inspect for damage from winter and spring weather and regularly clear any debris before temperatures rise during summer months.

Cooling system: Replace or clean air conditioning filters, service the HVAC unit, and ensure the system is cooling effectively.

Exterior: Verify that garden hoses and sprinkler systems are fully functional. Additionally, power wash patios and brickwork.

Energy: Make sure energy efficiencies are in place, including solar energy usage, and that responsive lights and heating are tuned to respond to daylight and temperature.