20 Apr Technology and the New Era of Property Management
Written by Dennis Monk
With the relentless advance of new, high-tech being introduced into today’s new condominium construction, greater demands are being put on condo managers to be savvy with this technology to meet today’s challenges of daily building operations. People, pets, and parking are no longer the focus. It has shifted to building automation, leak detection, license plate recognition access control, web-based building operations, keyless entry, smart security/unit control panels, and contactless parcel delivery. The new-age property manager will have a complete list of dashboards, user accounts, consoles, and cloud sites to manage and control these new technology packages.
With condo developers seeking to garner their market share in a robust but continually competitive real estate marketplace, landscaping, water features, and proximity to the golf course are no longer cutting it. They are now moving to cater to an increasingly younger, tech-savvy, and widget-inclined purchaser for whom smart control of their unit and building amenities can be more important than the view.
The tricky part is nothing else has lessened in the new construction sector of condominium property management. There is still the integration between developer, construction, trades, and soon-to-be occupying owners, while establishing a building operation team, initiating all the service and maintenance contracts, participating in the Tarion process, coordinating mass move-ins, preparing for interim occupancy, registration, turn-over, performance audit while dealing with the challenges of a potentially very buggy new building that needs a lot of tuning can be nothing short of arduous for a manager.
Today’s new construction property manager must now be on site very early in the final phases of construction to learn these systems with the installing contractors to ensure they fully understand the installation and operation of the equipment. It can be critical to do this before these items are covered up and hidden behind drywall. There can be days, weeks, and months of owner training offered with suppliers and contractors who are looking for you to sign off that you are comfortable and competent with your knowledge of the equipment and its operation. Don’t be shy about asking for further training sessions because once you have signed off on these components, you will not be able to get any additional sessions. Also, unless managers are planning to be on-site 24/7, it’s beneficial to invite as many of the building operations team members, even the developer’s customer service team, to these training sessions so they may be able to participate in assisting purchasers in technology orientations. Consider recording them so that a YouTube link can be created and shared with future owners to understand how the systems work, and they aren’t left wondering.
All this technology can often be overwhelming for purchasers, young and old. Mature or seasoned condo owners may have fallen behind in a world of apps, dashboards, setting up user accounts, and QR codes. Younger purchasers engaged with modern-day work demands, young families, and the disorientation of first-time condo ownership may find learning all the technology in their new home challenging to manage. In this case, it is important to take maximum advantage of the technical support offered by the service provider. Utilize brochures, YouTube, and customer support sites as self-help tools for owners. Many service providers will also participate in virtual community meetings and training sessions for owners. Keep in mind that a vendor’s training responsibility is finite, and eventually, they will want to invoice for additional training, so take maximum advantage of the free sessions.
Managers will also likely depend on their building team for much of the 24-hour building operations. As managers know, a building team can be relatively transient, so for this reason, having quick reference guides available to assist residents with issues or offer them guidance on how to navigate it for themselves is crucial. With reference guides available if the leak detection system shuts down a zone, it pays to have your team equipped to deal with it expeditiously to get the water back on. Also, your regular plumber/HVAC technician may be perplexed by the tech systems integrated into building mechanicals. They will likely require access to the peripheral user support networks to do their job and need building staff to connect them.
Another issue with cutting-edge technology is that, like the newest iPhone release, it will likely be buggy and have growing pains, so don’t expect all this stuff to work right out of the box. Many of these tech companies are launching new products, so prepare to be patient and be conscripted to work with the developers to iron out the wrinkles with the installations in your building; it may take some time before things are working correctly.
The bottom line is although you may be successful in passing some of the in-unit issues off to residents to address through education and training, all the common area mechanicals remain squarely on a manager’s shoulders for responsibility. And the methodology for dealing with that has not changed; managers must continue to forge strong relationships with their supporting contractors.
Most managers agree that the Ontario condominium market has super-sized itself so quickly to outstrip the supply of quality, qualified service providers and trades. When you find a good one in any fieldwork, diligently retain them; please make time to be with them when they are on-site doing maintenance to learn from them about the sophistication and technical operation of the systems installed. Ensure their workspaces are clean and well maintained and accommodate them, so they are happy when they must service your building. Let them know an essential part of the community is a supporting role and even have refreshments on hand to supply to them.
Lastly, don’t expect too much sympathy for the increased workload, demands, and ever-increasing job description of new construction. My colleagues who have been in the game since the early ’90s have endured changes to the fire code with mandatory upgrading, revisions to the Condominium Act, implementation of compulsory reserve fund studies, integration of the CAO and CMRA, and licensing compulsory a myriad of other adjustments. We have had to transition with the changes. On-going learning and personal development are great for the mind, body, and soul as it keeps us young and engaged. And, after all, aren’t we all just in management for the glory of it?!
Dennis Monk is a seasoned property management professional with over 30 years of experience. He is an expert in new building construction start-ups, and he has had the privilege of managing several highly regarded properties in the GTA. Dennis has a vast amount of knowledge related to building mechanics and the communities he manages benefits greatly from his experience and hands on approach to management.
