Maintenance is a critical part of any apartment community, but it’s hard to know exactly how many technicians to have on staff. According to NAA Education Institute National (NAAEI) Maintenance & Safety Instructor Paul Rhodes there are many different variables that come in to play when deciding how many maintenance employees to hire.
“Unfortunately there is not one magic number,” Rhodes says. “The number of maintenance techs at a property varies depending on the community’s age, condition, type of equipment, geographic area size—especially if the community has several separated buildings—and the amount and type of amenities it offers.”
Another key factor is how much of the work is done in-house as opposed to
outsourced. Rhodes says one common rule of thumb is to employ one maintenance person for every 100 to 150 units.
“Owners can also determine staff size and titles based on the community’s conditions,” he adds.
For example, a 10-year-old property with less than 75 units will likely only need one maintenance supervisor, he says, speaking hypothetically. This is especially true of apartment communities that outsource painting, cleaning and floor care, but perform most other maintenance in-house. Alternately, a 10-year-old community with 75 to 150 units that follows similar procedures when it comes to outsourcing will probably require one maintenance supervisor and one technician.
“Some of the outsourced items could be performed by in-house staff if the community’s porter or groundskeeper is used,” Rhodes says.
Rhodes’ conclusions are based on his 17 years of experience in maintenance. He once worked at a 950-unit, 16-year-old community that had a maintenance staff of one supervisor, an assistant supervisor, three technicians and two groundskeepers.
“We were able to do all major service requests and even some wall prep for
the apartment-turn process,” Rhodes says. “We outsourced painting, cleaning and floor care. The maintenance team was responsible for all make-ready
scheduling.”
At another job he worked at a 21-year-old community with 450 units.
“We had one supervisor, one technician and one part-time groundskeeper,” he recalls. “The maintenance staff scheduled and outsourced all make-ready work except for performing the punch-list items. Some major service requests were handled by contractors.”
If you have maintenance-related training or management questions, you may contact Rhodes at
prhodes@naahq.org. Rhodes has spent the past 17 years working in the apartment industry in positions ranging from Pool Remodeling Technician to Maintenance Supervisor.