“My garbage disposal is stopped up and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“The toilet in my bathroom is overflowing and jiggling the handle doesn't make it stop.”
“The outlet in my living room suddenly doesn't work.”
And my personal favorite: “There are soap suds coming out of my dishwasher!!!”
These are among the most common service requests that maintenance technicians receive on a daily basis—and in each case, residents can help make the repair and can minimize damage (and reduce after-hour maintenance calls). Following is a way to pass along important information to residents before trouble strikes.
Take a piece of community stationery and type “Resident Help Sheet” at the top. By using stationery, the leasing office's address and phone number, as well as the community logo, are available to the resident.
On it, list fundamental things that residents should know regarding the maintenance of their apartment. These tips should be fairly simple and should apply to tasks that can be safely performed by the resident before an urgent call has to be made to the maintenance staff.
Following are examples:
1. Jammed disposal: On the side or bottom of the garbage disposal there is a reset button. In many cases the disposal just needs to be reset. To prevent further issues, do not put oil, grease, bones or rice down the disposal. Ice and lemon juice will help to clean the disposal.
2. Toilet overflow: If “jiggling” the handle doesn’t stop the water from overflowing the bowl, please turn the valve on the left side of the toilet to the right to stop the flow of water. Then contact the maintenance staff by [insert your community’s instructions and contact information here].
3. Outlet suddenly stops working: In many instances there is an outlet that is controlled by a wall switch or a GFCI. Please try the switches in the room or reset the GFCI receptacle and see if that helps. If that doesn't work, please contact the maintenance staff by [insert your community’s instructions and contact information here].
4. Suds and water coming out of the dishwasher: Dishwashing machine soap is designed to not foam or produce bubbles. If there are any bubbles coming out of the front of your dishwasher, it is possible that some of the dish soap used in the sink to pre-rinse your dishes was not completely rinsed from the dishes. Please turn off your dishwasher and contact the maintenance staff by [insert your community’s instructions and contact information here].
To prevent future problems, advise residents to run hot water in the sink before use, rinse dishes before loading and do not overload the dishwasher or stack the dishes too tightly.
5. Tips for better service: Before calling in a service request, ask residents to make sure they are able to provide the most specific information possible about the situation. Where is the problem coming from? (What room, fixture, etc.) When did it start? Is this a reoccurring problem?
The instructional sheet should also list problems that would be considered maintenance emergencies—such as broken A/C with a room temperature above 80 degrees or a clogged toilet in an apartment with one bathroom.
Print enough copies of this list for each apartment in the community and have the sheets laminated. Affix the list to the inside of one of the cabinets in the kitchen. If a standard location is selected, such as the cabinet door under the sink, the resident should be shown the list during the move-in process by the leasing professional or community manager.
Paul Rhodes, CAMT, is NAAEI’s Maintenance & Safety Instructor. He can be reached at prhodes@naahq.org.