Seasoned property managers know that emergencies can and do happen at all hours. Experienced managers plan ahead by putting systems in place to deal with emergencies and reduce stress when something goes wrong. Learn how maintenance emergencies can be prevented outright or mitigated quickly by putting the right systems in place.

What Are Maintenance Emergencies?

There are many types of maintenance emergencies, and each type of emergency needs its own unique plan for every apartment you manage. Common maintenance emergencies to prepare for include:

• Burst pipe/water leak
• Broken heating system
• Broken central air conditioning
• Flooding
• Gas leak
• Fire
• Power outage
• Tornado
• Hurricane
• Pest invasion

Emergency preparedness can feel overwhelming when you're staring at a laundry list of problems. Tackle one at a time. While these emergencies differ in scope and threat level, you will use many of the same techniques to handle them — so your task is not as daunting as it may seem.

Responding to Maintenance Emergencies

Maintenance emergencies may be divided into two main categories: Weather disaster and equipment malfunction.

While you cannot prevent a weather disaster, you can make sure you're well protected and have a disaster recovery plan in place. Develop a storehouse of emergency response equipment, including first aid, extra water and food, flashlights, batteries, walkie-talkies and other essentials. Install emergency generators, if you haven't already. This ensures you can get the lights on quickly after a power outage.

Your municipal or state government should have advice to property owners on how to handle weather emergencies. Use this advice to form the basis of your recovery plan and find out about valuable emergency resources in your community.

Once a year, test the building's emergency response systems to make sure everything is working properly. Educate residents on what to do and where to go in an emergency to reduce confusion.

Finally, invest in infrastructure improvements that reduce vulnerability in weather. By keeping up to date with property management, you'll decrease areas of risk in the event of a weather disaster. For example, preventative roof maintenance and gutter cleaning can mitigate risk of roof damage and property flooding during a hurricane.

Preventative maintenance is a must for reducing equipment malfunctions. Professionals should regularly inspect your building’s plumbing, heating and cooling systems. Technicians can inspect equipment, perform routine maintenance, repair or replace malfunctioning parts, and advise you when a unit should be replaced. By having annual maintenance, you'll be able to prevent many problems in the first place.

Along with preventative maintenance for major services, invest in preventative maintenance inside the property. When tenants come to you mentioning problems in their unit or in common areas, take these problems seriously. Completing all repairs, even those that seem minor, can help keep problems at bay. If tenants say they saw a mouse in the basement and you don't take it seriously, you could wind up with a large mouse invasion and dozens of unhappy renters, for example.

Of course, not all problems can be prevented through maintenance. Sometimes a pipe bursts, or a tenant experiences a kitchen fire. In these cases, you'll need a plan for quick response to reduce the damage.

During the day, your tenants may be able to contact you directly. Yet what happens after hours? If a renter discovers a plumbing emergency, for example, will he or she be able to reach you? Or will your phone go to voicemail? A tenant who cannot reach you when emergency strikes may call 911, try to deal with the problem alone, or let the problem go until the next business day.

Since emergencies can strike at any time, it's wise to invest in a virtual receptionist so tenants can receive help 24/7. The receptionist can take messages for non-urgent situations, passing them on to you first thing in the morning. During emergencies, the virtual receptionist can contact your pre-selected service provider to arrange an emergency call.

While you hope to never need many emergency plans, it's better to have them just in case. This way, you can respond quickly when something happens, proving your value to renters and property owners alike.