What are Maintenance Contracts?

Property maintenance contracts are contracts between two parties that create an agreement in which one party will see to the upkeep of a possession of another party in exchange for agreed upon compensation. Such contracts are common in many industries and can be used to cover such items as land, buildings, equipment, and computers, for example. A property maintenance contract sets out the timeline, requirements, expectations, and price to be agreed upon for such coverage.

Such details are usually negotiated and then finalized in a maintenance contract proposal, which is similar to a pro forma invoice or a quote. Once this is agreed to a final agreement is settled with an official contract.

Property Maintenance

Property maintenance is a service that is contracted out when a party does not have the time or resources to see to such maintenance themselves. This maintenance is often essential to the efficient operation of a business or to the longevity of a piece of property.

For this service, there are all manner of companies and agencies that will provide upkeep in return for payment, and if your business cannot devote the proper resources to upkeep, it may be more than worth it to contract the work out. Property maintenance providers will act as caretakers and deal with upkeep, repairs, and replacements so that you don’t have to.

A good contractor will attempt to preserve (if not increase) the value of the property they oversee, as well as honor any tenant requests promptly and be transparent in their dealings.

Examples of services a maintenance contractor may provide include:

  • Lawn maintenance.
  • Carpentry.
  • Power washing.
  • Storm clean-up.
  • Sign installation.
  • Plumbing maintenance.
  • Electrical maintenance.
  • HVAC.
  • Painting.
  • Snow removal.
  • Drywall replacement.
  • Façade repairs.
  • Sign installation.
  • Graffiti removal.
  • General cleaning.

Building Maintenance

Building maintenance pertains to the cleaning of a building, either interior, exterior, or both, in addition to tangible property within the building. Having a dedicated building maintenance contractor can prevent small issues from turning into major ones. For instance, if there is an injury in your property due to lack of building maintenance, you could be liable for damages.

In a similar vein, in the apartment rental business, having an apartment maintenance agreement between tenant and landlord is important. Such an agreement details the duties of each party insofar as building maintenance is concerned, as well as penalties for the failure to uphold the terms of the contract.

Building maintenance agreements may cover every aspect of building maintenance, and you may have separate agreements for each one of them. For example, if your property includes an outer grounds area, the hedge and grass trimming can be covered in a lawn maintenance agreement, while the landscaping can be maintained with a landscape maintenance agreement.

Alternatively, a property maintenance agreement can be divided into separate sections that might detail such aspects as:

  • Building maintenance.
  • Common easement maintenance.
  • Private road maintenance.
  • Common driveway maintenance.
  • Landscape maintenance.
  • Lawn maintenance.

It is also possible to enter into a private maintenance agreement amongst multiple parties. For instance, if you share a driveway with other property owners, you can enter into a a private road maintenance agreement with all of them. Such an agreement should indicate what parties are beholden to it and what their duties are, as well as what the penalties will be for not upholding the terms of the contract.

Advantages of Professional Maintenance

When running a commercial property, contracting the maintenance out will save you both time and money overall. More specifically, advantages of doing this include:

  • Saving money by not having to purchase and run maintenance equipment.
  • Having the work done by knowledgeable professionals who will most likely provide higher quality upkeep than if you focused on the maintenance yourself.
  • Saving time by not having to oversee maintenance yourself, nor deal with an in-house maintenance crew and any labor issues that may arise.
  • Helping draw in prospective tenants, if you are in the property rental business.

That said, you will have to obtain the services of a reputable and reliable contractor to obtain these benefits, so taking the time to carefully review the possible contractors is very important.

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