As cities expand and building areas contract, more and more buildings are built up to accommodate more commercial operations and provide more living spaces. This increase of multiple occupied buildings also requires that the standard of the professional management systems needed to manage the buildings reaches a higher level. This increase in standards applies to both commercially occupied buildings as well as building that are primarily occupied as private dwellings.
For the management of these buildings it essential that the strata manager develops an effective working relationship with the trades-people who provide the services which keep the building running efficiently. These professional relationships will include electricians, interior designers, painters, air-conditioning and heating specialists and importantly plumbers.
A commercial plumbing company will have numerous call-outs to these buildings simply because of the density of occupation. In the case where the building is mainly providing dwelling space plumbing services are often required at short notice and the plumber needs to be in contact with a well informed strata manager. This is because the legislation and compliance regulations covering a strata managed building are complex.
To achieve a good outcome the plumber, strata manager, owner(s) or tenant(s) all need to be in communication with each other. This requires a significant amount of expertise on the behalf of the strata manager in communicating with all of the participants. A well informed plumber will also assist within this communicating group.
A well informed commercial plumber who understands some of the complexities of the strata title system will achieve effective communication with all the participants. This can be achieved by having the expertise to identify where the plumbing problem is and what remedial action will be required in discussion with the strata-manager or owner/tenant. Whether it is to identify points of water ingress through a common wall or whether the leaking bathroom tap is the responsibility of the owners corporation or the complainant.
Another specialist area that the commercial plumber is well equipped and informed about is providing the plumbing information required for a Preventative Maintenance report. A well researched Preventative Maintenance Plan can save the owners time and money, factors important in a commercial environment.
This is where the relationship between the commercial plumber and the strata-manager comes to the fore. It has been identified in numerous reports that one of the most common emergency repairs are plumbing problems, leaking roofs, broken pipes, blocked drains and other plumbing issues. These are often caused by inadequate maintenance or forward planning.
By preparing a Preventative Maintenance Plan a strata-manager can ensure that the building’s plumbing system is working up to expectations.
To achieve this positive and workable outcome it is important to have dependable and reliable commercial plumbers who are able to contribute to the good management of a strata property.