Select's proactive approach contains owners corp costs

August 2009

One of the great benefits of working with Select OwnersCorp Management is the proactive approach the business takes to managing its properties.  This proactive approach ranges from the simple to the quite complex, and in all cases serves the common goals of saving an owners corp anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars a year based on the size of the asset.

“Our proactive approach to managing property is ingrained in the culture of our business,” says Select manager, Peter Black.  “Clients are often surprised when they learn how deep this approach goes of staying on the front foot with the assets we manage.”

At the simplest level, Select managers ensure there are routine programmed maintenance schedules in place.  This takes in a range of scheduled activities, such as gutter cleaning, maintaining garage security doors, replacing door locking hardware, and more.

“Large security doors for basement carparks, for example, do need to be checked on a routine basis.  The last thing anyone needs is a breakdown which will inevitably happen on a Saturday night when service callouts are at their highest rate,” says Black.  “Similarly, for lock hardware on common entry doors, the wafers and tumblers inside the lock barrel can wear to the point where literally overnight a key will no longer work.  These types of malfunctions are unnecessary and a real inconvenience for residents.”

Based on the experience and initiative of the Select group, the company is also adept at managing more complex administrative initiatives that save time and money for owners corps.  This extends to working beyond the standard model rules that apply to every owners corp in the State, to the development of a special set of rules based on asset class.

“Our approach is quite clinical in this regard,” says Select manager Andy Dawson.  “We will work closely with lawyers to develop additional rules for the smooth operation of the owners corp given the specific issues that we know arise for certain property types.  What this means is we have clearly defined what is and is not acceptable for specific circumstances, and can exercise theses rules quickly and efficiently if there’s a breach.  The cost savings in this regard can be enormous as we get ahead of the issues and nip them at the bud.”

In addition, Select also has the technical expertise to recognise the true cost of a repair, as well as putting in the groundwork to identify problem areas during the final stages of construction.

“When we’re engaged with owners corps in new buildings, for example, we seek permission from the owners to engage a building consultant to conduct a common property defects report and then work with the builder to have these corrections made,” says Black.  “There’s nothing worse for owners than to let these issues slide and then five years down the track have to deal with chronic leakage or corrosion issues.”

Adds Dawson: “There’s no substitute for having the technical expertise to know the true cost of a repair.  For example, does the elevator engine need to be replaced or just the bearings?  The interests of the owners are best served by pursuing not the easiest solution but the right solution.  Select is always there achieving the right solution for owners by taking a professional, commercial approach to ensuring current and future costs are contained.”