Develop your maintenance plan

Developing your maintenance plan is a 2-step process. First, make sure you’ve gathered all the information you’ll need. Then write a plan that looks at what needs to be done this year and also over the long term.

Get the information you need

There’s a lot of information out there that will help you develop your maintenance plan. For example, you might want to look at:

• community goals
• copies of related reports (unit condition reports, for example)
• annual plans
• operating budgets

Make sure whatever information you collect is accurate. If you’re working with projections because historical data isn’t available, be sure those projections are realistic.

Inspections are another good way to collect information about the condition of the properties you manage. Many different inspections should be carried out regularly, including annual inspections, physical condition reviews, and move-in and move-out inspections.

Write your maintenance plan

Your maintenance plan should have 2 parts: an annual maintenance plan and a long-term plan.

The annual maintenance plan will describe in detail what you propose to do in the next 12 months. It should clearly identify your priorities, work items and time frames, as well as the human and financial resources required.

The long-term maintenance plan will describe at a high-level what should happen over the next 3 to 5 years.

Assess what you have

Looking at all the information you gathered to write the plan, ask yourself the following:

• What priorities have my community identified?
• Do I have enough human and financial resources to address those priorities?
• When can the work be completed?
• Are there any program restrictions I should consider?
• Did inspectors identify any areas of concern?

Answer key questions

The insights from your assessment will help you focus on what’s important for your plan. Make sure your maintenance plan reflects these priorities. As you write the plan, try to answer these questions:

• Why is this task necessary? Will it help me reach my goals?
• Which tasks will be completed over the next 12 months?
• Who will be responsible for completing each task?
• When will each task be completed?
• Where will I get the human and financial resources I need to complete each task?

For more information, please contact your local CMHC office or CMHC consultant.