Condominium: Communicate, don’t assume
Underfloor heating turned off, kitchen hood grease filter unwashed, and supply air ducts blocked. Residents of the condominium cause damages due to their ignorance and assuming that things work the same way as in their previous residence.
“When moving into a rented apartment, there’s an assumption that the landlord is responsible for everything and that things will take care of themselves. For instance, young people moving into their first apartment usually lack the necessary information and sometimes the interest to spend time figuring out living instructions and responsibilities,” says Tomi Hanka, an expert at One4all who previously worked as a technical and administrative property manager.
“Buildings differ, and building systems operate differently in each. Frankly, it’s unreasonable for a condominium to assume that a resident knows everything upon moving in. If living instructions and responsibilities are not clearly communicated to residents, the risks increase, and unfortunately, often materialize.”
Condominiums face expensive investigations due to self-inflicted indoor air problems
During his tenure as a property manager, Hanka encountered several situations where condominium damage could have been prevented through communication and guidance.
“Once a resident moved from a detached house with gravity based ventilation to a housewith mechanical exhaust ventilation. For the first couple of years, they lived with the exhaust fan only on while cooking, although it should have been on all the time. This led to moisture damage and a hefty bill,” recalls Hanka.
“While serving as a property manager, I regularly received reports of indoor air problems. In the worst cases, expensive investigations were commissioned, only to find out that the kitchen hood grease filter had never been cleaned, and the supply air filters were blocked, uncleaned, and not replaced. Especially among the older generation, there have been many residents who block all supply air vents to save on heating costs.”
Moisture damage caused by residents’ ignorance is common in condominiums
According to Hanka, it’s surprisingly common for underfloor heating to be turned off for savings in wet rooms, leading to costly moisture damage. Another risk of water damage is the building’s water tap. If tightened too tightly, the water tap breaks and causes water damage.
“The last time this happened to me, fortunately, the water tap broke outside the wall structure, and the water sprayed outside the building, not into the structures, as could have happened,” Hanka explains.
Condominiums must communicate the obvious
“How many people seek information from dusty responsibility charts or instruction manuals tucked away in the back of a cupboard? I argue, very few. Nowadays, residents are reached through digital channels.”
Hanka also has another tip for condominiums: communicate even the obvious.
“Often, a resident assumes that everything related to drainage, for example, is the responsibility of the condominium, even though this may not be the case according to the allocation of responsibilities. But nobody can know that if they are not informed.
All the basics need to be communicated repeatedly, as residents change, practices are forgotten, and even the condominium act changes from time to time. It’s not enough to have communicated it back in 2018.
Effective communication can lead to significant savings. Additionally, in the event of damage, more extensive damages can be avoided when, for example, information about a water leak is quickly disseminated,” advises Hanka.
A notice in red font and capital letters doesn’t work
While the intention behind communication is good, there are mistakes to avoid.
“A notice written in red font and capital letters will only stir up annoyance. When writing a notice, one should consider, how do residents benefit from this information? What new things will they learn? It would be good if the property manager had a bit of a salesman in them because guiding is, in a way, also selling one’s own ideas.”
How do you know if a condominium has succeeded in communicating?
“We should strive for a situation where people look forward to the next notice. The success of communication can be measured by a reduction in damages and an increase in satisfaction with living conditions.”
This article is an ai-generated translation of the original article in Finnish.