Just a few days ago in Toronto, Mayor John Tory announced that the city’s Municipal Licensing and Standards division, Toronto Fire Services and the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) will conduct a blitz of inspections in the coming months. The newly formed group has the directive to identify and prioritize rental buildings for inspection.
Tory commented, “Building owners are responsible for ensuring that their buildings are in full compliance with the Ontario Fire Code and all the other relevant regulatory requirements. This should be an every day obligation of these property owners, including making sure they are subject to regular inspection now, in light of these events.”
The announcement was made on the heels of a series of electrical issues at two downtown high-rise buildings that resulted in the displacement of hundreds of tenants, who were left without electricity, heat or water for days. (Prior to this, last August, a fire broke out in downtown tower’s electrical room that forced 1,500 residents out of their homes for more than six months.)When launching the inspection crackdown, Tory noted, “This lack of preventative maintenance is unacceptable and needs to stop. There is too much safety risk involved and this can’t be the standard when it comes to the lives of hard working tenants in these buildings.”
How to Improve Inspections
Responsible landlords and property management firms understand that they need to ensure the ongoing inspection of their buildings and their electrical systems. The safety of tenants is Job #1. Forward-thinking firms are turning to property inspection modules to improve the way they inspect their rental units.
Why? There are several reasons:
Scheduling Maintenance
A property inspection module is a great way to schedule regular and preventative maintenance. to make sure that no properties or units go unchecked.
Automate Inspections
For fire, safety and due diligence checks and other building inspections, an inspection tool makes it easy to automate daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually and annual inspections. You have the ability to capture digital signatures, for inspection sign-off.
Address Issues Immediately
One of the biggest risks is lag-time between an inspection and getting the work done. Use the property inspection tool to create work orders and purchase orders purchase from inspections to address the issues right away.
All Documentation in One Place
With a property inspection module, you have a digital and handy record of all correspondence between tenants and maintenance vendors, ensuring that nothing is amiss – or goes missing. You can also store photos for comparisons and access work orders, inspection reports and other related documents.
On-the-Spot Reporting
In addition to creating work orders, you can also generate reports on the spot on any device – invaluable for people working on-site. This makes it much easier for local property managers and regional managers alike to keep tabs on how repairs are progressing.
Want to Improve Your Inspection Capabilities?
Property Vista’s inspection module enables you to conveniently perform all types of inspections using any mobile device. It helps you take better care of your property, with less time and effort. See our pricing and ask to see a demo.
