How To Keep Your Apartment Community Safe This Winter
The cold weather is well on its way. Perhaps you’re already feeling a chill in the air and dreading the longevity of the bleak season ahead. Never fear—there’s still time to prepare your property and send friendly reminders to residents for their own safety. Take a closer look at these winter preventive maintenance tasks to take care of and focus on as winter approaches in your area. If you’re still curious, here are some specific tips for how to keep your apartment community safe this winter.
Fire Prevention
Property managers have knowledge of the risk of residential fires that are able to cause property damage, injuries, and even fatalities year-round. However, the risk of fires during wintertime is even higher. Between the months of November and February are the peak times when most fire accidents can happen. We can correlate this chance with electrical malfunctions, an increase in cooking, and increased use of heat and light sources, such as portable heaters and malfunctioning furnaces. Apartment residents should be aware if their inside smoke detectors are functioning properly, and property managers should check fire alarms throughout the community for safety purposes before the season begins.
Pipe Protection
Another way to keep your apartment community safe this winter is to prevent water damage. Water that’s inside pipes can freeze in the winter and may burst from the pressure, causing a big mess and an even bigger expense. Outside pipes that are exposed to the elements should be covered and thoroughly insulated. You should also disconnect outside hoses and shut off sprinkler systems. Remind residents to keep their thermostats up, so inside pipes under sinks don’t freeze. Property managers should also keep an eye on empty units during wintertime, checking for heat efficiency, tight window seals, and other protective measures.
Snow and Ice Removal
Snow and ice can be incredibly dangerous. Whose responsibility is it to clear your property after a snowstorm? If the responsibility for clearing away snow is up to management and not the tenants, property managers need to be prepared before the first winter storm. If it’s not the maintenance team’s job to remove snow and salt sidewalks, hiring local and professional commercial snow plowing services is often the best option. Walkways, driveways, parking lots, and other common areas of the property need to be promptly and properly cleared of snow and ice in order to prevent resident injuries and any possible lawsuits or penalties. Investing now is a way to maximize everyone’s safety for the entirety of the winter season.
