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Hi Jim, We are in a block of 60 units and there is one building representative. This rep is besieged constantly by owners/renters of things to be done/complaints about common grounds specially parking etc etc. at all hours of the day as soon as he is just about to go out or knock on the door when he is about to sit down for dinner! quite stressful and annoying for a volunteer job !!
Do you know how best to handle this.. perhaps a twitter or Facebook account ?
Owners/renters will be informed of this site and require them to write their issues and what they feel should be done. I’m thinking the bldg representative can then cut and paste and send via email to the strata manager and the strata manager to respond of what he has done either in twitter or FB?
Your expert advice will be most appreciated… thanks !
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Do your strata levies include therapy for the building rep?
I’m in a bigger block, so we have on site security/building management for most issues raised by residents. The strata manager handles a deal of owner issues via email/phone as the first point of contact for owners. We have a logbook on the front desk where people can document issues that the building manager can action the following day.That log gets reviewed monthly to make sure there’s nothing that needs to go into the budget/requires more attention. e.g. 10 complaints saying a BBQ isn’t working means it probably needs to be replaced.
A generic email account, separate from personal email so that the password can be handed over should the person doing the work change + a log book of some kind might work out ok in your situation. Generic email accounts can also be shared should your building rep. ever need a holiday/or someone else is kind enough to volunteer to share the load. I’d also suggest the building rep. lay down some ground rules on how/when they can be contacted. Another idea is a mobile phone specifically for the role, paid for by the OC. The phone can be handed around/diverted if needs be.
I’m mytwitface averse, not sure I’d like our building’s dirty laundry handed over to companies which exist to mine data.
We are a much smaller strata but I have to agree with tharra’s suggestion of a dedicated email account. The account can be vetted by a member of the executive.
Our strata has an email account where there are a series of generic questions anyone submitting a request must fill out eg, exact problem, date detected, units affected, suggested activity to fix.
Don’t forget that there are many older people living in strata.
How about the old “Suggestion Box” in the foyer, but don’t call it that, or you know what sort of suggestions you’ll get. What about “Maintenance Requests”.
And a “Do Not Disturb” sign for the Caretakers door handle.
@Bush View said:
Hi Jim, We are in a block of 60 units and there is one building representative. This rep is besieged constantly by owners/renters of things to be done/complaints about common grounds specially parking etc etc. at all hours of the day as soon as he is just about to go out or knock on the door when he is about to sit down for dinner! quite stressful and annoying for a volunteer job !!Do you know how best to handle this.. perhaps a twitter or Facebook account ?
The problem with a Facebook or Twitter account is that it has to be monitored constantly or left open (which leads to all sorts of issues of liability if someone is defamed.)
I also heard recently of a website based system – a bit like this forum – where one owner became abusive, another owner responded and both got even worse when they were asked to tone it down, so much so that they had to shut the website down.
If I were setting up a system it would be an open monitored forum (like this, but simpler) which was password protected and monitored maybe once a day. All communications would be flicked directly to the strata manager while only those fit for human consumption would appear on the website.
It still requires someone to monitor it but at least they can choose WHEN to deal with it, unlike a phone call or knock on the door which demands immediate attention.
If you wanted to get really clever, you’d include pro forma complaint forms so that at least you ‘d get the basic information (who, what, where, when and why).
Or you could look at this.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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