What it's like being a long-term maintenance planner?
Thoughts from John Bradley, founder of Plan Heaven - updated Mar 2021
The long-term maintenance planner is a relatively new role. Many companies have long offered what they called "asset management services" which included long-term maintenance plans (LTMPs). But when the Unit Titles Act 2010 (UTA) made it mandatory for all unit title developments to have a LTMP, it spawned a whole new segment.
The main difference between what was then - before the UTA - and what we have now, is volume. Before the UTA, a company might write one or two LTMPs a year. Now, as specialist planners, we have to prepare several a week.
We don't know for sure - because there is no central database - but we can estimate that there are somewhere around 16,000 developments in New Zealand and with the current building boom, apartment buildings and townhouse developments are sprouting up everywhere. They are all required to have an LTMP, and it needs to be updated at least once every three years.
It's a growing market and segment.
But the other difference with unit title developments is that the owners are different. In the days before the UTA, the only property owners who established LTMPs were professional property managers employed by large organisations. Accordingly, the plans were written by - and read by - property experts and a high degree of technical language was expected and used. Typically, on these occasions, the property managers would sit down and discuss the planned maintenance with the planners to reach agreement over programmes and costings. The project took a lot of time and typically came with a decent fee.
With unit title developments, the owners generally know very little about buildings or their maintenance and the decisions are made by a body corporate - which is a small democracy - and we know how messy decision making can be in democracies. Unit owners also have a different attitude about costs and shudder at the fees building surveyors and commercial property management companies have historically charged.
Plan Heaven was born into this new environment and understands body corporate clients better than most. Our mission is to build elegant, plain English, easy to follow documents that make sense to the average unit owner. We want them to read and understand our plans, and when they have finished reading, say, "I get it. That makes sense. I guess I have to spend the money".
As planners we get variety. Compared to, say, a QS, architect or project manager, a long-term maintenance planner will get to visit many different developments. Typically this can be two or three a week. We see old run-down buildings that have seen no maintenance for decades - and with owners who either have no money or simply don't like spending it. We also get to look through sparkling new high rises in prime locations built using materials and methods so new that we have to look them up on Google to see what they are. We get to prepare plans for 19th-century villas, historic buildings, hotels, and upmarket resorts in the South Island lake districts. We see buildings rebuilt after the earthquakes and others that are designated earthquake-prone. We also see our fair share of leakers. But these still need a plan, so we need to find a way to deal with that.
Our work is interesting and challenging as no two buildings and their issues are the same. We have to be thoughtful, inquisitive and keep an open mind for each new job. But we also have to be efficient because we often cannot command a hefty fee.
But when we do our job well and create a plan that nicely fits our client's needs, we can feel satisfied that we have helped someone. We also usually find that they are grateful.
Take the right attitude going into this new role of being a long-term maintenance planner, and you will find it can be satisfying and rewarding.
The skills required to be a good long-term maintenance planner
Building surveyors and architects are experts in the performance of those elements that keep the building watertight. As long-term maintenance planners, we don't need the level of knowledge required to discuss remediation. But we do need to know enough to recommend further investigation if we think it is necessary.
Our primary role covers much more than weathertightness. We need to help the building owner identify all possible items that will likely need maintenance. We need to discuss things such as the lift and fire protection systems right down to remarking the car parks and fixing up fences. Many buildings also have other special systems such as car lifts and hot water boilers. Of course, as a planner, we can’t be experts in all of these areas, so we need to prepared to ask others who are expert and include their recommendations in our plans.
We also need to think about and maybe provide for the future with things like electric car charging and the need to replace CNG powered hot water boilers. And we need a basic understanding of Quantity Surveying because we have to estimate the cost of the work we recommend.
So while Building Surveyors, Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers and Engineers are all specialists. So are we.
We are specialist long-term maintenance planners.
If you have any feedback or questions please use the Contact form.
The Plan Heaven team.