Three buildings, forty tenants and one phone that never stops ringing: a light out in the parking lot, a door that will not latch, and the thermostat war on the second floor. Most emergency calls start as small things nobody had time to fix. This guide gives property managers a commercial property maintenance checklist, monthly, seasonal and yearly, ways to cut emergency calls, what to put in a post, and how to get bids from verified local pros for one building or many.
The monthly walk-through
- Exterior and parking lot lights, including timers and photocells
- Entrance doors, locks, closers and panic hardware
- Common areas: ceiling tiles, floors, stair rails, signage
- Restrooms: fixtures, leaks, partitions, exhaust fans
- Parking lot and sidewalks: potholes, trip hazards, striping, drainage
- Roof access and anything visible: debris, ponding water, loose flashing
The commercial property maintenance checklist
| How often | What to check |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Lighting, doors and locks, common areas, restrooms, parking lot hazards, tenant requests |
| Quarterly | HVAC filters and service, roof drains and gutters, fire extinguishers and exit signs checked by the right pros, landscaping |
| Seasonal | HVAC before summer and winter, roof before storm season, irrigation, snow or storm plans |
| Yearly | Roof inspection, parking lot sealcoating and striping, pressure washing, paint touch-ups, a full building walk with photos |
How to quiet the phone
- Keep one simple request log so nothing gets lost between calls and emails.
- Service systems before their busy season: HVAC before summer and winter, roofs before storms.
- Use the same pros for the same buildings, so they know the property.
- Agree on response times for urgent and routine work before you need them.
- Ask for photos before and after every job for your records and your owners.
Building types we cover
Offices, retail centers, warehouses and industrial buildings, medical buildings, churches and schools, and mixed-use properties. For apartment communities, see our apartment make-ready guide.
Roofs and HVAC: where emergencies start
Two systems cause a large share of after-hours calls in commercial buildings: roofs and heating and cooling. A clogged roof drain turns a normal rain into a leak over a tenant's desk. A unit that missed its service fails on the first hot day. Inspect roofs and clear drains before storm season, and service HVAC before summer and winter, with notes and photos from each visit so you can plan replacements before they fail.
Build a bench of trusted pros
Property managers who sleep at night usually have a short bench of pros they trust for each trade: a handyman crew for small repairs, an electrician, a plumber, a roofer, an HVAC pro, a cleaning crew and someone for the parking lot. Posting a job and comparing bids is a quick way to add a pro to the bench or check that pricing and response times are still right.
Report it to owners
- Keep before and after photos for every job.
- Log the date, the building, the issue and who fixed it.
- Flag repeat problems: the same door or the same roof area every month.
- Plan the bigger items, like a roof section or a parking lot, a season ahead.
What to put in your post
- The property type and how many buildings
- One-time repairs, a list of fixes, or recurring maintenance
- Photos and the location of each item
- Access, tenant hours and any work-hour rules
- How fast you need urgent calls answered
Questions to ask a maintenance pro
- Which trades do you handle yourselves, and which do you bring in?
- How fast can you respond to an urgent call?
- How do you report the work, with photos and notes?
- Do you carry insurance, and any license my area requires for the trade?
- Who from your team will work on our buildings?
Get commercial property maintenance bids on BidHandyman
Post your building repairs or recurring maintenance free, for one property or a portfolio. Only pros approved by BidHandyman can bid. Compare the bids, message the pros and hire the ones you like, with no obligation. Post your building maintenance, or see business repairs and commercial cleaning.