Swimming pools are an excellent addition to any resident retention strategy, but they take a lot of work to keep clean. The pH and chlorine levels need to be checked several times a week, the surface needs to be skimmed weekly, filters need to be cleaned monthly, etc. Let’s take a look at multifamily and single family residences and explore who’s responsible for pool maintenance at each property type.
Who is in charge of swimming pool maintenance at a single family home?
Residents of single family homes need to know who is responsible for swimming pool maintenance. Is it their responsibility or yours? In some leases, the resident assumes responsibility for daily, weekly and monthly maintenance. Other times, the property manager handles the work and includes the cost in the rent. To avoid conflict, it’s important that residents know what maintenance they are paying for by including the details in their lease.
That means property managers must ensure residents understand their leases. Go over the pool section with them. You may also want to create a digital reference document or scan a paper one and upload it to your tenant portal.
Periodic maintenance (done annually or every few years) is important for swimming pool safety but sometimes gets left out of leases. For instance, a lease may cover who is in charge of draining and refilling the pool, but does it include who is responsible for the higher water/heating bill when this task is done? Be sure not to miss the details.
Pro tip: Periodic maintenance tends to be expensive and time-consuming. Residents are unlikely to agree to do these jobs if the terms aren’t clear in the lease.
Hire a pool maintenance service
You can make things easier by hiring a service to handle all routine pool maintenance. This way, your tenants don’t have to worry about it, and your owners can rest easy knowing their property is being properly maintained. If you manage several homes, you may be able to work out a good deal with a local pool company. The expense can be billed back to the owner and should be considered when calculating the rent.
Who is in charge of swimming pool maintenance at a multifamily residence?
Usually, the property manager schedules all maintenance and cleaning. Residents in multifamily homes are not directly responsible for swimming pool maintenance. Of course, the cost of maintenance is divided amongst all renters at the property. However, it’s important to post safety and terms-of-use signs in the pool area. Residents need to know that they are swimming at their own risk.
Property managers are responsible for safety and pool maintenance, but tenants still share some accountability. They must obey no-diving and running rules, wear appropriate footwear, keep the gate locked and so on. As long as the rules are clear and they’ve signed off that they understand them, property managers should be able to avoid blame in the event of an accident or violation.
Use Yardi Breeze to update your swimming pool addendum
In addition to figuring out who is in charge of swimming pool maintenance, property managers may want to create a pool addendum with a lawyer. Well-placed caution signs may not cover you in the event of an accident or injury. This might be more expensive than writing it yourself, but it will cost a lot less than a lawsuit.
If you’re a Yardi Breeze user, you can give your residents access to your pool addendum through the tenant portal.
Disclaimer
Please note that our swimming pool maintenance advice does not constitute or replace legal advice. Advice related to the coronavirus may not reflect real-world conditions as the pandemic situation changes. We hope this information is helpful, and we encourage you to do more research.
