Maintenance represents a significant portion of your operating expenses (OpEx), encompassing staffing, supplies and equipment. But maintenance does more than keep your community running. It contributes to your revenue generation and helps lower your capital expenditures (CapEx). Given its impact, ensuring your maintenance program operates with peak efficiency and effectiveness is clearly a smart move.
However, staying on top of every maintenance task can be challenging, and any oversight has the potential to lead to more significant costs down the line. A well-structured rental property maintenance checklist can be an invaluable tool in ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
To help streamline your maintenance efforts, our comprehensive checklist, integrated below, categorizes tasks into routine, seasonal and annual schedules. This ensures that no matter the time of year, your technicians have a clear guide to keep your community running smoothly.
Benefits of a rental property maintenance checklist
Disorganized maintenance can cost you time, money and residents. It can increase both CapEx and OpEx expenses, limit how quickly you can grow your portfolio and keep residents from signing leases.
While it might seem simple, having a maintenance checklist to keep your technicians organized is critical for achieving your maintenance goals. Having a maintenance checklist for rental property:
Prevents costly emergency repairs
Emergency plumbers, HVAC technicians and even your own staff cost more in an emergency because fast response times and after-hours work often come at higher rates. And that’s not factoring in damage caused by equipment failure (like water damage from leaks), express parts shipping or alternative accommodations for residents.
When you stay on top of preventive maintenance, you’ll see fewer expensive emergencies.
Extends the lifespan of property systems and appliances
The better you maintain your assets, the longer they last. That means getting more value out of them before they eventually fail, keeping your CapEx low. It can also result in overall lower labor costs. Usually, a quick tune-up takes far less time than a full replacement.
Enhances resident satisfaction and retention
Staying on top of maintenance means fewer interruptions and frustrations for residents. When you plan out maintenance tasks in advance, you can group them together so you’re entering an apartment once or twice instead of multiple times. Plus, catching issues while they’re small and easy to fix helps keep interruptions short and non-invasive.
Ensures compliance with safety and legal requirements
When some equipment fails, it can become a safety or compliance issue. For example, a failure to your fire alarm system or an emergency door latch is definitely a safety issue. A solid maintenance checklist helps you catch issues with critical systems before an inspector does.
Saves time and improves organization
When you have visibility into more maintenance tasks, it’s easier to schedule them in more efficient ways. You can combine similar tasks and assign them to the most capable technicians. Other staff can plan around maintenance projects, too. For example, if you’re having your lawn re-sodded, your resident experience staff can move a barbeque event to the parking lot—but only if they have enough time to warn people not to park there first.
Helps preserve property value and attract quality residents
When your maintenance team stays on top of aesthetic repairs, your community always looks its best. That’s great for attracting more prospects because you're always ready to showcase your property, whether that’s for people on self-guided tours or a resident’s friend who falls in love with the place while she’s visiting.
Routine maintenance tasks
Routine maintenance is critical for ensuring your multifamily community runs smoothly and residents stay happy. Maintenance issues will always pop up, but the more regular, preventive maintenance tasks you can schedule in, the easier it will be to prevent expensive emergency repairs, resident frustration and drooping property values.
Monthly maintenance tasks
Check for plumbing leaks: While huge leaks can cause huge issues, small, undetected ones may cause more damage in the long run. Check under sinks, toilets, washing machines and sprinkler systems—or use water leak sensors that check for you.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors: Smoke and carbon monoxide are deadly when they go undetected, and non-working detectors can result in code violations. Individual detector units usually have a test button you can push for a quick check, while community-wide systems can be tested from a central management system.
Inspect HVAC filters and change if necessary: Dirty filters can result in poor air quality and increase the risk of mold issues. Depending on the type of filter, you may be able to go three months without changing them, but you should inspect filters every month. Visibly dirty air filters should be changed immediately, while clean-looking filters have some life left in them
Check for pest issues: Detecting pest issues early is critical for preventing expensive infestations and resident dissatisfaction. Look for droppings, nests, strange smells, gnaw marks, grease marks and tracks.
Quarterly maintenance tasks
Inspect and clean gutters: Rain gutter blockages can cause water to drip in unexpected places, causing flood damage. When it rains, look for dripping along your gutters. In better weather, get on a ladder and look for leaves, dirt and other debris in gutters.
Check water heater and flush sediment: As sediment collects, water heaters become less efficient and cost you and your residents money. You’ll need to turn off the power and water flow, let it cool then drain the tank.
Test garage door auto-reverse feature: If a garage door closes on someone, it can cause serious injury, especially for small children and pets. Test the auto-reverse safety feature by telling the door to close and then blocking the sensor with a stick or other implement. If the door reverses, you’re all good.
Examine exterior paint and siding: Damaged paint or siding can lead to more expensive repairs down the line, especially during adverse weather conditions. Look for peeling, flaking, cracking or fading. If you find water damage or rot, begin a more thorough inspection. You may need to make immediate repairs.
Biannual maintenance tasks
Inspect roofs and check for leaks: Water damage from leaks can be one of the most costly repairs you make, and catching damage early is critical for avoiding mold and mildew. Conduct visual exterior and interior inspections and act immediately if you see any signs of wear or damage.
Deep clean carpets and flooring: Carpets and floors that aren’t deep cleaned regularly can harbor allergens and germs. They can also leave permanent stains, resulting in costly replacements. Add this to your in-house task list or hire a cleaning crew.
Service HVAC system: Malfunctioning HVAC systems can be costly to repair, and they can be especially frustrating for residents. Make sure you have a licensed HVAC specialist look for ways to keep them clean and tuned up.
Check for foundation cracks: Small foundation cracks that continue to grow can result in costly issues down the line. But if you catch them early, remediation is usually less expensive. Look for cracks in interior and exterior walls, ceilings and floors. Doors and windows that stick can also be a sign of foundation issues.
Annual maintenance tasks
Inspect and service fire extinguishers: In an emergency, fire extinguishers can be the difference between life and death, and between minimal fire damage and losing your entire investment. Check the dates on all extinguishers and examine them for visual signs of damage.
Clean chimneys and inspect fireplaces: When debris collects in chimneys and fireplaces, it can catch fire and damage your property or block proper ventilation. Inspect the exteriors for cracks, debris and missing mortar. Then look inside for buildup, firebox cracks and a properly functioning damper.
Inspect and seal windows & doors: Proper sealing can help you and your residents save on energy costs, especially in extreme temperatures. Walk the space and feel for drafts, then visually inspect all seals. Replace any that look damaged.
Seasonal maintenance tasks
While some of the tasks below are also part of a monthly, quarterly, biannual or annual maintenance plan, it’s extra important to complete them more thoroughly in some seasons.
Seasonal maintenance helps property managers stay ahead of potential problems by preparing properties for extreme weather changes like heat waves, storms, freezing temperatures and heavy rain. Seasonal upkeep also helps ensure resident safety, protects your assets and prevents high repair costs.
Spring maintenance (preparing for warmer weather)
Spring maintenance should focus on inspecting for any winter damage, deep cleaning and preparing for increased resident activity outdoors.
Inspect roofs and gutters for winter damage: While it’s important to keep roofs and gutters in good condition all year long, during cold, wet winter months you’ll see the greatest chance that they’ll be damaged, worn or blocked. Do your most thorough inspections now so you can repair any larger issues during better weather.
Test and service air conditioning units: As temperatures rise, residents will switch from heating their homes to cooling them. Make sure the air conditioning portion of your HVAC systems are functioning well.
Inspect outdoor plumbing and sprinkler systems: You’ll need outdoor plumbing and sprinklers in working order to ensure your outdoor spaces look great as residents begin using them more.
Check for pest infestations: Spring isn’t just for thriving birds and flowers. All kinds of critters will enjoy warming temperatures, so now’s the time to nip any infestations in the bud.
Summer maintenance (high temperatures & resident comfort)
As temperatures heat up, focus your maintenance dollars on energy efficiency, outdoor maintenance and properly working cooling systems.
Monitor air conditioning performance: Air conditioning can be one of the highest energy consumers in a multifamily community, so keep an eye on yours. If you can, use data from smart thermostats to keep an eye on energy usage. Doing so can point you toward energy-saving projects like replacing window and door seals, installing UV-reducing window panes and keeping common area doors closed.
Inspect and clean decks, patios and outdoor areas: Get outdoor amenities ready for barbeques, picnics and sports during peak outdoor season. Speaking of peak seasons, it’s also peak moving season, so making outdoor spaces sparkle will attract new residents, too.
Service lawn and landscaping: Grass and other landscaping typically grow the fastest in spring and summer, so you’ll need to spend extra time on maintaining these areas to keep up.
Check and test exterior lighting: While the sun will stay up later, so will your residents. Warmer nighttime temperatures mean more evening walks for residents and more after-hours tours for prospective residents. Make sure all your exterior lighting makes those experiences safe and memorable.
Fall maintenance (preparing for colder months)
In the fall, focus on preventing heating issues, sealing drafts and preparing for storms and falling leaves.
Service heating system and furnace: It’s time to make sure that residents can flip their thermostats from air conditioning to heating without any hangups. Ignite extinguished pilot lights, clean out flammables like dust bunnies and dirt and test heating output.
Seal gaps and inspect weatherstripping: Drafts can significantly increase energy bills—and decrease resident comfort. As you test heaters and furnaces, walk the space feeling for cold spots and drafts, especially near windows and doors. Seal any gaps you find.
Clean gutters and downspouts: Falling leaves and fall storms can quickly turn clear gutters into muck. Plan to clear gutters a few times during the fall, especially after larger storms.
Test carbon monoxide and smoke detectors: As people spend more time indoors and run heaters, furnaces and stoves more often, it’s important to have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Test all detectors and consider pre-emptively changing out batteries even for those that still have some juice left.
Winter maintenance (protecting property from freezing temperatures)
In winter, focus on preventing frozen pipes, maintaining heating efficiency and ensuring resident safety in colder temperatures.
Prevent frozen pipes: Frozen pipes can burst as ice expands inside them, causing expensive leaks and water damage. Instead, keep pipes from freezing in the first place. Before the first freeze of the season, flush out sprinkler systems and ensure any outdoor plumbing is properly insulated.
Check for ice dams and roof damage: Repeated storms combined with freezing temperatures can create dams of ice on roofs and in gutters. As new snow melts, it gets trapped behind these dams, adding weight to your roof and increasing the chances that water will soak through roofing, insulation, ceilings and walls. Prevent slowly compounding water damage all winter by removing (or making drainage channels in) ice dams as soon as they appear. If ice dams are a repeated problem, consider better insulating your buildings to keep heat on the inside and away from roof snow.
Stock emergency supplies and snow removal equipment: During particularly bad storms, you and your residents may be snowed in. Keep emergency supplies on hand and make sure you have plenty of snow removal supplies like ice melt, shovels, snow blowers and ploughs.
Monitor HVAC performance in cold weather: If you have smart thermometers, keep an eye on that data throughout the winter, just like you did in the summer. If you notice anomalies in certain apartments or areas, these are hints that the insulation or sealing will need replacement soon.
Annual maintenance tasks
Some maintenance tasks don’t need to be done every month or season, but they’re still essential for keeping rental properties in top shape. Tackling them regularly helps community managers budget for long-term repairs instead of paying more during emergencies.
Since some particular tasks don’t need to occur very often, you can slide them in when it’s convenient, like when it minimizes disruption or when the weather is best. But that also means they’re easier to forget about. Noting them on your rental property maintenance checklist is critical for making sure they don’t fall through the cracks.
Structural and exterior maintenance
These maintenance tasks include protecting the building’s foundation, roof, painting, siding and other exterior features. Tackling them regularly prevents long-term damage from weather, pests and wear.
Mechanical systems and utilities
Regularly maintaining critical systems helps them run smoothly and prevents costly, urgent breakdowns. Essential systems that would cause chaos in your community if they failed include:
HVAC
Plumbing
Electrical
Fire suppression and detection
Safety and compliance checks
While safety and compliance regulations vary, you can keep ahead of many of them by scheduling checkups once per year. Doing so helps prevent accidents, inadvertent discrimination (such as ADA violations) and legal action.
Interior and resident-focused maintenance
In-unit inspections each year can help catch issues that might otherwise go unnoticed for long stretches. Consider pairing an annual inspection with other maintenance, like servicing a unit’s HVAC system, testing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or flushing water heaters. Doing so minimizes resident disruption.
Resident communication
Solid communication with your residents is one of the most important parts of a great maintenance strategy. If residents don’t know what to expect or those expectations aren’t met, they’ll feel frustrated.
Effective communication helps prevent disputes and delays. Clear, proactive communication fosters trust and improves resident-management relationships. Often, effective communication means being willing to use multiple communication methods to ensure accessibility, and that’s especially true for maintenance communication.
Setting clear maintenance expectations from the start
When you begin with clear expectations, residents better understand their responsibilities and yours. Set expectations by:
Outlining resident vs. management maintenance responsibilities in the lease agreement.
Providing residents with a welcome packet or handbook with maintenance guidelines. Include tasks like changing air filters or resetting circuit breakers.
Including emergency and non-emergency maintenance definitions so residents know when to submit a request and when to take more immediate action.
Providing easy ways for residents to submit maintenance requests
When it's easy to submit maintenance requests, residents do so more promptly, ensuring your technicians can resolve issues faster. Make submissions easy by:
Using a dedicated property management software, resident app or other portal where residents can submit and track maintenance requests.
Offering multiple ways to submit requests, such as email, phone or online form, to accommodate different preferences.
Providing a step-by-step guide on how residents should report issues, including required details like photos or descriptions.
Setting clear response time expectations for emergency and non-emergency maintenance requests.
Keeping residents informed about scheduled maintenance and repairs
Knowing when repairs will begin and end and how much disruption to expect helps prevent resident frustration. Notify them in advance of inspections, repairs and routine maintenance by:
Sending advanced notices for scheduled maintenance, like HVAC servicing and pest control, with dates and estimated time frames.
Using text messages or email reminders 24-48 hours before scheduled maintenance.
Providing instructions for resident preparation, like clearing out a work space or parking in an unaffected area.
Handling emergency repairs and urgent issues
Communicating how emergencies and urgent repairs will be handled helps residents know what to do in urgent maintenance situations, such as burst pipes or heating failures in the middle of winter. Keep them informed by:
Providing a 24/7 emergency contact number for urgent repairs.
Listing examples of emergencies and non-emergencies so they take the right action.
Setting expectations for response times. For example, your policy might be: “Emergencies will be addressed immediately, non-urgent issues will be addressed within 24-48 hours.”
Following up on completed repairs and gathering feedback
Once a service is complete, take the time to follow up with residents before you fully close out a work order. This final touch point helps ensure resident satisfaction and catches unresolved issues. Handle follow-ups by:
Sending a follow-up message after repairs to confirm the issue is resolved.
Using resident surveys or feedback forms to improve maintenance processes.
Providing a direct contact person for unresolved issues.
Rental property maintenance checklist
Staying on top of rental property maintenance is no easy feat, but we put this checklist together to help you tackle routine, seasonal and annual maintenance tasks. Keep it handy all year round, or use it to add tasks to your work order software.
Routine maintenance tasks
Monthly maintenance tasks
Check for plumbing leaks under toilets, sinks and washing machines.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure functionality
Inspect HVAC filters and change if necessary to keep air quality high.
Check for pest issues to catch infestations early.
Quarterly maintenance tasks
Inspect and clean gutters to prevent rainwater damange.
Check water heaters and flush sediment to keep them efficient and long-lasting.
Test garage door auto-reverse feature to ensure safety at all times.
Examine exterior paint and siding to prevent exterior wear and tear.
Biannual maintenance tasks
Inspect roofs and check for leaks to catch them before water damage sets in.
Deep clean carpets and flooring to keep them fresh and long-lasting.
Service HVAC system to ensure efficient energy use.
Check for foundation cracks to catch issues early and prevent further damage.
Annual maintenance tasks
Inspect and service fire extinguishers to keep them in compliance.
Clean chimneys and inspect fireplaces to prevent uncontrolled fires.
Inspect and seal windows and doors to keep residents comfortable and energy costs low.
Check and repaint exterior as needed to keep your community looking great.
Seasonal maintenance tasks
Spring maintenance
Inspect roofs and gutters for winter damage after snow and rainfall.
Test and service air conditioning units to get them ready for higher temperatures.
Inspect outdoor plumbing and sprinkler systems to catch leaks and maintain landscaping.
Check for pest infestations as insect and wildlife populations swell.
Summer maintenance
Monitor air conditioning performance to ensure efficiency all season.
Inspect and clean decks, patios and outdoor areas so residents can enjoy these spaces.
Service lawn and landscaping to keep your grounds beautiful.
Check and test exterior lighting as residents spend more time outside in the evenings.
Fall maintenance
Service heating system and furnace to prepare for cooler temperatures.
Seal gaps and inspect weatherstripping to prevent drafts and inefficient heating.
Clean gutters and downspouts as your trees lose their leaves and seasonal storms begin.
Test carbon monoxide and smoke detectors as residents begin cooking and relaxing more indoors.
Winter maintenance
Prevent frozen pipes so they don't burst and cause massive water damage.
Check for ice dams and roof damage to prevent leaks between winter storms.
Stock emergency supplies and snow removal equipment so you're ready for anything.
Monitor HVAC performance in cold weather to ensure maximum efficiency and catch issues early.
Annual maintenance tasks
Structural and exterior maintenance to keep your community beautiful and protect your assets.
Mechanical systems and utilities to give them long lives and keep CapEx low.
Safety and compliance checks to catch issues before inspectors do.
Interior and resident-focused maintenance to keep residents comfortable and happy.