What is major maintenance?
Major or periodic maintenance is maintenance that must either be carried out within a short timeframe or within a longer timeframe. Much major maintenance is carried out in fixed cycles and therefore regularly recurs.
A short timeframe can be a cycle of 3 to 10 years. Examples include:
- Painting common areas
- Periodic, intensive inspections of fire safety installations
- Periodic, intensive inspections of swimming pool installations
- Roof inspections
A longer timeframe includes cycles that span a greater time period. Examples include:
- Replacing paving
- Replacing lighting
- Replacing barrier gate installations
- Replacing parts of elevator installations
- Replacing fire safety installations
- Replacing swimming pool installations
As can be seen from the above maintenance items, short-cycle maintenance is not annual but can have a duration of 3 to 10 years. Often these maintenance items are inspections mandated by the government or inspections that help the HOA properly assess when items need to be replaced.
Maintenance items with a longer cycle are primarily work related to renewing or replacing parts or installations.
Painting common areas is part of major maintenance
How is it determined that major maintenance will be carried out?
An association would be wise to examine which forms of maintenance must be carried out collectively. The deed of division is indispensable in this regard. The deed indicates which parts are common and which parts are not common. With a building expert, it can then be examined what the technical maintenance condition of these parts is at any given time and when the association is expected to need to carry out maintenance on these parts. Additionally, the building expert can also indicate what the cycles are for the various parts and what the costs are for execution. These costs are usually based on standard amounts. The building expert prepares a report on the included items.
With this report, the association can create a Multi-Year Maintenance Plan (MJOP). An MJOP is a list of all common parts that fall under the association’s responsibility, with maintenance over multiple years included. Often an MJOP covers a period of 10 to 15 years, but an MJOP can also be extended over a period of 40 or even 50 years.
With the MJOP in hand, the association has a tool to reserve funds in a proper manner, with the obvious starting point being that owners do not have to dig into their pockets and that sufficient funds are reserved in time for major maintenance that must be carried out.
Based on the MJOP and the awareness that the association knows what the income and expenses are from the financial budget, a Multi-Year Financial Plan (MJFP) can be created with the same timeframe as the MJOP. For the association’s owners, as well as for the association itself, it is then immediately clear what the future holds, how costs will develop, both for the major maintenance reserve and the resulting service costs for members.
Who determines that major maintenance will be carried out?
When the owners’ meeting decides to have an MJOP and MJFP created and these reports are completed, both the MJOP and MJFP are presented to the owners’ meeting. If necessary, it is possible to make adjustments to the presented reports at the owners’ meeting. But ultimately, the owners’ meeting—meaning all owners collectively—decides to approve the MJOP and MJFP.
The MJOP and MJFP is an annually recurring agenda item at the owners’ meeting, so that new insights can be shared directly with the owners and there is annual approval of the specific annual section of the MJOP and MJFP!
From the above, you can understand what major maintenance entails precisely. For good financial and maintenance technical insight, it is important to create an MJOP and MJFP that are kept up-to-date annually. A subsequent article will discuss the execution of major maintenance in more detail and how this can be properly addressed by the Homeowners Association.
Let us support you
For questions regarding the above, you are welcome to contact us without obligation via the button below. We are happy to assist you.
