Switching manager, what to ask your current company for
The one letter, the list of records, and the two things that must not lapse during the handover. Most of the week is paperwork between the two companies.
Changing the company that manages your building is about a week of work, and most of that week is paperwork between the two companies. Here is the committee’s part, in order, and the list to send.
Read the contract first
Somewhere in it is the notice period and the way notice must be given. Usually it is a month, in writing. Read it before the meeting so the vote sets a real date.
One letter
The committee tells the current company, in writing, once. The letter names the date the contract ends and asks for the building’s records by that date. We draft it for the buildings we take on; any committee can write it in five lines.
The list
- the owners’ list with contact details and each owner’s share
- the balances by owner, from the first month they owe
- the bank statements of the building’s account
- the contracts still running: lift, pool, cleaning, insurance, pest control
- the keys, the plans, the permits
- the minutes of the general meetings and the last approved budget
Send the list with the letter. What does not arrive, chase in writing, and copy the committee on every request.
Two things that must not lapse
The lift’s service contract and the building’s insurance. Both are usually in the building’s name and both survive the change of manager; both are also easy to let expire in a month when nobody is looking. Check the dates on both before the handover, and again after.
What the building notices
Nothing, if it goes well. The cleaner comes on the same days, the lift is serviced on the same schedule, the bills get paid from the same account. The owners notice one thing: the first statement from the new company, on the date they were told.
How the week runs on our side: write to us and we walk you through it.
