What exactly is an “Urgent” issue when it comes to Strata Management?

Based on the number of calls we receive through our emergency afterhours line, I think I can fairly say that everyone has a different opinion as to what exactly is an “urgent” vs. a non-urgent issue.

We define urgent Strata issues as the following:

Flood

Fire

Significant damage to property

Safety issue

Not surprisingly, we receive emergency calls for issues such as the following on a pretty regular basis:

Strata fee payments

Someone is parked in my parking stall

My walks weren’t shoveled

The landscaper didn’t prune my tree last week

The garbage service provider didn’t pick up my garbage today

As you would probably expect, incoming emails and calls get triaged based on their level urgency. If a Strata Agent opens their inbox on Monday morning, they may have 300 emails to contend with, so that’s where the prioritizing begins.

Just because we don’t define something as “urgent” doesn’t mean that it isn’t important, and it doesn’t mean that it won’t be dealt with in a timely manner according to the terms of our agreement, but it does mean that it will fall within the “non-urgent” queue, and not be given priority status.

Expectation management is the key to success in the Strata Management world

We would encourage all Owner’s to discuss this subject with your Council and Strata Agent to ensure that everyone is on the same page. As I have said many times before, successful strata management is all about expectation management, and defining what constitutes an emergency or urgent situation will lead to better communication, and a more cohesive Strata.

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