In almost every condominium, maintenance starts the same way: something breaks, a neighbor complains, management looks for someone urgently and pays whatever they charge. Repeated for years, that model is very expensive: equipment wears out sooner, repairs come with an emergency surcharge and the board never knows how much it should budget. A preventive maintenance plan flips that logic. Here is how to build one that works.
1. Start with an inventory
You can’t maintain what you haven’t identified. List everything the condominium has to look after, with its location and, if possible, brand, model and installation date:
- Water: tanks, pumps, pressure tanks, filters, meters.
- Electrical: panels, common-area lighting, backup generator, lightning rods.
- Access and security: electric gates, gatehouse barrier, cameras, intercoms, electric fences.
- Amenities: pool (pump, filter, chemicals), gym, BBQ area, playground.
- Structure: roofs, gutters and downspouts, exterior paint, waterproofing, sidewalks and internal roads.
- Green areas: gardens, large trees near homes or power lines, irrigation.
- Elevators, if any: they almost always require a contract with the installer.
2. Give each task a frequency
Each inventory item becomes one or more tasks with a frequency. A reasonable starting table:
| Task | Typical frequency |
|---|---|
| Pool filter check and cleaning | Weekly |
| Backup generator test | Monthly |
| Gate and barrier service | Quarterly |
| Gutter and downspout cleaning | Before and during the rainy season |
| Water tank cleaning and disinfection | Yearly |
| Electrical panel inspection | Yearly |
| Pruning of risky trees | Yearly or per expert advice |
| Paint and waterproofing | Every 3 to 7 years depending on material |
These frequencies are only a guide: the manufacturer’s manual, the technician who services the equipment and your local climate come first. In Costa Rica, the rainy season means anything related to gutters, downspouts and drainage should be done early.
3. One owner per task, not “management”
A task without an owner doesn’t get done. For each one, define who performs it (maintenance staff, a contracted provider, the elevator company) and who checks that it was done. In small condominiums that may be the manager; in larger ones the board should review compliance every month.
Ask for evidence: a before-and-after photo, the technician’s report or the invoice. That evidence is what later lets you answer an owner asking “when was the tank last cleaned?”.
4. Put a price on it and take it to the budget
The plan is only real if it’s in the fee. Add up the yearly cost of each task (labor, parts, contracts) and include it in the condominium’s budget. Large, infrequent jobs such as painting or waterproofing are better funded through a reserve fund built month by month, rather than a special assessment that lands all at once.
If you’re not yet sure how the budget turns into each unit’s fee, see our guide on how to calculate the maintenance fee.
5. Breakdowns need a process too
Even with a working preventive plan, things will break. What separates an orderly condominium from a chaotic one is how issues are reported and followed up:
- A single reporting channel. Residents report from their phone, with a photo and location, instead of a stray message in the community chat that gets lost.
- Category and priority. A water leak is not the same as a burnt-out bulb in the parking lot.
- Visible status. Reported, assigned, in progress, resolved. The resident who reported it should be able to see where it stands without asking.
- Recorded cost. Each repair with its amount, so at year end you know how much went to corrective work and whether replacing a piece of equipment beats repairing it again.
6. Measure and adjust every year
At year end, the board should be able to answer three questions: what share of preventive tasks was done on time, how much was spent on emergency repairs, and which equipment broke more than once? Those answers drive the adjustments: changing frequencies, switching providers or planning a replacement.
How CondoCMS handles it
CondoCMS’s maintenance module brings both halves of the problem together. In the preventive plan, each task has a frequency and a next due date, and the system alerts management before it’s due. In incidents, residents and the gatehouse report with photos, management assigns an owner and a cost, and everyone sees the status of the case, with notifications on every change. To see it with sample data, request a demo.
Next step: see maintenance and incidents.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between preventive and corrective maintenance?
Preventive maintenance follows a schedule and happens before something fails: cleaning tanks, checking pumps, servicing gates. Corrective maintenance happens after something has already broken. Preventive work is cheaper and can be budgeted; corrective work usually arrives as an emergency, at a premium.
Who decides the condominium maintenance plan?
Management proposes it and the board or the assembly approves it, depending on the bylaws and the amount involved. What matters is that it is budgeted within the fee and that someone is responsible for carrying it out and reporting on it.
How often should water tanks be cleaned?
As a general reference, at least once a year, and more often if the water comes from a well or residents complain about taste or color. Check the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and your water provider for your specific case.