After-hours maintenance calls: a simple plan for property managers

Step 1: decide what is urgent

Write a short list your whole team agrees on. Most managers put active leaks and flooding, no heat in cold weather, no power, a lockout, a broken entry door and anything to do with gas or fire on it. Fire, gas smells and anyone in danger go to 911 first.

Everything else (a slow drain, an appliance, a noise complaint) waits for business hours. Saying so clearly is kinder than an unanswered phone.

Step 2: name who is on call

One person, one phone number, one schedule, and a back-up if they don’t pick up. Keep the schedule where whoever answers the line can see it.

Step 3: write down what to ask

The unit, the tenant’s name and a call-back number, what is happening, where, and since when. A request with these details can be acted on without a second call.

Step 4: tell tenants the plan

Put it in the lease, the welcome email and the lobby: what number to call, what counts as an emergency, and what happens with everything else.

Who answers the line

A rota of staff phones works for small portfolios but wears people out. An answering service can take messages and call your on-call person. An AI receptionist can answer every call, follow your urgent list and put those calls through. Whichever you pick, it can only be as good as the rules in steps 1 to 3.

How Larkella helps

Larkella’s receptionist answers every call on the first ring, logs maintenance requests with the unit and how urgent it is, and puts urgent repairs through to your on-call person by your rules.

Everything else becomes a written request for the morning, and it books showings into the calendar you connect. It only promises what your rules allow, and sends life-threatening emergencies to 911.