HOA janitors, caretakers

I need some advice. I am on the board of a 96 unit HOA comprised of 3 buildings. Currently we have a building caretaker whose total compensation package costs the HOA $91,000, wages, taxes, insurance etc. He is working 40 hours per week. He is not allowed to work in any homeowner's private property; his job is strictly confined to the common areas, hallways, party room, pool area, garages. He does no cleaning nor any yard/garden work. He has a boiler's license, checks the pH of our pool, and manages all pool chemicals. There is a list of other things that he does, none that require additional training or certification. Myself and one other board member are concerned that this is a HUGE expense for not a lot of work. We would be more supportive of a building caretaker working 20 hours per week. What are your experiences with "custodian/caretakers/maintenance personnel", the numbers of hours they work and typical rate of pay? This is in the Mpls/St.Paul metro area where wages are typically high.
Thank you for your input.

Are these elevator buildings? Is there HVAC and other equipment on the roofs? Does water from the street to the roof flow in a closed loop system to get to all of the Units/?

Does he have an office on the premises? Is he a direct employee of your HOA? Or does he work for a contractor?

We have a similar situation, but I need more info to try to reply.

We found it significantly cheaper to hire a maintenance company with a clearly defined set of tasks at a fixed rate. The employees are theirs.

HELLO KERRY, This is a 3 story building with an elevator, we have contracted elevator services. There are AC units on the roof. Hot water Heat comes from boilers in the basement of the building. What do you mean "water from the street to the roof? Yes he has an office on premises. He is an employee of the property management company; the HOA is billed for his time and benefits. Our BOD of directors has recently asking him for a weekly report on what he does every day. I may have answered my own question because what he does in a day takes at max 4 hours. I'll wait for your response.

So....based on what you've written so far, Christine, I'd say that you do need a full-time maintenance person on your premises. Along with what you mentioned, you have pumps and motors for your pool(s). That he's a boilermaker is a good trade to have as a building engineer and one of the best we ever had was a Master Boiler Maker.

We have 200+ units in two towers and have a full-time engineer and his full-time assistant, who is more like a "handyman." Our particular "chief" is a skilled plumber, which also is a good tread have in this line of work.

"Engineer" is a common word for these building maintenance staffers. Our are employees of an "Engineering Services" firm. Along with monitoring our mechanicals, some of which require written notation of n a check list every day, they do lotsa fixit-type work: stuck doors or doors slam too hard; touch-up painting, which truly could be done every day; clearing gutter and drains. If there is a leak in a Unit they will do a quick check and turn off the relevant valve(s), but otherwise they do not work in units.

WE so must j hire specialists for some things. For example our vehicle gates to leave h premises some time fail to open or close. Our engineers would look at them first and sometimes can repair them. But if not, a special form comes out to do the work.

I've been off our Board a couple of years a now and cannot recall what we pay of chief eng. B ut, "bundled," includes all benefits, etc., it was not $90k/ann & we're in an expensive area too. Believe, bounced it was more like $70k for the chief.

The thing about thier work is that so much of it is invisible-- they're on roofs or underground. To get a better sense of everything your maintenance tech provides for you, I strongly urge you to read the Maintenance Manual for your buildings. You may be surprised!

(You do have custodians too, right?0)

Christine, I'm just throwing this out here, the average certified boiler operator makes
between $ 50k to $70k a year, sounds like you're getting a bargain for all the duties
this employee performs.

And, Dean, building "engineers" of this type do far more than work on boilers. Along with plumbing, which I mentioned, often a lot of electronics are involved. I do not see everything that Christin's staffer does, and we don't know the full extent of his tasks. Unless directors tour the premises with their engineers, they don't know everything those staffers do in multi-story buildings. That's why I urge Christine & her Board to review their HOA's Maintenance Manual.

Do note that the new National Reserves Standards recommended in 2023 by CAI advise that every HOA keep their Maintenance Manual. By a stroke of luck and a director's action, our HOA, ca. 2000, has a completely updated Maintenance Manual of 2018.

Good advice!! Thank you.

Christine

My son is an onsite PM for a complex in MA which is 60% rentals. He will tell you that there are times he is in his office playing computer games. There are also times he is underwater with work to do. He says it all works out in the end.

With only one 3 story building my initial blush is one person, 40 hours a week is a bit much. Do the study you propose and see how it goes.