CONDOMINIUM MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
In a condominium, there is often confusion as to who owns is responsible for the various issues and events which occur during in the community on a daily basis. Typically, condo operations can be divided into three parts: homeowners, the Board, and the property management company. Below is a summary of who, what, where, when and how issues and events are handled.
HOMEOWNERS
As an owner, you are responsibility for maintaining your property at the highest possible level of repair, be courteous of your neighbors, adhere to the community bylaws, advise management of all maintenance issues/liability issues/bylaw violations, and be an active participant in the community. This would include attending meetings and disbursing assessments on time.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board is the governing agent for the Condominium Corporation and therefore must act in accordance to the condominium articles, agreements and bylaws. The Board is not responsible for managing the community, they are however, the responsibility of the Property Manager. In the event a homeowner wishes to address a Board member; this should be done in writing. It is improper to call them at home or work or to knock on their door.
PROPERTY MANAGERS
Simply put, the Property Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the community. Living in a condominium community is different to residential apartment life, and as such homeowners should keep the following in mind:
Homeowner Requests
Castle Inc. is a management company who reports to and acts at the sole direction of the Condominium Corporation’s Board of Director’s President. Our goal is to respond to each issue brought to our attention by homeowners, however, we only respond after receiving approval from the Board President.
For example, when requesting items such as replacing common area furnishings, landscaping upgrades, exterior/interior painting, elevator upgrades etc., we suggest you put these requests in writing and forward them to the Property Manager to be reviewed by the President.
Repairs
Castle Inc. is responsible for initiating all common area maintenance and repairs. The Property Manager will be on-site weekly doing inspections and talking with homeowners, maintenance personnel to address any repair and preventive maintenance issues. will walk the community weekly and direct maintenance personnel to address preventive maintenance and repair issues.
The management company is responsible for obtaining bids for capital repairs and submitting them to the Board for approval.
Deficiencies
Homeowners who notice deficiencies in the facility should notify the Property Manager of concerns that come to their attention. Typically, homeowners should put these requests in writing, alternatively, you may speak directly to the Manager during one of the scheduled on-site visits.
Emergencies
Emergencies happen, such as city/county water line breaks, power outages, parking violations, security issues, or any number of things; which are largely out of control of the Property Manager who relies on third party contractors and personnel to rectify these issues.
Castle Inc. has a protocol in place to deal with emergencies, and we will make every attempt to accelerate repairs but ultimately have zero control of how rapidly the situation is remedied. For example, a floor is an insurance issue and we only use contractors who are pre-approved by your insurance company to do the work. Usually, we get tradespeople on-site in 1-3 hours, even in the middle of the night on weekends.
Financials
Castle Inc. is responsible for managing the financial affairs of the Corporation. This includes ensuring that all payables are handled in a timely manner, researching invoices to ensure their accuracy, collecting all monthly dues and past dues, preparing monthly financial statements, preparing and submitting to the Board an annual operating budget and maintaining records for the archive.
Communication
The management company is responsible for keeping the Board of Directors informed of all issues which arise and acting in a manner as directed by the Board.
Castle Inc. is responsible for preparing and delivering all homeowner notifications, attending and planning all corporation meetings and social functions.
The Property Manager is available to answer any question you have during the scheduled on-site visits.
Compliance
The management company is responsible for enforcing compliance with the community bylaws, notifying the Board of violations and seeking remedies as deemed appropriate by the Board. This may include violation notices to homeowners, or their tenant, as well as assessment of fines.
Rentals
Should a homeowner rent their property to a third party, the owner is responsible for the tenant, and any activities of the tenant that contravene the community bylaws are the direct responsibility of the homeowner. For example, noise fines and evictions are payable by the homeowner, not the tenant.
911
In the event of an emergency, fires, floods, accidents, etc. homeowners must call 911 first.
It is the responsibility of the management company to respond to all life/safety and property damage emergencies
Castle Inc. provides a 24 hour/seven days a week Call Centre for convenience. Any emergencies, complaints, issues, etc. can be made using this service: 416 519 9977.
Access
It is the responsibility of Castle Inc. to notify the Board President i to gain entrance to a particular unit when the homeowner is unavailable. Upon the approval of the Board President, management may enter a unit to address what they deem to be an emergency situation. This would include but not be limited to: water or gas leaks, fire or suspected death of a homeowner.
