Inspection Organizer: Digital tracking can

COMPLIANCE PROMPT

Digital Tracking for Inspection Details

FOR THE PURPOSES of inspection, fire protection is divided into two categories: fire equipment and fire emergency systems. Fire equipment refers to tools like extinguishers that are on-hand for building occupants and emergency response personnel in the event of a fire. Fire emergency systems are built-in lines of defence, which are designed and engineered to prevent a fire from spreading, and to alert occupants and enable timely evacuation.

A Fire Watch program is imperative to protecting the facility and limiting liability. Developing and implementing effective procedures to ensure compliance and emergency preparedness will help building/ facility managers oversee the many different elements of fire protection.

ATTENTION-GETTERS Obstructions marring sightlines to fire extinguishers and hoses are one of the most common non-compliance issues related to fire equipment. Fire extinguishers can be overlooked altogether during inspections, particularly if inspectors do not have an inventory to refer to as they make their rounds.

Fire emergency systems typically draw close scrutiny during inspections due to the often complicated rules governing how these systems should function and be maintained. Larger buildings, particularly high-rises, will typically have many critical systems, which must be able to perform as expected and often in tandem with each other.

Fire inspectors are tasked with ensuring: that firefighters can control and operate elevators with a keyed switch; that egress routes and ventilation are unobstructed; and that alarm systems and emergency power are operational. They’ll likely pay close attention to areas and/or systems with a high rate of non-compliance such as fire doors and sprinkler valves.

Fire-rated doors are integral to providing passive fire protection, containing and compartmentalizing a fire and safeguarding the path of egress for occupants. The door, frame, hinges, hardware, glazing, glass kit and glass beads must all be intact, secured and in good working order with no missing parts. Signage must be present and affixed securely, labels must be clearly visible and easy to read, and the doors must be unobstructed.

Inspectors will check sprinkler valves for signs of physical damage or leaks, and will need to ensure that the water pressure is sufficient to extinguish a fire. Building staff need to be particularly vigilant when there is construction work in progress because sprinkler valves may be shut off to enable the work. In that case, extra checks must be performed to maintain safeguards especially if hot work is occurring in the facility.

ORGANIZATIONAL TOOL Digital tracking and coordination of fire protection can streamline logbooks into a more manageable platform and leverage technology to help meet and stay current with regulatory requirements. Near-field communications can ensure that each piece of equipment is visited (reducing false reporting) and system integrations can provide alerts of near-due, overdue and deficient inspection items in an easy way to help ensure compliance.

With fire equipment, for example, a digital solution can help keep track of the inspection status for each fire hose cabinet (FHC), including remaining inspections, and take the place of inspection paperwork. Building/facility management teams are informed through automated email notifications with daily, weekly and/or monthly summaries outlining if any FHCs were missed or have deficiencies.

Digital solutions also streamline inspectors’ tasks. The digital application can alert them about required follow-up inspections. It also allows them to include photos and notes, look up manufacturing information, upcoming service dates, and instructions and information specific to the equipment they’re inspecting.

The same possibilities apply for fire doors, sprinkler valves and other fire emergency system inspections. Dynamic questions, fields and instructions can be customized according to individual components and inspection needs for each item.

Digitized inspection documents produce building/facility data in an exportable and packaged format that is secure, easily accessible and meets code retention requirements. Inspection data can be collected to generate analytics to forecast future inspection needs and associated costs, and review team performance. zz

By Paul Amendola

Paul Amendola is Chief Executive Officer of Tap Report, a Toronto-based firm that specializes in digital inspection documents. For more information, see the website at: https://tapreport.io/home/

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OUTSOURCING PROPERTY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

The benefits of trusting your back o ice to a third-party specialist

If managing your back o ice is bringing you stress, rest assured that you aren't alone. As the property management sector grows in volume and complexity, building teams across the industry are working overtime to manage day-today financial and tenant management tasks.

Not that property management has ever been easy. As any professional in the industry can attest, keeping owners and tenants happy, maintaining asset value, and navigating evershi ing rules and regulations has always required a large degree of time, talent and resources.

So what’s different today? In addition to traditional challenges, property managers are being stretched thin in their e orts to keep pace with heightened pandemic measures, tougher economic conditions, growing competition, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) mandates. Moreover, many are (fortunately) seeing their portfolios grow, requiring more from their back o ice.

It’s a common challenge in property management. Consider, for example, the tale of “Property Biz,” a hypothetical company that has expanded its business by adding to its portfolio over the last years. This is undoubtedly good news, but that growth has le Property Biz’s back-o ice teams struggling to handle the added work and pressures. They’re overwhelmed, understa ed, and at risk of burning out or falling behind while managing critical financial tasks. Moreover, their everincreasing portfolio is increasing demand for people and resources they may not have available.

In short, Property Biz is growing, but it needs support.

Akan T. Rajah, Managing Partner with Assetso , has seen this story play out numerous times within the property management community. "Clients come to us because they are looking for a trusted partner to take some of that back-o ice load,” he says. “The good news is that there are ways to o load that back o ice burden so the team can focus on their core business and generating value for their occupants and stakeholders."

OUTSOURCING ACCOUNTING With property teams' now asked to divide their focus and talents across an increasing number of responsibilities, keeping the back o ice in order can be a challenge.

Herein, says Rajah, there is value in pursuing an outsourced

solution: "We can take all that back-o ice work o our clients' hands by providing a dedicated and industry-trained team on our end who will handle all their accounting tasks."

And there is no shortage of tasks that Rajah and his team are trained to handle. AssetSoft's third-party accounting services include: • Rent collection & management: Handling the collection and processing of tenant rent cheques, including managing deposits into the client's bank and updating the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (e.g., Yardi) accordingly.

Similarly, Assetso can take appropriate actions on behalf of its clients when rents are late (e.g., fees, notices, system updates, etc.). • Vendor management: Collecting vendor invoices, updating

ERP systems, and notifying clients when they need to be approved and paid. • Reconciliations: Managing all reconciliation activities with the bank and other partners as needed. • Lease audit/abstraction: Conducting third-party audits to confirm that the expenses clients are charging for (e.g., rent, utilities, etc.) are the same as what was agreed upon from the start, and to identify any irregularities or red flags that might save even more costs that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. • Bookkeeping: Ensuring all systems are updated and no accounting information is falling between the cracks. • Reporting: Creating owner reports to indicate how the building is performing over a period of time.

These are just some of the tasks that can be o loaded to a trusted third-party accounting specialist. And the keyword, says Rajah, is trust: “Accounting deals with a lot of sensitive information, and it can be hard to pass those o to a third party. That's why the first part of providing relief for our clients is providing them with peace of mind knowing our team is well trained and experienced to take on their accounting tasks with the highest integrity.”

It may take time to establish that trust, he adds. Still, once clients see how the outsourcing process works, and the transparency within, they are happy to let Assetso 's team do what they do best: "Our offshoring model leverages the strength of conventional outsourcing, but ensures the client has direct control on their business outcomes. Because of this, clients can establish their very own team without worrying about all legal, human resource, and technical requirements."

AN UPSCALING ADVANTAGE The industry is expanding. Demands are mounting. Portfolios are growing. Herein, an additional benefit of outsourcing is the ability to tackle heightened accounting requirements without the need to hire sta .

For example, Rajah says, "When one of our clients buys new buildings, they don't have to worry about finding new sta . All they do is tell us and we expand our team with more people who are fully-trained in back-office accounting and management."

Indeed, outsourcing allows property management teams to o load time-consuming HR tasks, such as sta onboarding, training, and upskilling.

Moreover, adds Rajah, "The costs of bringing new sta on are all absorbed on our end. That includes wages, healthcare plans, insurance, and managing all related tax and labour laws."

BY THE NUMBERS Adding up the advantages, it’s easy to see how outsourcing property management accounting can bring real, long-term value to one’s operations. And today, any extra support goes a long way. "It's about making lives easier for commercial property management talent," adds Rajah. "Managing a property is much more complex and cost-consuming than it used to be, but like many other modern-day operations, the right partners and technologies can make a huge di erence."

The Assetso team encourages any questions and inquiries. Email them at learnmore@assetso biz or visit their website at www.Assetso .biz.