Property Management

Start with who needs building and tenant care and why. Around owners, residents and facility teams drive demand in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates.

• List 10 offers or suppliers in the UAE with price per request in AED and who buys.
• Interview 5 people from owners, residents and facility teams: what do they buy now, how often, what do they pay, what annoys them?
• Learn three terms: Service charge (the fee that pays for shared building costs); Planned maintenance (scheduled care before faults happen); Snag (a small fault found after work).
• Write a one-page brief: user, need, hoped-for price, and the rule that matters most.

Activity. Complete the market table, five interview notes and the brief.

Standard to meet. Price ten offers, interview five users, and state one need in one sentence.

Know the rule before the work. Main hazards here: fire safety gaps and slow repairs. Hazard thinking means list each step, ask what could go wrong, and decide the control.

• Ask your local authority or free zone which licence, permit or inspection applies. Write the answer and the date you asked.
• For each step (inspect; log requests; assign repairs; report to owners) write the hazard and the control.
• Use a hierarchy: remove the hazard, replace it, separate people from it, change the way of work, then protective equipment last.
• Keep a one-page incident rule: who you call, what you stop, what you record.

Activity. Draw the flow and mark hazard and control at each step.

Standard to meet. Name a hazard and a control for every step, and answer the licence question in writing.

The work is a short chain: inspect, log requests, assign repairs, report to owners. Learn each link, then link them with records.

• Write a checklist for each of the 4 steps: input, action, check, output.
• Time each step three times and note the slowest.
• Record a defect or delay each time it happens: what, where, cause, fix.
• Measure requests solved within the target time; this is your main number.

Activity. Run the chain three times (simulated or real) and fill the log.

Standard to meet. Complete three logs, and give the slowest step a cause and a fix.

What you do not measure you cannot improve. Your main measure is requests solved within the target time.

• Define requests solved within the target time: what counts, what does not, and over what period.
• Draw a simple chart of the last 10 results and mark the average.
• Find the top two causes of loss with a tally sheet, then fix the biggest one first.
• Check measuring tools: are they accurate, clean and in date?

Activity. Collect a tally for one week and make a Pareto chart.

Standard to meet. Complete the tally, name the biggest cause, and plan one fix with a date.

Know the cost of one request before you set the price. Include materials, labour, energy, transport, licence share, waste and a safety margin.

• Cost per request = total cost divided by requests sold (not made).
• Margin = (price minus cost) divided by price.
• Break-even units = fixed costs divided by gain per unit.
• Test the price with two users and write down the answer.

Activity. Build the cost sheet with AED on every line and have your mentor check it.

Standard to meet. Check that no cost is missing, and calculate the margin twice by different routes.

Customers return when you keep promises. Promise only what your workflow can deliver.

• Write a one-page offer: what is included, what is not, price, time, how you fix mistakes.
• Write a short script for the first call or visit.
• Agree dates in writing; confirm each change.
• Handle a complaint in four steps: listen, apologise for the impact, fix, record what changed.

Activity. Present the offer to two users and note changes.

Standard to meet. Write an offer with scope, price, time and a fix rule, and collect comments from two users.

Small, real and recorded. Change one thing at a time and learn quickly.

• Keep a daily log: date, units, cost, delays, defects, safety notes.
• Hold a 15-minute review each week with your mentor.
• Write down every complaint and what you changed.
• Take photos only where allowed and never of people without consent.

Activity. Complete 30 days of the log and four weekly reviews.

Standard to meet. Log 30 days, give each defect a cause, and keep weekly notes.

A decision beats a feeling. Compare plan with result and choose to scale, change or stop.

• Make a before and after table: cost per unit, defects, delays, repeat users.
• Write three lessons.
• Decide scale, change or stop, with the numbers behind it.
• Give two peers one strength and one fix each.

Activity. Present to a review room and collect one written comment from a user.

Standard to meet. Justify the decision with numbers, and give two peer reviews.

Tenants judge you by how fast and clearly you fix things.

• Log every request with time, place, urgency.
• Set response targets by urgency.
• Assign, update and close the loop with the tenant.
• Keep supplier contacts and costs.

Activity. Set up a request log and test with five requests.

Standard to meet. Close all requests, and record the times.

Planned work costs less than emergency work.

• List assets: pumps, lifts, air-conditioning, fire systems.
• Set service dates and checks.
• Report to owners monthly with costs and issues.
• Check fire safety equipment on a calendar.

Activity. Build a yearly maintenance calendar for ten assets.

Standard to meet. Set the dates, and draft the owner report.

A manager stands between owner and tenant. Disputes are easier to settle when records are good and notices follow the rules.

• Keep a file of the contract, payment record, inspection report and every message with dates.
• Give written notice in the form and time the contract and local rules require; verbal notice is not enough.
• For a late rent case, send a reminder, then a formal notice, and refer to the proper dispute body if it is not settled.
• Respect the tenant's privacy: give notice before entering except in a real emergency.

Activity. Build a dispute timeline for a sample late-rent case with notice dates.

Standard to meet. Date each step, write the notices, and inform the owner within 1 working day.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Parts of building care

Notes: Name service charge, planned maintenance and a snag and say what each is for. Notes: use a residential tower and ask learners where a request log would hang.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Fire safety and slow repairs

Notes: Describe why fire safety gaps and slow repairs are the main risks and name three fire checks. Notes: show one checked and one unchecked fire exit; learners mark the gap and the fix.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Log a request and assign a repair

Notes: Log one request and assign it to a competent technician under a supervisor. Notes: check the log has a date, a place, a cause and an owner.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Run a 30-day building pilot

Notes: Inspect, log, assign and report for a real or simulated building and report requests solved within the target time. Notes: price at AED 120 per request against AED 70 cost, a gain of AED 50 or 41.7 per cent; list every slow request and its cause.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Compare repair plans and decide

Notes: Compare reactive repair with planned maintenance by time to fix and cost and decide to scale, change or stop. Notes: heat loads air conditioning, so check whether planned care cuts the AED 70 cost per request.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Coach a maintenance team

Notes: Set response times, a fire check routine and a weekly owner report for a small team. Notes: sample five closed requests against the target time and the log.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Design the building service system

Notes: Design a service system for several buildings with fire audits, planned care and a 12-month plan. Notes: at 500 requests a month and AED 50 gain each, gross gain is AED 25,000; present one risk, one saving and the plan.