A lot has been written about the importance of regular preventative maintenance in reducing your controllable maintenance cost per unit (CMC), as well as the benefits of average response and resolve time for maintenance tickets. However, not all maintenance issues can be prevented — and even if your team is on top of their tickets, damage can be done to your unit quickly when it comes to issues like water leaks.
Luckily, one of our ASSIST customers recently instituted a new policy in their buildings to add another layer of protection for their residents and their units. Read on for our breakdown of the common costly maintenance issue their residents were running into and how they solved it.
A clogged sink is a common maintenance issue that, when not handled properly, can unfortunately be costly. If your tenants ignore the issue for too long, it can cause overflows and leaks. If they use harsh drain cleaners and try to handle it on their own, they can cause damage to the pipes. And even if they do everything right and report the issue immediately, calling a technician to do basic snaking can cost between $100 and $250.
After noticing a steady flow of tickets in the “water draining” category on his ASSIST dashboard, Dave Matteo, Principal of Cedarwood Development, decided to make a proactive change to prevent all of the above.
To effectively tackle water drainage issues, Matteo needed to collaborate with his residents — which was easily done with the help of Maintenance ASSIST.
First, he provided each of his 100+ units with a single-use drain snake, which is small and can easily be stored in each unit’s utility closet. These tools, purchased for around $2 each, are easy to use and won’t cause damage to the pipes. In most cases, even a professional will begin addressing a clogged sink issues by attempting to snake the drain — so providing residents with the snake allows them to take initial steps on their own, increasing the first-time fix rate for similar issues.
Then, with the help of ASSIST AI’s configuration tools, Matteo was able to instruct his customizable AI agent to walk tenants through how to use the snakes.
When a resident reached out to Maintenance ASSIST asking for help with a slow-draining sink, the ASSIST AI immediately jumped into action. After asking some clarifying questions, it accurately triaged the issue as a clogged drain and began offering guidance on how to find and use the drain snake.
Within minutes of ticket submission, it had helped the resident solve the issue. The conversation ended with a thank you from the resident, over $100 in cost savings for our customer, and significant time savings for his team — who never even had to step in. That's more than a 10x return on investment in this situation.
Are you interested in learning more about what an AI solution might look like for you and your residents? Fill out the form below to schedule time with our team.