Supers, building managers, maintenance persons, custodial staff, grounds keeping personnel, porters, doormen, concierges – depending on the size of a community, the staff roster for a condo, co-op or HOA can be pretty long. The truth is, in the case of almost any building or association over five units, at least of few of these people are necessary for the effective management and maintenance of the property.

Traditionally in multifamily buildings, whether a high-rise elevator building or garden-style apartment complex, there was a live-in super who handled day-to-day maintenance and minor repair work. When something went wrong, that’s who you called. The sink is backed up, call the super; an electrical outlet doesn’t work, call the super. Need to install an air conditioner? Call the super. All that was required was a small tip to show your gratitude.

All that changed with the advent of owned units, regardless of the form of ownership. In co-op and condo buildings, the super, as an employee of the cooperative corporation or homeowners’ association, is there to supervise and maintain the common areas of the building. Anything within the confines of your actual unit is your headache. So, you’d better learn some basic home maintenance skills.

Building Staff Job Descriptions

According to Stuart Halper, president of Impact Management, a large co-op and condominium management firm located in New York, “Their duties are pretty general. In a larger building, the super manages the porters and doorman. In a building without porters or doormen, the super manages himself. More specifically, the super’s responsibility is to oversee maintenance and other work, ongoing or case specific. He or she will also do certain types of light repairs, like simple plumbing or electrical work for example. Porters do the daily cleaning, pulling of garbage, vacuuming, dusting, etc. In the event there is no porter, the super will do these jobs. In non-union buildings, supers tend to have somewhat more wide-ranging responsibilities,” due to the fact that union contracts outline job descriptions more thoroughly.

David Levy of Sterling Services Inc., a property management firm based in Holliston, Massachusetts, says emphatically that “There is a direct relationship between resident satisfaction and site staffing level. The role of in-house maintenance personnel in all forms of shared equity residential property, whether it be condos, co-ops or HOAs, is to provide higher and faster service levels that might be provided were these services handles by off-site maintenance staff.

Tipping and Off-Hour Work

As mentioned earlier, the super and other members of the building staff are often the first line of defense for many apartment dwellers in the event that any work needs to be done – even things as simple as the changing of light bulbs. That can sometimes become problematic in shared equity buildings. Remember that the building maintenance employees, including the super, are the employees of the corporation or association – not handymen-on-call for individual residents.

The HOA attorneys at Stevens & Goldwyn, P.A. are experts in condominium law, contractual disputes, and HOA litigation. They specialize in representation for homeowners associations, assessment collection, foreclosures, civil litigation, and more.Stevens & Goldwyn, P.A. is located in Plantation, FL and provides services throughout Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Palm Beach, Plantation, Pembroke Pines, Miami Beach, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Aventura, and more.

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