Before entrusting a portion or the complete management of a condominium to a firm, it’s essential to inform yourself about the company’s skills and seriousness. In addition to the information that can be gleaned about the company, it’s important to communicate with them upstream. In particular, there are a number of questions to ask a condo management company and a specification to be drawn up to define a custom management plan.
Verify the competence and seriousness of the company
1. Do you have a multidisciplinary team?
Managing a condominium involves a variety of complex tasks that require many skills, ranging from building management to human resources management for condos. To manage a condo properly, you need to be an accountant, a lawyer, a construction expert, etc., all at once. No one has in-depth knowledge in all these fields, which is why the best condo management firms work in multidisciplinary teams. Learn what are the responsibilities of a condo syndicate.
2. Can you give me the contact information for the condominiums you manage?
Besides the questions to ask the condo management company, it’s helpful to have a discussion with a member of the board of a comparable condo managed by the firm.
In particular, this allows you to verify that they are capable of adapting to the specific needs of a condominium and offering custom service. Learn what skills make an excellent registered condominium manager.
Questions relating to the management firm
Whether you’re assigning a portion or the complete management of your condo to the management company, you need to make sure that the syndicate is protected, as well as each co-owner. Because even if the firm is serious and competent, no one is immune from making a mistake, which can be very expensive when it comes to a condo.
Here are some of the questions to ask your condo management company in this field:
3. What are the conditions and amounts of your civil liability insurance?
Section 1458 of the Civil Code of Québec stipulates that, in the event that the service provider is held liable, they are required to repair the damage caused to the other contracting party.
Although the law doesn’t require the firm to take out civil liability insurance, it is nevertheless essential, since the firm’s own funds may prove insufficient in the event of serious damage or injury.
4. Are you a member of a professional organization?
Firms that belong to a professional organization such as the Association québécoise des gestionnaires de copropriété (AQGC) or the Regroupement des Gestionnaires et Copropriétaires du Québec (RGCQ) engage in a qualitative approach.
But they also benefit from a full range of services (access to experts, specialized lawyers, information bulletins, training, etc.) that allow them to remain on the cutting edge and carry out legal monitoring, and thereby offer the best possible collaboration to their clients.
And finally, a question about the firm’s communication tools:
5. What tools do you use to communicate with co-owners?
It’s important to keep up with the times, and these days, modern firms use technologies that make it possible to contact the managers in case of emergency or monitor the tasks performed within the condominium in real time.
Of course, this list of questions to ask a condo management company isn’t exhaustive, but it quickly gives you an idea of the firm’s seriousness.