Are you a landlord considering a preventative maintenance survey? Find out more about the benefits of preventative maintenance surveys for landlords and when they are required.
Preventative Maintenance Surveys For Landlords
Preventative maintenance is the landlord’s pro-active approach of identifying property issues in their infancy. Detecting such issues early is always beneficial, as otherwise they can worsen or become costly, disruptive, and environmentally damaging. The potential benefits of a preventative maintenance strategy, as opposed to a re-active maintenance alternative, are proven and compelling:
75% reduction in comparative property maintenance costs.
90% reduction in comparative property disruption.
95% reduction in comparative property carbon footprints.
Aside from these benefits, reports indicate that over 95% of UK landlords currently operate a re-active approach to property maintenance. It is a mission of Dog House Drones to better understand the problems that Landlords encounter with property maintenance and provide preventative strategies tailored to individual Landlords.
Roof Surveys
Arguably the most important aspect of any property is the roof. Unfortunately, it is often the least inspected and least maintained aspect of the building’s exterior due to its difficulty of access. The Landlord in question, in compliance with the Landlord and Tenants Act 1985, had an obliged covenant to keep the rented property roof ‘in repair’.
This legislation effectively obligated the Landlord to pro-actively maintain the relevant roof in an ongoing serviceable condition. Such law implied that they did not only act when a roof issue was reported by the tenant.
The Landlord had also been informed that any failure to comply with this legislation, and not maintain his rented property roof ‘in repair’, would likely invalidate any insurance cover he held on any future roof-related claims and render him personally liable.
Accordingly, the Landlord instructed Dog House Drones to undertake a full roof survey. These surveys provide high resolution and detailed imagery of all roof aspects including guttering, roof tiles, ridge and hip caps, all flashing, chimneys, all pointing, vents, and roof lights. All Dog House Drones surveys are supported with a thorough and detailed report allowing the Landlord to address any issues in a timely manner and on a fully informed basis.
In line with a preventative maintenance strategy, the Landlord in question complied with the Dog House Drones teams recommendation to conduct a full roof inspection of his rented property every 5-years. This would ensure to reduce his costs, protect his assets condition, comply with legislation, and validate his insurance.
Thermal Efficiency Surveys
Poorly insulated homes not only reduce internal comfort levels and inflate tenant heating bills, but they can also be responsible for significant damage to the building through unseen damp, condensation, mould and infestation issues. The Landlord in question was obliged to comply with minimum energy efficiency standards and was aware that new legislation required all rental properties to have a minimum EPC ‘C’ rating by April 2025.
In efforts to be ahead of the game, the Landlord required a thermal overview of his properties in his efforts to bring them up to the new required standard, and not fall foul of the law. Additionally, the Landlord in question believed that by advertising the fact he undertook regular thermal efficiency surveys to improve thermal efficiencies of his rented properties, he would make his properties much more attractive to all existing and prospective tenants.
Dog House Drones conducted an external thermal efficiency survey of the Landlords rental properties, which included all external wall and roofs. It also provided a detailed BINDT certified report, allowing the Landlord to address detected areas of thermal inefficiency in a timely manner and on a fully informed basis.
In compliance with the Dog House Drones teams ‘preventative maintenance’ recommendation, the Landlord programmed these external thermal efficiency survey of his properties every 5-years. This responsible approach, in this particular case, equated to a Landlord cost of less than £3.00 per month per property.
Mould & Damp Prevention Surveys
Having been brought to the forefront of health issues, albeit through tragic circumstances, the proliferation of damp and mould in rental properties has over time become a major concern for Landlords, tenants, and Health Authorities. Caused by a combination of internal damp, condensation, poor ventilation, and varying room temperatures, doctors have long been aware of the links between mould growth and ill health. It is a particular issue amongst the young, the elderly and people with respiratory conditions, such as asthma.
The Landlord instructed Dog House Drones to conduct a thermal survey of internal rooms to identify conditions that may be approaching a level where the on-set of mould proliferation could occur. This information would then allow the Landlord to take informed actions in remedying the relevant room conditions and preventing the onset of mould. The survey was undertaken and the findings were compiled in a detailed BINDT certified report.
Leak Detection Surveys
Statistics show that 28% of properties built between 1945-1990 have been subjected to internal water leaks whilst this number drops to 10% with properties built between 1990-2020. Regardless of statistics, a water leak of any scale within a property can have devastating effects.
When it comes to minor water leaks, dripping can cause substantial damage to wooden beams and panelling prior to being detected. The Landlord in question suspected an underfloor water leak within the rented property’s central heating system and wanted to establish if there was a leak.
Additionally, if a leak was detected, the landlord wanted to accurately position the leak and determine whereabouts the leak had affected in efforts to minimise repair costs and tenant disruption.
Dog House Drones attended the site and the team were able to detect the leak and map the area together, noting the aspects of the property that were most affected. These findings were determined using the non-destructive actions of thermal imaging and moisture detection.
All findings were compiled within a detailed BINDT certified report that the Landlord was able to provide to the relevant tradesman to secure the lowest cost and least disruptive quotation for the repair of the leaking underground pipe.
Electrical Hot-Spot Survey
53% of all accidental domestic fires in England have an electrical origin. The largest cause of electrical fires in the UK is electrical overloading, aka hot-spots, which are caused by a number of situations including:
Loose or over-tightened electrical connections.
Overloaded sockets.
Uneven voltage distribution.
Failing components.
The Landlord instructed Dog House Drones to conduct an electrical ‘hot-spot’ survey of her rented property in efforts to prevent any potential domestic fire potential. Using thermal imaging techniques, the Dog House Drones team attended site and surveyed all relevant circuit boards, junction boxes, sockets, and extension leads to identify any hot-spot anomalies.
The survey was supported with a detailed report including thermal and visual images of any detected electrical ‘hot-spots’ that the Landlord could share with her electrician. This information would help address any electrical issues in a timely and thorough manner. As part of a ‘preventative maintenance’ strategy, the Dog House Drones Team would recommend that these electrical ‘Hot-Spot’ detection surveys are conducted on a regular basis with a maximum 3-year interval.
General Condition Survey
Again, in compliance with the Landlord and Tenants Act 1985, the Landlord has an obliged covenant to keep the property’s external envelope ‘in repair’. As previously stated, this legislation effectively obligates the Landlord to pro-actively maintain property’s external structure in an ongoing serviceable condition, and not only in times when an issue is reported.
As previously stated, a Landlord’s failure to comply with this legislation could invalidate the landlord’s insurance cover. Quite often, the general condition of a property can be difficult to determine due to the height of a building or difficulty with the line of sight to view certain building sections from ground level.
In these situations, and to accurately assess the general condition of a property, a professional visual drone survey is the quickest, safest, least disruptive, and most detailed assessment a Landlord can obtain. The Landlord instructed Dog House Drones to conduct a general condition survey of rented property of flats in order to identify any areas of structural concern. The Landlords main priority, in this regard, was the protection of assets, the compliance of legislation, and to ensure the validation of the property insurance.
The Dog House Drones team surveyed the property and provided the Landlord with a detailed and thorough report of the buildings general condition. In line with a preventative maintenance strategy, Dog House Drones would recommend that a landlord conducts a general condition inspection every 5-years. Doing so will allow any structural issues to be addressed in a timely manner and ensures all those involved are fully informed of the buildings history.
At Dog House Drones, we provide survey and inspection services across Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, and the surrounding counties. We offer a range of services with a customer focused approach and an ethos of preventative maintenance that will deliver cost-savings, minimised disruption, and a vastly reduced carbon footprint to our customers. We’re fully qualified, efficient, trustworthy, and have the expertise to provide the exact services that our customer’s require.
