Estate Management

Responsible Management of Residential Developments

Managing a residential development involves responsibilities that extend beyond maintenance and service-charge administration. Enhance Estate & Property Management Ltd helps clients manage the health, safety and compliance requirements affecting the communal areas and assets for which they are responsible.

A structured approach

Our role is to help ensure that appropriate assessments, inspections and records are identified, organised and kept under review.

Different developments have different requirements. Rather than applying the same checklist to every estate, we consider the individual development, its buildings, communal areas, facilities and management responsibilities.

Depending upon the development, this may include coordinating:

General health & safety risk assessments
Fire risk assessments
Fire-door inspections where required
Asbestos surveys and management information
Electrical inspections
Emergency-lighting inspections and servicing
Tree surveys
Playground or communal-equipment inspections where applicable
Water-hygiene assessments where applicable
Lift and other plant inspections where applicable
Contractor health & safety information
Other statutory or specialist inspections relevant to the development

Managing actions, not just reports

Obtaining a risk assessment is only part of the process.

Where an assessment identifies actions, those recommendations need to be considered, prioritised and, where appropriate, completed.

Enhance helps Directors understand outstanding management actions and coordinates contractors or specialist professionals where further work is required.

We believe compliance should be an ongoing management process rather than a collection of reports sitting in a file.

Fire safety

Where fire-safety requirements apply to a development, we can coordinate appropriate competent professionals to undertake the required assessments and inspections.

We can then assist Directors with the management actions arising from those reports, contractor coordination and record keeping.

Where specialist fire-safety advice is required, this is obtained from an appropriately competent professional.

Working with residents on the day-to-day risks

A large share of fire safety in flats comes down to behaviour in communal areas: items stored in escape routes, propped fire doors, mobility scooters charging in hallways, bins left against the building. We raise these on site and in writing, explaining the reason rather than simply issuing a rule, which in our experience gets a far better response.

Trees & external areas

Health and safety is not limited to buildings.

Trees, paths, communal grounds, boundaries, lighting and other external areas can all require appropriate inspection and maintenance.

Our practical estate and grounds-management experience gives Enhance a particularly strong understanding of these external areas and allows potential issues to be identified during regular estate visits.

Where specialist assessment is necessary — for example, a professional tree survey — we can arrange the appropriate inspection and coordinate resulting works.

Contractor compliance

Contractors working on residential developments should be appropriately appointed for the work they undertake.

As part of our contractor-management process, we can obtain and maintain relevant information such as insurance documentation, risk assessments and method statements where appropriate to the work.

For specialist activities, appropriately qualified or competent contractors are required.

Keeping Directors informed

The ultimate responsibility for particular matters will depend upon the development's legal and management structure.

Our role as managing agent is to help Directors understand what requires attention, coordinate the appropriate professionals and contractors, maintain management records and follow agreed actions through.

Where legal or specialist technical advice is required, we will recommend that the appropriate professional is consulted.

Compliance through active management

We don't believe good compliance management is simply about ticking boxes.

It is about understanding the development, identifying risks, taking appropriate action and maintaining clear records of what has been done.

That approach forms an important part of the way Enhance manages residential estates.

Health, Safety & Compliance: common questions

Who is legally responsible for fire safety in our block?

The responsible person for the communal parts — usually the freeholder, or the resident management company or right to manage company where management sits with residents. A managing agent acts on their behalf, but the duty stays with the responsible person.

How often should the fire risk assessment be reviewed?

It should be kept up to date and reviewed regularly, and always after significant changes to the building, its use or its occupancy. The assessor will usually recommend a review date appropriate to the building's risk profile.

Do compliance costs come out of the service charge?

Yes, where the lease allows it, which it normally does. These are recurring costs and should be budgeted for annually rather than appearing as unexpected one-off charges.

Not sure whether your development is compliant?

We can review what assessments are in place, what is missing and which actions need dealing with first.