Keeping Track of Maintenance Time and Parts for Turns

[Tiffany Williamson]

I manage about 250 units in a college town, twice a year anywhere from 70 to 120 units turnover.  It doesn't matter how much time I spend preparing, charges get missed and parts are installed without approval or in the wrong unit only to be caught too late.  I've tried numerous forms and work orders to keep my maintenance staff on track and detailed in how long the tasks take, what parts they used, where the parts came from (ie stock or supplier), etc; but I always end up with missing information.  On top of that, I then have to merge the maintenance sheets (sometimes two or three different sheets with labor and materials), with my checkout sheet and it turns into a literal nightmare.  The last turnover involved 97 units and was 6 days long; it took me the full 21 days allowed to get the deposit returns processed and mailed to tenants (working on them 12-16 hours a day!); and another two weeks to charge any items to property owners.  A month prior to turnover I walk all the units and get supplies ordered, schedule contractors, and alert maintenance of any unforeseen issues; so I'm not sure if I could do much more prep work; the organization and execution during the 6 day window is the real issue.  Any help on how I can make the entire turnover process easier and condense the amount of paperwork would be SUPER HELPFUL!  I don't know if I can survive another one!!