Residential Community – A quick guide to better community living

Residential real estate and facilities management practices are rapidly altering across the world. Whether it’s a sophisticated high-rise apartment or a small township consisting of residential buildings with multiple facilities, residents need a safe and secure environment, conforming to the highest service standards, to create an experience of delight and comfort for the various users – whether residents at the property or visitors alike.

With the rise of community living as a concept, the need for operational efficiency, community engagement & delight, reliability of infrastructure, and superior standards of reporting and optimization on every aspect of facility operations has become essential.?

01. 'Feeling of Safe Living’ – Safety and Security have a new meaning

?In unprecedented times, several factors significantly impact security management practices at residential complexes. There is a need for a comprehensive and systematic approach toward a holistic protection system for senior citizens and children, denying unauthorized access to facilities, and protecting personnel and property from damage or harm such as espionage and theft or unknown attacks.

• The digital era emphasizes and involves multiple layers of interdependent systems such as CCTV surveillance, protective barriers, locks, access control, perimeter intrusion detection, and deterrent systems.
• Fire protection systems can be used as the first layer, followed by security guards & patrolling systems to protect individuals and properties and control the movement of residents, staff, vendors, workers, visitors, and vehicles.
• Over the past few years, with new features, visitor management systems have proved to be one of the most viable options for assessing threats and mitigating risk for Entrance and Exit protocols. Establishing statutory compliance and governance is the focused impetus for security training, drills, and compliance training. Given the onset of Covid- 19, the term safety has a new component attached.
• Along with the overall safety aspects, the primary prevention and control practices for COVID-19 are profoundly essential, including regular sanitization and disinfection of common areas and facilities used by the residents.
• A dedicated health facility manages suspect/asymptomatic/presymptomatic/very mild cases of COVID-19 residing in that particular residential facility. The cases need to be tracked and reported via the app regularly.

02. ‘Living in a clean and hygienic environment’ – Soft Services

In the current times, where most people are working from home, residents are critical of the clean surroundings from Lifts, common areas, clubhouses, or recreational areas.

• Soft services, especially critical services such as housekeeping, are primarily driven by establishing a culture of SOPs, schedules, and monitoring adherence which the Operational Checklists system can achieve.
• Manage vendors to implement and maintain daily inspection checklists and compliance with service standards.
• Ensure that all service requests are closed within SLA-agreed timelines.
• Enable the highest levels of visibly clean premises and ensure that cleaning and other soft services minimize the risk of hazards such as pest infestation, incident management, and maintenance activities.
• The essential materials, including chemicals and disposal materials, are handled with utmost care and caution, drainages are closed and covered, signages and structures are clear of any obstructions, and displayed indoors and outdoors for clear visibility for the residents, visitors, and vehicles, and best practice implementation for the residents and staff alike.
• Assign responsibility to the designated resource to manage schedules so that the teams can attend to any special requests.
• Emphasize best practices for cleaning on international standards, for example, BICSc (British Institute of Cleaning Sciences) and the global best practice in cleaning – whether on methods, EHS, or sustainability.?

03.?‘Life in an eco-friendly sustainable property’ – Environment and Energy Management

Every residential community is making an effort to reduce harmful global environmental impact and continually improve through daily activities. The residents are increasingly conscious and aware of the protection and preservation of the natural resources and prevent any adverse effects of the residential activities that impact the environment.

• To minimize the negative impact on the environment, one of the biggest challenges for a large residential property is managing daily waste. FM companies can help individuals or residents increase their recycling efforts and reduce waste by conducting campaigns around waste management and ensuring that the vendors or caterers stop any usage of plastic, thereby significantly reducing the negative impact on the environment.
• Water conservation is one of the most crucial challenges of our times, and there is no better way to solve this crisis than by harvesting rainwater. Develop and maintain a robust plan for rainwater harvesting used for various water requirements like recharge of borewell, landscaping, and gardening.
• Nothing is more critical than ensuring Green Energy utilizes available vacant roof spaces with solar rooftop solutions.?

04. Community Management?

Community management initiatives build connected vibrant and engaging communities. Engaging residents and communities through various areas of community-building activities provide a holistic approach to bringing communities together.

• Tie-up with top brands for events, F&B, retail, e-commerce, and non-F&B provide a space for them at the facilities.
• Provide varied services to the residents and visitors in the community, such as concierge service, events, festival catering, car display, rock shows, National holiday events, car servicing/washing, and tie-ups with nearby hospitals for emergency ambulance services, sporting events, lifestyle and learning and more.
• Residential community management requires an additional team and process, well-defined departments, and an ecosystem that creates a sense of exclusivity and security, offering its residents privacy in their own space.

?05. Technology

New technology is changing how FM operations plan and deliver in residential properties. Therefore, as property owners, their requirements for a residential living are changing dramatically.

• Introduce contemporary technology – including digital transformation and relevant technology tools such as non-intrusive infrastructure equipment condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, and synchronization trackers. Incorporate self-reporting assets, Internet of Things methodologies, and Reliability-Centered Maintenance / predictive maintenance principles.
• Risk assessment covers the evaluation of hazard processes relating to work sites, equipment, and activities undertaken by the staff.

While the above points are critical, customizing processes and procedures for every customer are also imperative.?

To know more about Denali Assets residential facilities and community management, write to us at?[email protected]?or visit us at?www.denaliassets.co.in?

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