Category: Building Operations

Upgrading an elevator is one of the most potentially disruptive - and expensive - projects a co-op or condo can undertake. Many hours of deliberation by boards after extensive consultation with managers and elevator consultants are required…

It’s been a long time since most people have felt comfortable just leaving their front doors unlocked. For better or worse, security has become the order of the day – and technology follows security needs.  Today, that path leads to electr…

Running a community association requires boards and managers to work with people from all walks of life, including those who have unique experiences, wants, needs, and challenges. That may also apply to people with behavioral or mental heal…

As community members, co-op and condo owners work together to maintain the greater structure in which they live – not just their individual units. Major systems – things like boilers, roofs, and facades – are expensive to maintain and repai…

When everyday problems arise in a multifamily building or community association, residents frequently turn to their friendly neighborhood jack-of-all-trades: the superintendent (Depending on where you live, you might call him or her your bu…

Spring has arrived, which is good news after what has felt to many like a particularly hostile winter. In a community association or multifamily building, spring also brings a number of seasonal maintenance and sprucing-up projects that can…

One of the biggest perks of modern multifamily living is the all-inclusive, amenity-rich building or HOA. Depending on your own building’s offerings, you can go to the gym, swim, have a spa treatment, entertain your kids in the community pl…

Like people, buildings age. Even under the best of circumstances, weather – particularly water, in the form of rain, snow, and ice – followed by or combined with extremes in temperature can do permanent damage to facades, cornices, parapets…

Whether a community is surrounded by suburbs or big-city high-rises, a little greenery can go a long way in adding visual appeal – and value. In fact, given the lack of space and the challenge of keeping plants healthy and thriving, urban g…

When it comes to energy, conservation is the watchword – not just as pertains to usage (although definitely that!) but also to cost. This may be especially true for New York City's condominium and co-op buildings, in which volunteer boards …