PM approving jobs without my approval

Hi all,

Just a quick one.. one of my IP's had a minor leak in the shower due to the silicon not being replaced properly when the taps were changed/fixed.

Two quotes were obtained prior:
One for a leak and pressure test, another for a more invasive test if the first proved unsuccessful (and needed further investigation).

The plumbers came out and did the leak and pressure test, and concluded that it was due to no silicon being behind the taps - water was leaking in behind the fawcett. No pressure issues, no drain issues etc. Put silicon in the areas required and all looked good.

A couple of weeks on, looking good - no issues reported by the tenants when asked a few times.

Yesterday afternoon, I get an email from the PM's system approving the second quote (approved by PM, not by me). No phone call prior, which is the norm. The email just says "As discussed, I have approved your quote for 'Leak test' on your behalf". There was no discussion.

The plumber set a time to be at the IP between 9am - 11am today (NOW).

I've called for the PM, she's on annual leave. The PM looking after my property in the interim (who I assume is the one that's approved it for whatever reason), keeps going to voicemail - even the office can't get in contact with her.

From what I've been told my office staff, but the plumbers ARE at the house, performing the job! The plumber is not answering the phone either.

This job required holes to be cut into a hallway wall to access behind the shower.

Its a $210 job that leaves a hole in the wall, which then requires someone else to come out, patch it, and paint it (probably another $250 odd).

What happens now? The quote wasn't approved by me.

 

Hiya

Does your agreement specify how much can be spent on such items? There's usually a part that specifies an upper limit for repairs/maintenance.

Cheers

Jamie

 

Hi Jamie,

The agreement says that it needs to be approved by me, unless its an emergency.

The issue that I have with the above, is that all has seemed fine since the plumber originally came out and 'fixed' the issue. The usual PM has followed up with the tenants to see if there are any further issues (a couple of times), which has been relayed to me via email saying no further action at this stage.
Then out of the blue, whilst the usual PM is away, the quote gets approved. No phone call, no email, nothing to tell me otherwise.

My gut feeling tells me that the interim PM has approved it without any knowledge of the problem.

So now, I'll be getting a bill for $210 worth of work that likely didn't need to take place.

 

Agree with Wylie you are paying them to competently manage your property and not for incompetence.

If they have approved something that was already fixed then they should pay and if they don’t that would be the last payment they would receive from me (change PM).

 

It's probably too late now, but I would have called the Principal to step in and stop the work. There's two possibilities here now;

1. The original work failed and you weren't advised, they simply went ahead with the more invasive works without properly explaining themselves.

2. There was a serious communications bugger up and they went ahead with both works, the second of which was completely pointless.

Hopefully your tenants have told the plumber to go away....! If the answer was #1 I'd be annoyed about the poor communication, but theoretically they did the right thing. If #2 occurred, I wouldn't be happy until the agency fully covered your costs for the muck up.