36 | MAINTENANCE

Shortstop for short-stays

The use of short-stay holiday easier to manage a building with a clear list
of short-term properties compared to one
letting and homestay services where tenants are hiding their purposes
is now a commonplace from the building staff. And where the
responsible person or business is specified,
accommodation option facility managers can easily contact them
for tourists, but it can be if needed. In addition, short-stay operators
could be informed immediately if there is an
a cause for concern for emergency related to the building or their
facility managers. ARIAN managed apartment.
Providing a clear guideline about what is
BAHRAMSARI looks at requested from guests is the next suggestion.
strategies for managing These guidelines would explain some critical
points, such as:
short-stay holiday letting in l check-in and checkout requirements
residential buildings. l where to pick up and drop off keys
l how to access the car park, and
l who to contact in urgent situations; for
example, if they lose their keys.
A high percentage of short-stay problems
in buildings stem from mismanagement
l noise limitations
l maximum number of people allowed per
facility or residence
l whether or not pets are permitted
l smoking laws
l flying limitations for drones, and
l the ultimate responsibility towards
imparting owners’ corporation regulations
to their guests.
If these rules are breached, the facility
manager will request the owners’ corporation
to send a breach notice to the owner of the
lot directly.
Increasing security awareness in the
building is also imperative. All short-letting
rental owners need to know about any theft
(including identity), security and access
issues and any other potential associated
risks with short-stay residents. They can
be advised to stop or divert their mail while

T
he short-term rental accommodation
concept, through companies such
as Airbnb, has made its way into
the facility management area
recently, leaving building managers with a
new challenge. Short-stay rental properties
are expanding their shares in residential
apartment buildings every day. While it can be
scary in some owners’ eyes, others may see
short-term letting as an opportunity. Here are
the current best practices to deal with short-
term visitors to residential buildings.
WHEN SHORT-STAYS ARE
WELCOME
In some apartments, facility managers and
residents’ committees have concluded that
they have no issue with opening the building
doors to host short-term rentals. This could
present a challenge to the managers of
these properties.
Building managers can be proactive and
consider implementing procedures to ensure
smooth management of their short-stay
apartment building. They can encourage
everyone in the building to be open and
transparent when their apartment is being
used for short-stay letting. It would be much
and a lack of directive. There are numerous
cases mentioned by building managers in
which they have encountered situations where
guests of Airbnb (or other short-term letting
companies) had no clear instructions. Guests
have gone to the wrong apartment, parked
in a wrong car park bay, didn’t know what to
do with the key or even asked managers for
extra towels etc.
Clarifying the building manager’s role and
the responsibilities of building management
staff to residents and visitors is key to
reducing confusion. Many short-term
residents may not know that facility managers
are responsible for common areas and for
providing services to permanent residents
in the building. This clarification can be as
simple as placing a sign at the concierge
desk or on the building manager’s office door,
stating something along te line of, ‘During
your stay, concierge and building staff are
not responsible for non-permanent residents.
Please contact your host if required’.
Education and communication are
vital parts of ensuring smooth short-stay
transactions. Residents participating as
short-stay operators should be aware of the
building’s rules and guidelines.
These can include:

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 short-stay renters are using their property,
or change the locks once they’re using the
apartment on a long-term basis again.
Short-stay operators could take
advantage of technology to manage their
Airbnb-listed apartment. For example,
sending automated reminders and
instructions before guests arrive or
during their stay, and using sound control
technology devices before excessive noise
becomes a problem, can be beneficial.
There are some remote noise-monitoring
technologies that can be advantageous in
these types of properties, which do not
record anything, but simply monitor the
sound level. Once the noise has exceeded
a certain level, the operator will receive a
notification via text message. However, these
technologies must be assessed for legal use
within Australia.
123RF’s
Nikom Khotjan.
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FM0619_36-37_maintenance.indd 37
DISINCLINATION FOR
SHORT-STAYS
There are many buildings that prefer not to
accommodate short-term residents in their
facility. To avoid legal repercussions, facility
managers can orient their building towards
more permanent residents by applying some
simple strategies.
Equipping the building with a biometric
access control system such as fingerprint
access technology is highly recommended.
Some of these technologies are quite
flexible and can provide swipe access for
permanent residents and ask for biometric
access for others. In this case, building
managers may choose which residents
are required to access the building using
biometric technology and who can enter
with a swipe only.
Implementing compulsory induction for
the use of amenities such as the gym, pool
and spa is also advised. When compulsory
induction is utilised, all users are required to
register, attend the induction session and
obtain the manager’s approval to access
the facilities. Inductions can be conducted
either online or in person and run regularly
– once a month, for example. Certain areas
of the facility may not be compatible with an
induction process, such as a barbecue area,
and in these instances FMs may decide to
lock the unit. This then requires residents
to visit the management office to pick up
the key and sign the register log when they
wish to use the appliance or area. By
doing this, building managers will know
who will be using the facility and can rest
assured that users have been informed
about the rules and safety.
Short-stay properties could be reported
to their owners, the owners’ corporation, their
real estate agents, taxation office, council
or anyone else who is supposed to be aware
of the business activity in that lot. In many
cases, owners and property managers are
not even aware that their apartment has been
subleased to short-term renters.
The Australian Taxation Office also has
a special interest in the income sources.
The Council similarly requires notification
A high percentage of
short-stay problems
in buildings stem from
mismanagement and
lack of directive.
if a residential apartment is being used as
a commercial lot. By reporting short-stay
visitors to the lot owners, agents or other
parties, unwelcome and non-legitimate
short-term visitors can be removed from
the building. As an example, some owners
lease their apartment to a long-term renter,
and if they are notified that their property has
been subleased to Airbnb, they may wish put
a stop to it.
There are other strategies building
managers can put in place to deter or
minimise short-stay visitors’ disturbance to the
building and its residents. These include:
l securing the mailbox area with a swipe
access system
l limiting amenity access time on swipes,
and
l limiting the number of issued access
tokens for residents.
Airbnb and short-stay lettings are used all
over the world and it’s an FM’s building owner
and owners’ corporation that will determine
the facility’s stance on short-stays. It is also
worth mentioning that, in any scenario, facility
managers are required to have the full support
of their owner’s corporation and executive
committee to handle short-stay related issues.
There are several short-stay letting
companies, but Airbnb has been referenced in
this article, as it is one of the most popular for
all short-stay users. l
> Arian Bahramsari is a facility manager at
Facility Management Victoria Pty Ltd, based
in Docklands, Melbourne.
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