Property managers taking added safety precautions to protect tenants amid pandemic

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Published May 6, 2020 at 12:37 am

cleaning

In an effort to keep staff and residents safe, many property managers have had to increase the frequency with which they clean their apartments.

Buildings with a substantial number of residents living within are at a higher risk of developing COVID-19 outbreaks–nursing homes, and long-term care facilities have been hit especially hard during the pandemic, but apartment buildings are also at an increased risk for an outbreak of the virus.

In order to prevent this, many landlords and property managers have taken extra safety measures including increasing cleaning frequency and limiting access to shared spaces.

Increasing cleaning frequency is something Greenwin Property Management has elected to do for their buildings–apartments are being cleaned three times per day.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Canada, we were well-positioned to act fast,” Robert Weiman, vice-president of quality assurance and compliance for Greenwin Property Management, said to Rentals.ca.

“One major thing we did was contract a company to apply a bonding antimicrobial treatment to all high-traffic areas and heavily touched surfaces. This treatment is effective for up to six months,” he continued.

Greenrock Real Estate Advisors has also taken extra safety precautions, including using the GermGuard Treat and Protect Program, registered by Health Canada, which kills up to 99 per cent of germs on contact.

Greenrock’s decision to go with GermGuard came after thorough research, Justin Taylor, COO of Greenrock Real Estate Advisors, told Rentals.ca.

“The program is highly trusted and used by many health organizations and companies, including the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC),” Taylor said.

Increasing cleaning frequency has been recommended by Health Canada, Toronto Public Health, and The Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations–other recommendations include cleaning frequently used surfaces, including doorknobs, door handles, keypads, mailboxes, handrails and elevator buttons, at least twice per day.

In addition to frequently cleaning heavily-touched surfaces, some property managers have attempted to provide ways for tenants to avoid coming in contact with them altogether.

Mimico Estates in Etobicoke, managed by Capreit Limited Partnership, is one such example–management has provided tissue boxes at entrances/exits of their buildings to help tenants avoid touching heavily-used surfaces such as door handles.

Weiman conceded the new cleaning measures Greenwin has adopted are expensive, but he believes it’s worth it to ensure residents are safe and have some peace of mind during the pandemic.

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