GOOD PLANS, POOR FOLLOW-THROUGH PART 2

Leading on from Part 1 – Small Issues, Big Costs. Most strata schemes understand the idea behind a sinking fund. It’s meant to help a building plan ahead, spread costs over time and avoid those uncomfortable moments when something expensive suddenly needs fixing.

On paper, it’s a great idea.

In reality, sinking funds don’t always work exactly as planned. Forecasts get prepared, but over time the building changes, priorities shift, and decisions are made based on whatever feels most urgent at the time. Before long, the plan and what’s actually happening on the ground start to drift apart.

Building Management Plans often follow a similar path.

It Starts with a Good Plan

When a Building Management Plan is first prepared, it usually makes a lot of sense. Someone has taken the time to look at the building properly, assess its condition, and map out what work might be needed over the coming years.

Committees receive the plan and feel reassured. There’s a clear picture of what lies ahead and a sense that things are under control.

And at that moment, they probably are.

The challenge doesn’t appear right away. It creeps in slowly once day-to-day reality takes over.

The Quiet Temptation to Wait

Preventive maintenance has one major problem — it rarely feels urgent.

If a roof isn’t leaking, a balcony isn’t failing, and no one is complaining, it can be hard to justify spending money on work that technically isn’t required today.

So committees do what most sensible people would do. They look at the budget, consider the competing priorities, and decide to wait a little longer.

After all, nothing seems wrong.

Six months later, the same conversation happens again and over time, the Building Management Plan starts to play a smaller role in decision-making. It still exists, of course. It might even be mentioned at meetings or revisited during budget discussions.

But everyday decisions are increasingly driven by whatever issue appears in front of the committee that week — a complaint, a fault, or something that has simply become too obvious to ignore.

The plan becomes more of a reference document than a guide.

And just like a sinking fund forecast that hasn’t been revisited for a few years, the longer this continues, the further reality moves away from the original plan.

Eventually, one of those postponed items stops being optional.

A small issue that could have been managed calmly turns into something urgent. Contractors need to be organised quickly, decisions are made under pressure, and costs suddenly look much larger than they did when the work first appeared in the plan.

It’s at that point that committees often find themselves asking a familiar question:

“How did this become such a big job?”

Usually, the answer is simple. The building had been giving quiet warnings for quite some time.

When Plans Actually Work

Interestingly, the buildings that seem to run the most smoothly don’t necessarily have better plans. What they tend to have is a stronger habit of following through on them.

Preventive items are reviewed regularly. When work becomes due, it’s discussed in the context of the plan rather than postponed indefinitely. Adjustments are made as the building evolves, but the long-term direction remains visible.

The plan stays connected to what’s happening on site.

It doesn’t require complicated systems or endless meetings. It mostly comes down to consistency and the willingness to act before problems become obvious.

Final Thoughts

Sinking funds and Building Management Plans exist for the same reason: to reduce surprises.

Both are designed to give buildings a long-term view and help committees make decisions calmly rather than reactively.

But neither works particularly well without follow-through.

Preventive maintenance almost never feels urgent in the moment. The irony is that buildings that act on it anyway are usually the ones that experience fewer emergencies, fewer unpleasant surprises, and far more predictable costs.

Good plans are important.

But it’s the quiet discipline of sticking to them that makes the real difference.

Article Contributed by Jesús Pardo, Facility Manager – Principal at OwlEstate.