Condo Association Management Blog

Bad idea unless you have some form of volunteer Insurance. When one of you owners falls off the ladder and breaks their neck - Good luck!

Using volunteers is a wonderful idea to cut costs or perform some maintenance that needs to be done in an effort to control expenses. 
 
 
 
That being said, you need to be very careful in what you choose to do as volunteers. First, not all owners will volunteer, and you cannot force them to. There will be some that are willing to pay extra while there will be others who don't want to as well as some who cannot. 
 
 
 
It is important to have a regular assessment, keep up on preventative maintenance and have a good reserve fund plan (study) and update it regularly with professional assistance. 
 
 
 
When looking at using volunteer labor, here are some questions the board should ask: 
 
1. Does our insurance cover our volunteers? (A question for your insurance agent.) 
 
2. What is the liability or liability exposure? (I would never recommend volunteer labor for roofing, as an example. However, daily pool cleaning and chemical application - yes, that could be a volunteer activity. Or flower planting is another good one.) 
 
3. Does this work require a professional, or need a professional look. (I would argue that "painting party" cannot paint as fast as a contractor. Who will get the supplies? What about prep work? Power washing? Caulking? Priming? Replacing rotten or bad wood? I could go on.) 
 
4. What are the expectations of our membership? People move into condominiums often as a lifestyle choice, and it is often sold (in my opinion, incorrectly as "maintenance free living". They understand they pay a fee for certain items to be repaired, replaced and maintained. Often, they don't expect to "pick up a brush" and paint the building. 
 
 
 
Go through these items to determine what should and shouldn't be done by volunteers. Here are some examples of volunteer items that could reduce some costs: 
 
 
 
- Flower planting 
 
- Spring clean up 
 
- Pond maintenance (application of dyes and control for algea, often a chemical or biological. Manystates allow for this to be done by individuals or associations if the proper forms are filled out.) 
 
- Decorations 
 
- Small shrub and ornamental tree pruning. 
 
- Daily pool maintenance (if you have a pool.) 
 
 
 
Those are just a few ideas for volunteerism!