The Complete Apartment Maintenance Checklist (Including Downloadable Checklist)

Staying on top of regular apartment maintenance and preventative maintenance can seem like an overwhelming task.

When you factor in how many different types of maintenance need to be managed, it can seem like an impossible task.

Or, at best, a serious pain in the you-know-what.

And yet, it’s incredibly important, as staying on top of maintenance can:

• Save you money down the road
• Prevent potential accidents
• and help keep your tenants happy (and renting).

Still, none of that keeps it from being any less of a pain.

With that said, bringing everything together into one place and organizing it in a way that allows you to stay on top of it better really makes a big difference.

And that’s where a good apartment maintenance checklist comes in

In the guide below, we’ll take you through a couple of things to help make your apartment maintenance less stressful and time-consuming.

Including:

• How to put together your maintenance team to make sure you have everything handled ahead of time
• A simple and straightforward (and downloadable) apartment maintenance checklist
• Plus, extra breakdown of each individual maintenance task (like checking HVAC system, carbon monoxide detectors, and other things assigned to the property manager by the lease agreement)

With all this together, you’ll be better equipped to not just handle your apartment maintenance but do it in less time and with less hassle.

Let’s start with putting together your maintenance team.

If you’re seasoned and already have a great team (whether internal or external), feel free to jump straight to the checklist.

How to put together your maintenance team

Before we jump into the checklist, if this is your first apartment rental property, it’s important to know who you’ll need to handle all your maintenance needs.

If you have a team that’s ready to handle anything you need already, perfect.

If not, let’s talk briefly about what types of maintenance tasks you’ll need to have covered, whether by your internal team or one or more external vendors, each for a specialized task.

A preventative maintenance checklist should also be given to the individuals of your team to conduct regular rental property inspections.

No matter which way you decide to go about it, you’ll want to make sure that all of these areas are covered:

• Electrical
• Plumbing
• HVAC
• Flooring
• Walls and ceilings
• Cleaning
• Appliances (repair and replacement)

Each of the maintenance tasks referenced in the checklist below will require one of the professionals above.

So long as you have a professional to cover each of the above areas, you’ll be ready to handle any maintenance task needed to get your unit move-in ready.

What is an apartment maintenance checklist?

Now that you’ve got your team in place, whether internally or through one or more combination of vendors, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to keep track of everything.

That’s where a good checklist comes in handy.

An apartment maintenance checklist is a simple resource that helps you track all your apartment maintenance tasks in one place, and check them off once they’re complete.

With an apartment maintenance checklist, you can easily keep track of all your maintenance tasks for a particular move-in, initial inspection, or a set period of time.

Below is a free downloadable apartment maintenance checklist you can take and use. Feel free to download it and use it however you see fit.

Get a free copy of the apartment maintenance checklist:

Apartment maintenance checklist: Step-by-step breakdown

Now that you’ve downloaded the checklist, let’s break each maintenance category down on the checklist.

Keep in mind that we’ll focus on the ‘General’ tasks listed on the checklist because that covers pretty much everything.

Here’s a screencap of everything it includes:

However, the checklist does have a unique set of items to check off based on a number of rooms.

• General
• Living room
• Kitchen
• Bathroom(s)
• Bedroom(s)

With that said, whether you’re new to maintenancing apartments or you need a refresher in one or more areas, this section will break down each major area of maintenance so you know what needs to be checked.

Let’s start from the top:

Floors

This all depends on what flooring you have in your units. Typically a combo of:

• Carpet
• Hardwood
• And tile

If you have carpet, check for stains, holes, burn marks, water damage, etc. If you have hardwood floor or tile, check for loose planks or tiles as well as damage in the way of scratches, cracks, or marks.

Walls/Ceiling

We’ve combined the walls and ceilings together as you’ll be looking for similar things, and they’re easiest when taken together all at once. They are also one of the most important structural components for apartment maintenance.

For both the unit’s walls and ceiling, check for damage in the way of paint chipping, marks, holes from things like nails and T.V. mounts, water damage/signs of leakage, etc.

Also, be sure to check your ceiling fans, both that they function properly as well as whether for any wobbling or general looseness.

Windows

Windows are straightforward. You’ll want to check three things:

• Damage: This could be small cracks, marks on the glass, tears on window screens
• Function: Do windows open and close? Do blind tracks slide open smoothly?
• Locks: Make sure to replace locks each time you move in a new tenant and check to make sure each lock works properly.

Doors

Similarly, check here for both:

• Damage: Cracks, dents, paint damage, scratches
• Function: Hinges work properly, spyhole works, doorbell/ringer, etc.

Lighting

Check the lighting in all rooms, dimmers, outlets, and any other electrical systems. Replace lightbulbs if need-be as well as inspect lamps for damage.

Detectors and security systems

Safety and security systems include three primary areas:

• Smoke detectors
• Carbon monoxide (CO2) detectors
• Home security systems

Check the obvious stuff to make sure:

• Each system works properly
• Lights are beeping per instruction manuals for both smoke and CO2 detectors
• Home security system works as intended and code is reset for new tenants if applicable

Also, make sure you have detectors on every level of a multi-story home and near each bedroom.

Do you want to learn all about rental property renovations? Check out this post: What Renovations and Upgrades Should You Invest In First?

HVAC

This crosses over between unit and property maintenance, but each of these systems is vital and one of the bigger potential maintenance issues that can arise.

For HVAC systems in general, you can have this checked annually but preferably bi-annually, which will save you big on the back end.

Heating especially, as it’s required by law virtually everywhere. Heating systems must work properly. You should have your water heater drained once or twice a year to remove particle build-up.

Download the apartment maintenance checklist

Prepared to tackle your maintenance tasks now?

We hope this breakdown (and the downloadable checklist; see below if you haven’t grabbed it yet) gives you clarity about what you need to get done as well as offering a tool to make it easier. Feel free to share this with any apartment associations or networks you may know.