Annual preventive maintenance checklist for your building

A well-kept building does not depend on major works, but on a schedule that is kept. Preventive maintenance in a condominium comes down to knowing what to check, when and by whom: lifts and fire extinguishers with services and inspections up to date, roofs and gutters cleaned before the rains, façades and gates checked regularly, water tanks cleaned, pest control scheduled and insurance reviewed before renewal. Below is an annual checklist, organised by quarter, which you can adapt to your building.

Why an annual plan saves money

Repairing after a breakdown almost always costs more than prevention: urgent work is paid at emergency rates and small faults turn into bigger damage. An annual plan allows each job to be included in the budget approved at the owners' meeting, quotes to be requested in good time and extraordinary fees to be avoided. We go into this in more detail in how to reduce condominium maintenance costs.

There is also a legal framework: the Legal Regime for Urban Development and Building (Decree-Law 555/99, Article 89) requires buildings to undergo maintenance works (obras de conservação) at least once every eight years, in addition to the works needed, at any time, to keep them safe, sanitary and in good aesthetic order. The common reserve fund (fundo comum de reserva), mandatory under Article 4 of Decree-Law 268/94, exists to pay for that upkeep.

The checklist, quarter by quarter

When	What	Notes
January to March	Ordinary owners' meeting: previous year's accounts, budget and maintenance plan	Article 1431 of the Civil Code: first half of January, or 1st quarter if the regulations or the owners' meeting allow it
	Check the dates of the periodic lift inspections	Confirm when the next one is due
	Inspect the roofs after the heaviest rains	Displaced tiles, waterproofing, flashing
April to June	Visual inspection of façades, balconies and parapets	Cracks, loose render or tiles
	Preventive pest and rodent control	Garage, storage rooms, bin room
	Cleaning and disinfection of water tanks, where there are any	By a specialist company
	Servicing of automatic gates and garage doors	Safety sensors, motors, remotes
July to September	Cleaning of roofs, gutters, drains and downpipes	Before the first autumn rains
	Painting of small areas and treatment of metalwork	Make the most of the dry weather
	Request quotes for the works to be approved at the next owners' meeting	Three quotes for extraordinary maintenance works (Article 1436)
October to December	Second check of gutters and drains	Autumn leaves
	Annual servicing of fire extinguishers and check of fire safety equipment	Emergency lighting, signage, escape routes kept clear
	Review the insurance before renewal	Sum insured, cover, excesses
	Prepare the budget and maintenance plan for the following year	To be presented at the January meeting
All year round	Lift maintenance by the contracted company	Visit records and reports
	Reading the water and electricity meters for the common areas	Spot leaks or unusual consumption
	Lighting in the common areas	Replacing faulty bulbs and sensors

Items with their own rules

Lifts: contracted maintenance and periodic inspection

Decree-Law 320/2002 sets out two separate obligations:

1. Maintenance: the lift must have a contract with a registered lift maintenance company (EMA), which makes regular visits.
2. Periodic inspection: carried out by an inspection body, independent of the maintenance company. In Lisbon, inspections are the responsibility of the City Council.

How often the inspection takes place depends on the type of building:

Type of building	Frequency
Commercial or services open to the public	2 years
Mixed use (housing and shops or services)	4 years
Residential with more than 32 dwellings or more than 8 floors	4 years
Other cases, including smaller residential buildings	6 years

When an inspection finds defects, corrective requirements and a re-inspection may be imposed. It is worth having the date of the next inspection in the condominium's calendar and confirming it with the City Council and the maintenance company, so that it does not go by without being carried out.

Fire extinguishers and fire safety

In buildings with fire extinguishers, they are serviced annually and this must be done by a qualified company, in accordance with Portuguese standard NP 4413, which also provides for more thorough tests at longer intervals. The same logic applies to the other fire safety equipment in the building, such as emergency lighting, fire doors or the fire main. The specific requirements depend on the building's risk category, defined in the legal regime for fire safety in buildings (Decree-Law 220/2008). In a residential building, the most important thing day to day is to keep escape routes clear: no bicycles, furniture or boxes on the stairs.

Roofs and gutters before winter

This is the preventive work with the best return. A blocked gutter in autumn leads to leaks in winter, with damage to the top-floor units and, often, insurance claims. Clean before the first rains and repeat after the leaves have fallen.

Façades

Façades deteriorate slowly and are therefore easy to ignore. An annual visual inspection (cracks, loose render, hollow tiles, exposed steel on balconies) makes it possible to plan the work years in advance and top up the reserve fund in time. Materials falling onto the street are a safety risk and a liability for the condominium.

Insurance

Fire insurance is mandatory for the units and for the common parts (Article 1429 of the Civil Code), and it is the condominium administrator's job to check that it is in place (Article 1436). On renewal, check that the sum insured keeps pace with the rebuilding value and that the cover responds to the building's most likely risks, such as water damage or storms.

How to make the checklist work

• Record everything: date, supplier, cost and report for each job. The history is what lets you anticipate the next one.
• Assign responsibility: each row of the table should have someone who makes sure it happens.
• Take the plan to the owners' meeting: with a provisional budget, so that the work is approved before it is needed.
• Share it with the owners: a visible calendar avoids surprises and complaints. See the role of technology in condominium management.

This article is for information only; the specific obligations of each building depend on its characteristics and should be confirmed case by case.

How Condgest handles maintenance

Condgest plans each building's preventive maintenance with an annual plan and provisional budget, selects and supervises suppliers and oversees works. Find out more in services.

Would you like a maintenance plan tailored to your building? Request a proposal or contact us on +351 215 934 450 or geral@condgest.com.