What is CMMS software and how can it help with predictive property management?

What is a CMMS?

A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a software solution that helps organizations plan, track, and optimize their maintenance activities. It can help you store and manage all maintenance-related data—such as equipment details, work orders, schedules, and asset history. You can use CMMS tools across industries, from manufacturing to healthcare.

CMMS in property management

In the context of property management, a CMMS is tailored to support the maintenance and operational needs of buildings and facilities. It helps property managers and landlords keep track of essential systems like HVAC, plumbing, elevators, and electrical systems, ensuring these assets are maintained proactively and efficiently.

With Hausing, you can use these the key functions of a CMMS:

• Maintenance scheduling: automate preventive maintenance tasks to minimize unexpected breakdowns.
• Work order management: create, assign, and track maintenance requests, keeping everyone informed.
• Record ieeping: store detailed logs of maintenance activities for compliance and future planning.
• Predictive insights: Uses data trends to forecast potential failures, allowing for predictive maintenance.

"Overall, very useful software for managing work orders. Especially if you have a lot of different devices and tasks, it helps you remember and keep track of them,"

explained Siiri from Ledzep, why they use Hausing. 

The challenges of property maintenance without a system

 1. Lack of organization – maintenance tasks may get lost in different channels, repairs are hard to track and confusin inside the property management company may arise

 2. Reactive vs proactive approach – without a system, most of the maintenance is reactive – addressing issues only after they arise. This can lead to tenant dissatisfaction, increased downtime of devices and higher repair costs.

 3. Missed preventive maintenance – not only is regular maintenance important to increase the lifespan of your devices, but some actions are required by law or can be dangerous without regular check-ups. For example everything related to fire safety.

 4. Inconsistent record keeping – to plan your future actions and actually know what is going on in your properties, an organized decumentation is essential.

 5. Tenant dissatisfaction – poorly maintained properties create a negative living or working space. Delays in adressing the issues can cause a flow of complaints and bad reputation. 

To learn more about building stronger relationships with your tenants and how it can help your business, check out this blog post.

 6. Difficulties in scaling – as your portfolio grows, the manual work becomes insufficient and can quickly get overwhelming.

Read about the importance of property management software, when scaling your operations here.

"Property management has additional depth to it, so a specific platform is the best option,"

explained Hausing user Markus, the importance of a specialised software.

How a maintenance diary keeps your operations organized?

A maintenance diary is a crucial tool for staying on top of property management operations. It acts as a centralized log where all maintenance tasks, schedules, and updates are recorded, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

With the help of a maintenance calendar, you have:

• Better task tracking and planning – prioritize urgent issues and schedule recurring maintenance in one system.
• Centalized records – a single source of data for all maintenance activities, including completed tasks, documents, upcoming schedule, device’s history etc.
  
• Smooth communication – teams managing multiple properties, can stay in the loop in one system. Share updates and progress with eachother. Assign tasks to external contractors within one system, not with emails and phone calls.
• Prevention over reaction – take care of your systems with required frequencies and analyze recurring problems, to prevent them.

A maintenance diary can be a simple shared spreadsheet or specialized software. Regardless of the format, it keeps your operations structured and helps maintain a professional and efficient property management process.

Setting up a maintenance plan, needs a bit of time and thinking things through, but is absolutely worth it. Here is a step-by-step guide to get started right away.

The pros of using a property management software to create a preventive maintenance schedule:

• Automatic calendar creation,
• All data with real-time information, shared with your colleagues,
•  Comprehensive overview in one channel,
• Assign tasks with ease to all parties,
• Automate a big portion of your tasks.

With Hausing, your maintenance calendar will look something like this. A whole year’s overview in one table, for better overview.

“Hausing is the best PM tool I have used in my property manager experience. I like the 3 way communication between client, Property manager and contractor,”

explained Hausing user Juris from Schenker.

The financial impact of proactive vs reactive maintenance?

The choice between proactive and reactive maintenance can mean the difference between saving costs and dealing with expensive, unexpected repairs.

Reactive maintenance: the costly approach

Reactive maintenance focuses on fixing problems only after they occur. While this may seem simpler in the short term, it often leads to:

• Higher repair costs – emergency repairs tend to be more expensive, than scheduled services.
• Unplanned downtime – broken systems disrupt your properties and tenants day-to-day functions.
• Shorter lifspan of your equipment – well maintained devices last longer.

Proactive maintenance: an investment in savings

Proactive maintenance, on the other hand, focuses on regular inspections, servicing, and addressing issues before they escalate. This approach offers:

• Lower repair costs – precenting problems through routine activities is generally cheper than emergency fixes.
• Extended asset life – regular upkeep ensures longer funcionality.
• Energy efficiency - well-maintained systems, such as HVAC or plumbing, consume less energy, reducing utility expenses.
• Tenant retention - proactively addressing maintenance needs improves tenant satisfaction, leading to fewer vacancies and more stable revenue.

While proactive maintenance may require an intial larger investment, it significantly reduces overall expenses in the long run. Not only can you save money, but improve operational efficiency and tenant satisfaction.

Conclusion

Implementing a CMMS system in your property management operations is more than just a technological upgrade—it's a shift towards smarter, more efficient practices. By moving from reactive to proactive and even predictive maintenance, you can reduce downtime, lower costs, and improve tenant satisfaction.

A maintenance diary, streamlined workflows, and data-driven insights ensure your properties are always running smoothly and your assets are well-preserved.

A CMMS system is not only for big industries, but also beneficial in property management, if you want to learn what features Hausing has to offer, contact us here and let’s discuss.