Multi-site property maintenance: a buyer's guide for facilities managers

Most multi-site landlords end up juggling 15 to 40 contractors across plumbing, electrical, roofing, locks and drainage. The hidden cost isn't the labour rate — it's the time your team spends triaging, chasing, and reconciling.

A single in-house contractor with all trades under one roof collapses that overhead. One number, one SLA, one consolidated invoice run, one audit trail across every site.

When evaluating a multi-site partner, ask three things. First: are the engineers directly employed, or sub-contracted? Sub-contracted teams cannot guarantee response times. Second: is there a real 24/7 dispatch, or just a voicemail that pages an on-call? Third: do you get a named account manager, or a ticket queue?

Pricing should be transparent — published rate cards beat bespoke quotes for reactive work. Credit account terms (typically 30 days) and consolidated monthly invoicing are standard for portfolios above 5 sites.

Finally, insist on a portfolio dashboard. You should be able to see open jobs, average response time, and spend-per-site without asking. If the contractor can't show you that on day one, walk away.