Sanctuary at False Cape
A beach-front condominium shores up its preventive maintenance program for the most important reason of all; the safety and security of its residents.
Introduction
The Sanctuary at False Cape is made up of 250 ocean-front condominiums in Virginia Beach. Although only 15 years old, year-round exposure to sun, sea, storms, and salt had quickly deteriorated the property. The facility was facing critical safety issues, but with the help of Limble CMMS they’ve been able to work toward restoration and preventive maintenance.
The Challenge
In 2020, the condominiums went through three major storms in just four weeks. The buildings weren’t prepared for the severe weather. They suffered damage to critical infrastructure and lost power, leaving residents at risk.
In the context of the tragic condominium collapse that occurred in Surfside, Florida in 2021, the importance of routine and thorough facility maintenance took on increased urgency. For The Sanctuary at False Cape, it was a glimpse into one possible future if they didn’t restore their condominiums from previous neglect and put a plan in place to maintain them appropriately.
One critical aspect of this was their generators. With so little documentation of these critical assets, it was not even clear how the generators were powered. This made repairing or maintaining them next to impossible. Without functioning generators, life-sustaining medications like insulin can’t be refrigerated, condominiums have no heat, and help can’t be reached if phones and devices don’t have power.
“If we lose one of the generators, 75% of the units don’t have backup power. They are a critical aspect of life safety.”
Ron McDowell, Association Manager
The Solution
Ron McDowell, a resident, spearheaded a major refurbishment and was hired as the Maintenance Manager. He recognized the importance of a proactive preventive maintenance plan to restore and maintain the facility, preserve life safety, and prevent disasters.
To ensure his preventive maintenance plan would be followed, McDowell’s first step was to implement the best CMMS he could find. Limble was his first and only choice because, in his words, “We needed something that was simple, quick, and that we could control.” With Limble they were able to:
- Document their assets
- Schedule PMs
- Create event-based PMs for when storms occur
- Have a history of maintenance autosaved to one database
The Result
The initial reaction to Limble from the board, maintenance team, and tenants was shock at how quickly and comprehensively they were able to implement a preventive maintenance system. They had gone from being largely reactive, using information that resided in one individual’s head, to putting in place a plan that was documented, thorough, and rigorous in a short period of time.
As McDowell said, “After the implementation of Limble, we put in place a new process for maintaining the generators, we put in a process for maintaining the entire emergency power supply system, and put in place a disaster preparation plan. As a result, in 2020 during Hurricane Isaiah, we had all four generators fully operational during a power outage for the first time.”
“This is not a passive environment. We cannot be passive about our maintenance.”