Gardening and Maintenance Overview

We need to find a new gardening and maintenance solution. This is a hugely important decision because it represents a very substantial part of our budget and directly affects the state of the building — including ongoing deterioration and quality of life for owners and tenants.

By following the ideas and suggestions here, it may be possible to halve the cost of gardening and maintenance services, and with modest automation reduce these costs even further.

We currently pay around €8,737 to mow lawns and strim edges. By modifying edges to be strim‑free we can half this cost for a tiny investment. Mulching around trees looks nicer and saves water.

We can save more by controlling water waste (HUGE issue) and by making better use of grassed areas or replacing them with low‑maintenance alternatives. The money saved can reduce community charges or go toward building refurbishment.

The quality of work and management of the contract by ACV and the maintenance company have been unacceptable. Work ethic, attendance, and quality of the gardener (and possibly other workers) have also been unacceptable.

• I have asked for the existing maintenance task list and not received it — forced to start from scratch, a huge duplication of effort.
• ACV have allowed pools to not be cleaned on holidays or weekends. I believe the last pool service was the Wednesday before Easter → 6 days without cleaning while pools were open. Huge potential liability for the community.
• The building RFQ process was a mess and showed our community in a very poor light. We must act professionally when approaching contractors.
• Any maintenance worker who needs to be told that filthy conditions are unacceptable has no place in GH.

Example: unacceptable pool area state — a direct result of poor supervision

This is the beginning of the busy season for gardeners and pool maintainers — the worst possible time for a rushed change. Suggest we focus only on pool maintenance + lawn mowing initially, using ad‑hoc services. We might pay a higher hourly rate, but it will be far less than we are paying now, and it gives us time to transition correctly.

A key consideration: who will inspect the work and keep the maintenance company on track? Walking with a phone/clipboard regularly and reporting back. I can do some, but others will need to step up.

Per‑task is easier to manage — inspector can see if pools are cleaned, but harder to see exact time spent. However, if the company bills hourly, they have a financial incentive to work slowly (bad faith). That was a fundamental problem with our previous contracting model.

When hiring our new maintenance company, we must do this correctly to avoid repeating past problems.
One core decision: specialists vs one company. Individual companies are lower risk because if we terminate one, we only lose those services, not all maintenance.
What we had until now was highest risk: one worker for everything — OK at mowing, very bad at everything else. I also doubt he had correct legal certification for specialist tasks.

I have created a blueprint for the hiring and management process. We MUST follow this Blueprint because:

• It protects us from being declared the employer (cesión ilegal) — we never give instructions, never supply tools, never set schedules.
• It catches bad contractors before they start — verify documents (TGSS, AEAT, Vida Laboral, insurance) and call their other clients.
• It gives us enforceable remedies for poor work — 7‑day inspection, 48‑hour correction, 10% penalty, termination after 3 defects.
• It creates a legal defence if problems arise — keep every document, email, and photo for 4 years.

Recommendation: Consult an independent lawyer (not our management office) to review the Blueprint and confirm it protects us.