Pest Plans for Property Managers in Southaven, MS

What a unit log should hold

A unit log records each report, visit and treatment for one unit, in an order that a manager, an owner or an inspector can read without a briefing.

A log is only useful if it is kept up to date at each visit. A manager who receives a tenant report should see it appear in the log within a day, and should see the technician's note within a few days of the visit.

• The date of each tenant report and the pest described
• The date and time of each visit, and the technician's name
• What was found, where, and whether it was a sighting or evidence of activity
• The product used, the area treated and the re-entry time
• Repairs requested, the person responsible and the date they were completed

Shared walls, bins and common areas

Pests in a multi-unit building move through shared walls, drains, roof spaces and bin stores. A plan that treats only the unit where a report was made will often see the problem return from the next flat.

The survey pays particular attention to the places where units share a structure: the wall between two flats, the drain stack that serves several sinks, the roof space above a common ceiling and the bin store where food waste is kept. Each is listed with a recommendation, and the owner decides on the repairs.

A bin store with a lid that does not close is a common source of repeat reports. The plan notes it, the manager arranges for the lid to be fixed, and the technician checks the store on the next visit to confirm the activity has stopped.

Responsibilities the plan should name

The plan names who does what. Tenants report, the manager logs and arranges, the technician inspects and treats, and the owner decides on repairs. A plan without names is a plan that does not get followed.

A tenant's duty is usually to keep food stored, bins closed and reports made promptly. The manager's duty is to arrange the visit and keep the log. The technician's duty is to identify, treat and report. The owner's duty is to fund and make the repairs that stop the pest entering.

The written plan should say these duties in plain words. It is the document a manager will show a tenant who disputes the cause of a problem, and it is the document an owner will ask for at the next review.

Two states, two licence records

A manager with buildings in DeSoto County and in Shelby County, Tennessee, needs the licence for each state recorded in the plan. The licence for one state does not cover the other.

The plan keeps a licence record for each state, with the technician, the licence and the category. A building in Horn Lake is covered under Mississippi's licensing, and a building in Germantown or Whitehaven is covered under Tennessee's. A technician who attends both must hold both credentials.

The call line takes a single number for all the properties, and the ZIP of each building is the first question. The manager gets a single summary, with separate sections for each state, so the paperwork for each side stays correct.