The Maintenance Academy

Yesterday was an incredible opportunity for The Maintenance Academy to join the Multifamily Insiders Leadership Lab alongside more than 60 top executives from across the multifamily industry. Mark Sharp, Director of Maintenance Education, was invited as one of only five thought leaders to speak during the Lab, joining Matt Rogers (RPM Living), Sean Landsberg, CAM (AppWork), Daniel Cunningham (Vendoroo), and Jonathan Shymoniak (GATES HUDSON & ASSOCIATES). Mark’s message focused on a growing challenge in our industry: ➡️ Owners and operators are investing in new technology faster than maintenance teams are being trained to use it. His talk underscored a simple truth: technology only works when the people using it feel confident, supported, and prepared. The feedback from the event was overwhelming: ⭐️ “This was probably the best Leadership Lab I’ve been in so far.” ⭐️ “All 5 speakers were excellent. 10 out of 10.” ⭐️ “Mark, you were phenomenal!” – Brent Williams, Multifamily Insiders Thank you to Chelsea Kneeland for inviting me to speak, and for the very subtle "kick", and the words "yeah, that doesn't work for me...you're doing this." 😉 We’re honored to contribute to conversations that elevate maintenance operations, strengthen leadership, and drive performance across the industry. A huge thank you to the entire Multifamily Insiders team for creating a space where real challenges and real solutions can be openly shared. The Maintenance Academy is proud to represent the voice of maintenance at the highest levels of multifamily leadership. #MaintenanceMatters #MultifamilyMaintenanceTraining #TheMaintenanceAcademy #MultifamilyMaintenance

Episode 6 of The Fix It Forward Docuseries is now live! This week, we travel to Canton, GA, to spotlight Tyler (Atlantic Pacific Companies), a 14-year industry veteran who worked his way from groundskeeper to maintenance supervisor. His story is everything Fix It Forward stands for: growth, leadership, resilience, and passion for the craft. Watch Episode 6 now and see why the maintenance profession deserves to be celebrated. Full video linked in comments. #FixItForward #TheMaintenanceAcademy #MaintenanceProfessionals #MaintenanceMatters #MultifamilyMaintenance

🚨 Maintenance Techs: Protect Yourself & Your Team 🚨 Oscar Rodriguez-Aguila, CPM®, shows us that in this field, we walk into people’s homes every single day, and sometimes we face situations we didn’t expect. One of the most important safety and liability rules we follow is simple: 👉 If you enter a unit and discover an unsupervised minor, do NOT perform the work. Even with the best intentions, misunderstandings can happen. And a moment meant for service can quickly turn into a situation no technician should ever be put in. Here are a few reminders from the video: 🔹 Always knock multiple times and announce “Maintenance!” before entering. 🔹 If you find a minor inside, stop immediately...do not proceed. 🔹 Confirm whether an adult is present. 🔹 Contact your manager and reschedule the work. 🔹 Protect yourself, your reputation, and your company. This isn’t just policy, it’s common-sense protection for you and your team. No work order is worth risking your safety or your career. Let’s keep our maintenance teams safe, supported, and empowered to make the right call. 💪 #MaintenanceMatters #MultifamilyMaintenance #SafetyFirst #PropertyManagement #TheMaintenanceAcademy

Strong maintenance cultures aren’t built in meetings… they’re built in conversations. In today’s clip by Mark Cukro, we highlight a simple but powerful exercise: Positive role modeling + open dialogue. Instead of telling your team what they should have done, ask: ➡️ “Here’s the decision we made last time, what could we have done differently?” ➡️ “What would you try next time?” You’ll be amazed at the insight you get when you slow down, ask for input, and truly listen. Frontline teams appreciate leaders who don’t just give direction but value their experience and apply their ideas in the field. Real leadership is listening. Real trust is built together. Full video linked in comments. #MaintenanceLeadership #TheMaintenanceAcademy #MultifamilyMaintenance #LeadershipDevelopment #OperationalExcellence #ServiceTeamTraining

#BlackFridayDeals #IndustrysBestEducators #DealsDealsDeals #MaintenanceMatters #TheMaintenanceAcademy

🍁 Happy Thanksgiving from The Maintenance Academy! 🍁 Today we’re especially grateful for the people who keep our communities running: the maintenance professionals, service leaders, suppliers, and partners who show up every single day with skill, heart, and pride in their work. Your dedication keeps homes safe, comfortable, and cared for and that’s something worth celebrating. From our family to yours, we wish you a warm, restful, and joy-filled Thanksgiving. Thank you for everything you do for multifamily housing. #TheMaintenanceAcademy #GobbleGobble #MaintenanceMatters #Thankful

Let’s talk about inspections. In multifamily, inspections are one of the most underrated tools we have for protecting our communities, our residents, and our teams. Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual, no matter the frequency, they only work if they’re consistent and organized. And here’s the part we don’t talk about enough: Inspections don’t have to be an “event.” If you’re already in the boiler room mid-month, knock out the inspection. Document it in your app, spreadsheet, or whatever system you use. If you’re already inside a resident’s home for a work order, hit the smoke detector test button while you’re there. Little moments add up. When we take advantage of the natural flow of our day, we: ✔️ Stay ahead of required inspections ✔️ Reduce end-of-month scrambling ✔️ Improve documentation ✔️ Keep our communities safer ✔️ And free up time for the work that actually needs our attention By doing inspections as part of your normal workflow, you avoid the massive year-end or month-end backlog, and you walk into deadlines with confidence instead of chaos. Don’t just meet the minimum requirements. Look for chances to exceed them naturally. Future you (and your residents) will thank you. Full video linked in comments below. Paul Rhodes #TheMaintenanceAcademy #MaintenanceMatters #MaintenanceTraining #MultifamilyMaintenance #MaintenanceInspections #Inspections

🔧 Understanding the Thermostat: The Brain of Your 24V HVAC System At The Maintenance Academy, we’re committed to breaking down complex systems into simple, practical training for maintenance professionals. In our latest training session, we took a deep dive into the “brain” of every heat pump’s 24-volt system, the thermostat. Using our 24V Electrical Training Board, we walked through: • How a basic thermostat functions as a switch • What each wire actually controls — and why it matters • How signals travel from the thermostat to the defrost board, contactor, condenser, blower motor, and reversing valve • And exactly how “cool,” “heat,” and “emergency heat” become real-world electrical actions Too often, technicians learn HVAC by trial and error. We’re changing that. When you understand the 24-volt sequence of operations, everything else becomes easier: troubleshooting, accurate diagnostics, resident communication, and confidence on the job. This is the foundation of HVAC training, and we’re just getting started. If your organization wants stronger maintenance teams, better technical understanding, and fewer callbacks… let’s talk. 💬 Training that builds competence AND confidence. #HVAC #MaintenanceTraining #PropertyManagement #Multifamily #MultifamilyMaintenance #TheMaintenanceAcademy #TechnicalTraining #ServiceHeroes

DAY 4 of 4 — Building the Final Schedule The Maintenance Academy Mini-Series Today, Rachel shows the final step: transferring the calendar outline into Microsoft Project to build a clean, detailed Gantt chart. This is where the schedule becomes real. Tasks get sequenced, bottlenecks get solved, and weather delays or “fluff days” get added to keep the project realistic—not optimistic. With this version, she can communicate clearly with trade partners, suppliers, and customers and keep the entire project moving as one fluid plan. And remember: Not every project needs full software. Some can stop at the notebook or the calendar. The level of detail should match the size of the job. 👉 Do you use project software, or do you prefer a simpler system for most jobs? Full video linked in comments. #TheMaintenanceAcademy #LadyCobb #ProjectScheduling #TMAMiniSeries #MaintenanceTraining

DAY 3 of 4 — Laying Out the Calendar The Maintenance Academy Mini-Series Once the rough draft is done, it’s time to put real dates to the project. Today, Rachel shows how she takes a multi-scope, ground-up project and drops it into a monthly calendar, working backwards from the end date. This step helps identify holidays, deliveries, GC availability, and any bottlenecks before the schedule hits Microsoft Project. For smaller jobs, she skips this step entirely and goes straight from notebook → calendar/software. But for a 2–3 month build? The calendar view brings everything into focus. 👉 Do you start your schedules from the beginning—or work backward from the end date? Full video linked in comments. #TheMaintenanceAcademy #LadyCobb #TMAMiniSeries #ProjectScheduling #MaintenanceTraining