Wee-Woo, Wee-Woo — Emergency!

Confessions of a Condo Manager
3 min readJun 1, 2021

While we’re sure that mapping out a cohesive and fool-proof plan should your building ever has an emergency likely ranks just below having to do your taxes in terms of excitement, fear not, as we have run through the scenarios and have done the necessary checks in an effort to keep you safe.

During our first site visit at your building, we look at aspects of the building that would come into play should an emergency arise. This includes looking at the type of building, elevators (if applicable), exit doors, and a list of nine other items. Taking that information, we download the data into a highly sophisticated database that provides us with voice prompts should the need arise. Actually, we plug that information into an “About” page for your complex which is kept on the first page of our files for your building. And by page, we mean electronically. Because you know, it’s 2021.

That all sounds great, but is there any benefit? The simple answer is: absolutely. Having all the necessary information in one place and easily accessible to whomever might be dealing with the issue at hand helps keep things moving more like a good scotch rather than a rickshaw down a gravel road.

At 3x3, emergencies get classified into two different types: Loss/Potential Loss of Life (Pretty morbid, eh?) and No Loss/No Potential Loss of Life, each with their own checklist to ensure that no step is missed during a potentially chaotic and stressful time. KISS. This helps us determine our next steps and who needs to be contacted and when. As you can imagine, how we handle a loss of life vs a door not closing properly are drastically different. (Hint: we’re not calling the police for the door, unless it’s someone trying to break it down). We even go so far as to name a media liason for your site in case of a catastrophic failure. If you like organizing things, it’s actually pretty cool.

While there isn’t enough room to list all the cool things about Three By Three, one of the relevant one’s is that if you call us for an emergency in the middle of the night, you will get one of our staff. You’re not getting a dispatch service or call centre based somewhere on the other side of our spinning globe. You are waking up one of our Calgary-based Condo Managers, Founder, administrative staff, or Business Development Manager when you dial those digits. Whomever you might rouse from their deep slumber will be able to assist.

Does your building have an emergency plan? Does your board have something in place or are they working on getting something formalized? Even if you’re not one of our clients (and if not, then why not?), we strongly suggest a plan for your building. It’s always better to have something in place and never need it than to need it and not have it.

PS: please don’t call us in the middle of the night unless it’s an emergency. We’re all pretty cranky without sleep. Merci.

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Confessions of a Condo Manager

Information, stories & the cold hard truth about a chaotic job that can destroy your soul. Enjoy the levity and casual approach to our version of education.