Strata work moves fast: leaks don’t wait for quotes, lift faults love peak hour, and residents want clear answers now. The trick is building a simple system that keeps everyone safe and compliant while the work keeps moving.
That’s what good Vendor risk management does: reduce headaches, prevent repeat faults, and keep your best tradies keen to help. Below are nine moves that reduce vendor risks and speed you up, not slow you down. For each, you’ll first see why it matters, then a short checklist to put it into practice today.
1. Vendor Pre-qualification
Chasing licences and insurance while the ceiling’s leaking is a sure way to burn time and raise risk.
Pre-qualification shifts the admin to a calm moment, so when a job lands, you can assign in seconds. It also filters your panel: the vendors who provide clean documents, valid tickets, and realistic coverage hours are usually the same people who answer the phone at 10 pm and arrive when they say.
From a vendor risk management lens, pre-qualification removes guesswork, adds accountability, and makes the whole panel more reliable.
How to do this:
- Collect once: current trade licences, Public Liability and Workers’ Comp Certificates of Currency, SWMS templates, and any high-risk tickets (EWP, confined spaces, hot works).
- Add expiry reminders (30 and 7 days) so documents never quietly lapse.
- Record coverage hours, after-hours contact, service area, and a simple rate card for common tasks.
- Colour-code vendors for routine, complex, and specialist work to speed assignment.
Store everything in one system; no loose emails or “latest version?” drama.
2. Basic job tiering
A burst pipe and a wobbly hinge shouldn’t follow the same approval path. Tiering stops you from over-processing low-risk tasks and under-reacting to real hazards. Clear tiers give vendors permission to act fast (within a sensible cap) when the stakes are high, and give you space to plan when the work can wait a day.
That balance keeps residents safe, protects the asset, and prevents budget blowouts; these are the core goals of vendor risk management. You reduce vendor risks by right-sizing controls, and you keep speed by avoiding one-size-fits-all.
How to do this:
- Create three tiers: Make-Safe (urgent), Standard Works, Planned/Recurring.
- Set attendance targets per tier (e.g., urgent 1–2 hours; standard 24–48 hours).
- Apply make-safe spend caps per building/asset (e.g., $500–$2,000) so vendors can act immediately.
- Define escalation: who approves over-cap, when to stop and quote, and how to reach you after hours.
Share the tiers with committees and vendors so expectations are aligned.
3. Standard scopes and SLAs
Most delays happen between people, not on the tools. Missing access notes, unclear inclusions, or fuzzy expectations create phone tag and push jobs into “tomorrow”. Standardising scope and SLAs removes the ambiguity: vendors know what “done” looks like, what proof you need, and how quickly to communicate. Disputes drop, revisits fall, and approvals go faster. In vendor risk management terms, standard scopes reduce vendor risks by removing interpretation, and SLAs keep momentum by setting agreed, reasonable timeframes.
How to do this:
- Build a one-page scope per trade: inclusions, exclusions, site quirks (parking, lift pads), and required evidence at completion (photos, test results).
- Set SLAs per tier: attendance, communication points (acceptance/ETA/on site/completed), and completion targets.
- Define variation rules: when to quote vs time & materials, and what photos/notes must accompany a variation.
- Save templates in your system so every new job starts with the right version.
4. Digital work orders with gate checks
Email chains scatter vital details. A central digital work order keeps everything in one place: access info, hazards, strata rules, photos, timestamps, sign-offs. The real win is gate checks; the job can’t start unless the vendor’s licence/insurance is current and they’ve acknowledged the SWMS.
That’s risk control at the right moment: before exposure, not weeks later in Accounts. Because evidence is captured as they go, invoices land complete and approvals fly. You reduce vendor risks and time-to-close in one move.
How to do this:
- Issue all work orders through a single platform (ditch side emails).
- Include access notes, known hazards (asbestos zones, isolation points), and key strata rules (noise, waste, lift protection).
- Turn on gate checks for licence, insurance, and SWMS acknowledgement.
- Capture geo-tagged start/finish times, before/after photos, materials, and sign-off.
- Keep the full job record audit-ready for disputes, insurance and warranties.
5. Make-safe playbook
In an emergency, the first hour decides damage, cost and reputation. A simple make-safe playbook turns panic into a repeatable routine: isolate hazard, protect people, stop damage, document, notify. Pre-approved caps let techs act immediately; a clean hand-off to permanent repair prevents repeat visits. This is vendor risk management at crunch time; clear instructions that reduce vendor risks while protecting speed and budget.
How to do this:
- Write a one-pager: isolate → protect → stop damage → photo set → notify residents/committee.
- Keep a ranked after-hours list per trade/postcode with coverage hours.
- Pre-approve make-safe caps and name the approver for overspend.
- Define hand-off rules: quote format, evidence, and timeframe for permanent fix.
- Store templates in your system so every vendor sees the same playbook.
6. Human updates (with pictures)
Silence breeds complaints and slows approvals. Short, predictable updates at key moments, backed by a quick photo or 10-second video, keep residents calm and committees informed. Pictures end debates (“Here’s the burnt terminal”) and help approvers say yes sooner. Good communication isn’t fluff; it’s a speed tool that also reduces vendor risks by creating a clear, time-stamped trail of sensible decisions.
How to do this:
- Send updates at five points: acceptance, ETA, on-site, waiting on parts/approval, and completed.
- Use plain English and include a photo/video when helpful.
- Route smartly: residents get disruption info; committees get progress/approvals; managers see all.
- Prep templates: urgent water/gas/power notices, “waiting on parts”, completion summaries.
Keep messages short; clarity beats detail every time.
7. Vendor scorecard
Anecdotes are entertaining; they’re useless for decisions. A light scorecard focuses vendors on what counts: on-time attendance, first-time fixes, accurate variations, tidy documentation, safety, and resident experience. Share results, coach the middle, and rotate laggards off high-risk work.
Over a quarter or two, behaviour improves without heavy policing. That’s practical vendor risk management; you reduce vendor risks by steering with data, not arguments.
How to do this:
- Track 5–6 metrics: attendance (by tier), first-time fix, variation accuracy, documentation completeness, safety incidents, and resident rating.
- Weight metrics by job type (attendance for urgent; documentation for planned).
- Review quarterly with vendors; agree improvement targets; recognise top performers.
- Share a headline view with committees for transparency and trust.
- Use the scorecard to inform rotation for emergencies and complex jobs.
8. Tie payment to proof
Invoices stall because evidence is missing. Make the “completion pack” part of the job, not an afterthought. When photos, cause/fix notes, test results and warranty info arrive with the invoice, approvals are fast and disputes rare. Vendors get paid sooner and prioritise your buildings.
Cashflow certainty for them becomes response-time certainty for you. You reduce vendor risks and keep momentum by linking payment to proof.
How to do this:
- Define the completion pack: PO/job ref, before/after photos, short cause & fix note, materials list, relevant tests/compliance, warranty details.
- Auto-validate on submission; bounce missing items with clear instructions.
- Use rate cards for common jobs under a cap to skip low-value quoting.
- Approve and pay clean invoices quickly; tell vendors that’s the standard.
File everything in the job record for audit, insurance and future reference.
9. Close the loop
Fast and safe is a loop, not a line. A tiny post-job ritual, quick QA, a two-question resident survey, and a single lesson captured prevent repeats and speed the next visit.
Over time, building profiles get smarter, scopes get sharper, and PM schedules match reality. That’s compounding value: each job slightly improves the system that runs the next ten. In vendor risk management terms, this is how you reduce vendor risks long-term without adding ongoing workload.
How to do this:
- Do a 5-minute QA on high-risk or repeat jobs: root cause fixed? evidence complete? follow-ups needed?
- Send a micro-survey (on-time, polite, satisfied? optional comment).
- Capture one lesson: building note, scope tweak, parts list change, PM adjustment.
- Feed outcomes into the scorecard and refresh your templates monthly.
- Share key learnings with vendors; lift the whole panel together.
Make maintenance fast, safe and on time
You don’t need a giant transformation to protect residents, the asset and your sanity. You need a few habits in the right order: prepare once, match effort to risk, be clear up front, let software do the checks, communicate like a human, measure lightly, pay on proof, and learn every time.
That’s vendor risk management that actually helps you reduce vendor risks, and it makes busy Mondays feel normal again.
Want everything in one place, from pre-qualification with reminders to digital work orders, photo-rich updates, job tracking, and fast approvals? Run it in i4T Maintenance – Maintenance Management Software. Built for strata managers who care about safety, speed and clear records.
FAQs
Pre-qual your top vendors (licences, insurance, SWMS) and turn on expiry reminders. That one step speeds every future job.
No. Caps let tradies act immediately within a safe limit, then escalate if more is needed. Faster and safer.
Proof at completion means fewer disputes and faster approvals; great for cash flow and service priority.
Good operators like fair, clear metrics. Scorecards lift performance and help you manage vendor risk without heavy policing.
Send short, plain updates at key points (acceptance, ETA, on site, completed) and include a photo where helpful. It reduces noise and speeds decisions.