Operational efficiency: reduce your building’s operating costs without reducing quality.
Pioneers of operational efficiency in condominiums, we have helped our clients save more than $1.2 million a year. Service contracts, energy, maintenance, insurance, management practices: we analyze everything your building spends, find the leaks and deliver a costed, prioritized action plan.
- Over $1.2M in annual savings for our clients
- Full analysis of building operations
- Costed, prioritized and tracked recommendations
Quantified savings
Every recommendation comes with the expected annual saving and its implementation cost.
No loss of service
We optimize how things are done, not the level of service: your co-owners only see lower common expenses.
An engineer’s perspective
Components, equipment and envelope are assessed by engineers: the proposed savings are realistic and lasting.
Every type of building
Condominium syndicates, rental, commercial and institutional buildings, real estate portfolios.
Where a building’s money goes — and where it gets lost
A building’s common expenses almost always rise faster than inflation. Rarely because the needs have changed: most often because contracts are renewed without competition, equipment ages without a plan, and operating habits have never been questioned. An operational efficiency audit puts every line item under the microscope.
Service contractsCleaning, snow removal, landscaping, elevators, fire alarm, sprinklers, generator, garage doors: contracts renewed for years, often well above market, with clauses that no longer match the building.
Energy and waterCommon-area heating, lighting, ventilation, domestic hot water, Hydro-Québec rates, leaks and abnormal consumption: the items where gains are fastest and most measurable.
Maintenance and repairsRepeated interventions on the same equipment, no preventive maintenance, service calls at emergency rates: a maintenance plan replaces “firefighting” with planned work.
Insurance and managementDeductibles, redundant coverage, management fees and bank charges: items rarely reviewed that weigh heavily on the annual budget.
Practices and toolsMeter readings, invoice tracking, key and access management, communication with co-owners: time savings that become money savings.
The resultAn operating budget you can defend at the meeting, stabilized assessments, and savings reinvested in the reserve fund or major work.
In numbers
$1.2M
in annual savings achieved by our clients
0
contracts, equipment or insurance sold: independent recommendations
1
single point of contact, from the audit to the tracking of savings
Good to know: operating savings are recurring. A contract renegotiated downward is a saving that comes back every year — enough to fund part of the reserve fund study or a renovation project.
Is your building spending more than it should?
Check the statements that describe your situation. The result tells you your building’s likely savings potential and whether an operational efficiency audit is worthwhile.
This tool gives a general indication. Our team assesses your situation free of charge from your latest financial statements.
Your building
From your financial statements to realized savings, in 6 steps
A structured audit, led by engineers and property management specialists, that ends in a concrete action plan — and that we can implement with you.
1. Document collection
Financial statements for the last 2 to 3 years, current service contracts, energy bills, insurance policies, repair history. We give you the list; you have nothing to prepare.
2. Benchmark analysis
Each line item is compared with our market references for similar buildings (size, age, equipment). Significant gaps become savings leads to be validated.
3. Technical visit
An engineer visits the building: mechanical equipment, lighting, envelope, operating habits, leaks and abnormal consumption. The leads are confirmed on site.
4. Audit report and action plan
For each recommendation: expected annual saving, implementation cost, payback period and priority. You know exactly where to start.
5. Implementation
Renegotiation or tendering of contracts, operating adjustments, small quick-payback work: we drive the selected actions with your board or your manager.
6. Savings tracking
Once the actions are in place, we measure the savings actually obtained line by line and adjust the plan. The results are presented at the meeting, figures in hand.
A report made for deciding — and for acting
Not an 80-page report that ends up in a drawer: an action plan the board of directors can adopt in one meeting and present to the co-owners.
Expense profile
Each operating line item compared with market references, with the gap in dollars and in percentage.
Costed recommendations
Annual saving, implementation cost and payback period for each proposed action.
Prioritized action plan
Quick wins first, structural projects next: a realistic schedule, adapted to your building.
Tender specifications
To put service contracts back out to competition on a clear basis: scope, frequencies, requirements, penalties.
Tracking dashboard
A simple tool to track expenses and realized savings, year after year.
Where the savings are largest
The biggest savings don’t come from cutting services, but from fixing what costs too much without anyone noticing. Four areas come up in almost every audit.
Service contracts
Specifications, call for tenders and bid analysis: cleaning, snow removal and elevator contracts often come back significantly cheaper, for the same service.
Energy
Rates, heating and ventilation settings, LED lighting, hot water, insulation: quick-payback measures, validated by an engineer.
Preventive maintenance
A maintenance schedule tied to the maintenance log replaces emergency calls with planned interventions — cheaper and fewer.
Insurance and fixed costs
Review of coverage and deductibles, management fees, bank charges and subscriptions: items rarely questioned, easy to fix.
And because our engineers know your building: the recommendations account for the actual condition of your components and tie into the maintenance log and the reserve fund — never a saving today that costs dearly tomorrow.
What our clients find from one mandate to the next
Over $1.2M in savings every year
That is what our clients save each year through the action plans implemented — measured results, not promises.
No conflict of interest
We sell no service contracts, equipment or insurance: our recommendations benefit no one but you.
Condominium know-how
Budgets, meetings, assessments, reserve funds: we work every day with boards of directors and managers.
Support through to results
We don’t just deliver a report: we drive the implementation and measure the savings actually achieved.
Operations, maintenance, construction: the same team
Operating savings fund maintenance and construction; the maintenance log and the reserve fund set the priorities. Our services complement each other — and our team knows them all.
Reduce operating costs
Expense audit, costed action plan, implementation and savings tracking. Free preliminary analysis from your financial statements.
Reserve fund and maintenance log
Long-term assessment planning and a living register of your components: the foundation of efficient operations.
Project consulting and management
Plans and specifications, call for tenders, site supervision and acceptance: your major work delivered at a fair price.
Everything we get asked about operational efficiency
What is an operational efficiency audit?
It is the systematic review of everything your building spends to operate — service contracts, energy, maintenance, insurance, management — compared with market references and the actual condition of the building. It ends in a costed action plan: which actions, which savings, at what cost, in what order.
How much can we save?
It depends on the building and on how it is operated. Across all our mandates, our clients save more than $1.2 million a year. For a given building, the potential depends on the items that have never been optimized: the free preliminary analysis of your financial statements gives you a first estimate, with no reduction in the level of service.
Will you cut the services offered to co-owners?
No. Operational efficiency means getting the same service — or better — for less: contracts put out to competition, well-adjusted equipment, planned rather than reactive maintenance. Co-owners see stabilized common expenses, not lower quality.
How much does the audit cost and how does it pay for itself?
Fees depend on the size of the building and the scope of the audit. You receive a proposal after the free preliminary analysis of your financial statements, with an estimate of the savings potential. In the vast majority of cases, the recurring savings quickly exceed the cost of the audit.
Which documents do we need to provide?
The financial statements for the last two or three years, the current service contracts, energy bills, insurance policies and the repair history. We send you a precise list; your manager or treasurer can gather everything in a few days.
How long does the audit take?
It depends on the size of the building and on how quickly the documents reach us; the timeline is specified in the proposal. Implementation of the actions then runs over several months, starting with the quick wins.
Do you handle the renegotiation of contracts?
Yes, if you wish. We prepare the specifications, launch the call for tenders, analyze the bids and give you a recommendation. The decision stays with the board of directors; we have no ties with suppliers.
Is this compatible with our current manager?
Absolutely. The audit is an external, independent look that helps the manager do a better job: it provides market references, tender specifications and an action plan. Many managers recommend us to their syndicates.
How does this relate to the reserve fund and the maintenance log?
They complement each other. The maintenance log says what to maintain and when; the reserve fund says how much to set aside for major work; operational efficiency says how to spend less day to day — and often frees up the amounts the fund was missing.
Are the savings guaranteed?
We do not sell a guaranteed figure: results depend on the actions the board decides to implement. However, every recommendation is costed conservatively, and once the actions are in place we measure the savings actually obtained, line by line.
Do you work with rental and commercial buildings?
Yes. Owners of rental, commercial, industrial or institutional buildings, managers of real estate portfolios: the method is the same, adapted to your return objectives and your leases.
Which region do you serve?
Mainly Greater Montreal, Laval, the North Shore, the South Shore and the Montérégie, as well as Quebec City, Gatineau and the Eastern Townships depending on the mandate. A good part of the audit is done remotely from your documents.
Get your free preliminary analysis
Describe your building in two minutes. We will then ask for your latest financial statements to estimate, with no obligation, your building’s savings potential.
- No obligation, no charge for the preliminary analysis
- An estimate of your savings potential before you commit
- You speak directly with the expert who will handle your file
Prefer to call us?
514-929-8752 · info@groupedarheim.ca