Top 10 property maintenance metrics every property manager should track

Efficient property maintenance doesn’t happen by accident. It’s driven by data—and that starts with tracking the right maintenance metrics. To see patterns in your work orders and vendor track records, you need to measure and interpret those numbers. From there, you can make smarter, data-backed improvements.

Read on to learn more about why measuring maintenance data matters, the top 10 key metrics to monitor, and software tools to make tracking them easier.

What Are Maintenance KPIs?

Maintenance KPIs are specific, measurable values that show how well your property maintenance operations perform against your business goals. These indicators help you track efficiency, tenant satisfaction, and cost control in your maintenance workflows.

Think of them as the vital signs for your property’s health. They go beyond simple numbers to tell you if you’re on track to meet your goals, such as reducing repair costs or improving resident satisfaction after a work order is completed.

Maintenance KPIs vs. Metrics: What’s the Difference?

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they serve different purposes:

All KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics qualify as KPIs.

Why Measuring the Results of Your Maintenance Services Matters

You can improve property performance by tracking your maintenance speed, quality, and costs. For example, if you notice one of your vendors takes longer than average to complete jobs, you may consider replacing them with a speedier option. Or if you spot repair costs rising, you may shop around for better prices. Without data, it’s hard to know what’s working and what isn’t.

Over time, staying on top of maintenance metrics leads to properties with fewer surprises, more satisfied tenants, better relationships with vendors, and a stronger bottom line.

10 Property Management Maintenance Metrics to Monitor

Now that you know why measuring maintenance performance is key, here are the top 10 metrics to monitor:

Key benefits of tracking these metrics:

• Cost control: Identify expensive patterns and optimize spending
• Tenant satisfaction: Monitor and improve response times
• Operational efficiency: Spot bottlenecks and workflow issues
• Vendor management: Evaluate and improve contractor performance

1. Average Response Time to Maintenance Requests

Average response time to maintenance requests measures how quickly your team acknowledges incoming work orders. A fast initial response builds trust with tenants and reduces frustration, even if the repair takes time. This is because tenants like to know their request is being worked on. It also shows that you are taking their work order seriously.

Here are some average response time benchmarks to consider:

• Under 4 hours: strong response time
• Under 24 hours: acceptable response time
• Over 24 hours: risk tenant satisfaction

2. Time to Resolution (TTR) or Average Completion Time

Time to Resolution (TTR) or average completion time measures how long it takes to resolve a maintenance request from when it’s first submitted. Shorter resolution times keep tenants happy and escalations in check, while longer resolution times can result in more tenant complaints.

Here are some time-to-resolution (TTR) benchmarks to follow:

• Under 24 hours: good for emergencies
• 1-3 days: good for most non-urgent issues
• 4+ days: risk tenant satisfaction and additional damage

3. First-Time Fix Rate

First-time fix rate measures the percentage of maintenance issues resolved on the first visit. For example, if your vendor or maintenance team handles 100 maintenance requests and resolves 70 of them without having to make a follow-up visit, your first-time fix rate would be 70% (70/100).

A high first-time fix rate indicates an efficient maintenance workflow, which involves thorough issue descriptions, skilled technicians, and good inventory management. This can save time and unnecessary labor costs while keeping tenants satisfied. Meanwhile, a low first-time fix rate suggests there are bottlenecks slowing things down.

In general, here’s how to interpret first-time fix rates:

• Above 80%: excellent first-time fix rate
• 50-79%: acceptable first-time fix rate
• Under 50%: room for improvement

4. Work Order Volume by Property or Unit

Work order volume by property or unit measures how many work orders are generated per property or unit over time.

For example, let’s say a property generates an average of 10 maintenance requests per month, while another generates only six. All else equal, the property that generates 10 monthly work orders requires more attention. This could be due to deferred maintenance or larger issues that have been neglected, such as an old roof or leaking pipe.

By tracking work order volume, you can detect anomalies and investigate potential causes to lower maintenance costs. Ultimately, a good work order volume varies by property type, age, and condition—but the lower, the better. It’s helpful to implement robust preventative maintenance systems so your maintenance work is more proactive than reactive.

5. Tenant Satisfaction Score (Post-Maintenance Surveys)

A tenant satisfaction score is direct feedback from a resident after a repair or maintenance job is completed. It’s often formatted as a score out of 5, plus written feedback. It helps you assess if your service feels responsive, respectful, and thorough from the tenant’s point of view, which is crucial for building a positive landlord-tenant relationship. Research shows that landlords who receive their rental income on time are nearly twice as likely to be very satisfied with the relationship with their tenants.

Tenant satisfaction scores can highlight issues such as poor communication or vendors leaving a mess post-job. It gives you insight into the process, helping you perfect it at every step.

Here’s a framework for understanding average tenant satisfaction scores:

• 90% or more: tenants mostly satisfied
• 70-80%: tenants generally satisfied
• Less than 70%: room for improvement

6. Technician Productivity and Workload Balance

Technician productivity measures the number of completed jobs per technician per week or month. Finding the optimal workload balance ensures that your team isn’t over- or under-utilized and that jobs are distributed efficiently.

If the number of jobs completed dips too low, you may want to encourage or let go of underperformers. Conversely, if the number of jobs completed climbs too high, make sure you’re not over-relying on top performers, which could lead to burnout.

The optimal number of jobs completed per technician depends on the job type and complexity. The main goal is to watch out for uneven workloads across your team and adjust accordingly.

7. Maintenance Cost per Unit or Property

Maintenance cost per unit or property measures the average maintenance expenses per rental unit or property over a set period. By tracking this over time, you can better forecast expenses, analyze a property’s financial performance, and notice sudden spikes in costs that could point to larger system failures or problems.

While benchmarks for maintenance costs vary, you should aim to put aside 1% of a property’s purchase value for maintenance costs. On a $500,000 property, for example, that’s $5,000 per year. Anything above 1% is high, and anything below needs improvement.

8. Recurring Issue Rate

Recurring issue rate measures the number of maintenance problems that reappear within a set time after resolution (often within 30-90 days). For example, if you fix a water leak for a tenant and they report the same leak after one month, this would be a recurring issue. Assuming you had one recurring issue for every 10 work orders, your recurring issue rate would be 10%.

Here’s how to interpret recurring issue rates:

• Under 10%: Ideal
• 10% to 20%: may indicate bad diagnoses, poor workmanship, or deferred maintenance
• Over 20%: Consider performing follow-up inspections or switching vendors

9. Vendor Performance Score

A vendor performance score is a score you give vendors based on their timeliness, cost, and quality of work. That way, you can hold vendors to your standards and improve service over time. For example, if a vendor underperforms, you can replace them. Or if a vendor’s cost is high, you can negotiate a better contract.

While there isn’t an industry standard for vendor performance scoring, a simple 1-10 scale will do. Aim to build a network of vendors who maintain a score of 8 or higher.

Here’s how to size up vendor performance scores:

• 9-10/10: excellent
• 7-8/10: good
• 1-6/10: consider replacing vendor

10. Preventive vs. Reactive Maintenance Ratio

Preventative vs. reactive maintenance ratio measures the proportion of scheduled preventative maintenance tasks to unplanned, reactive work orders. The higher the ratio, the better you’re maintaining your properties, the longer they’ll last, and the fewer costly emergencies you’ll face. A lower ratio may point to reactive patterns that increase long-term costs.

To keep up with preventative maintenance, schedule routine maintenance tasks in your property management software. For example, Buildium lets you mark work orders as “recurring items” so you don’t have to worry about entering the same task manually over and over again.

Shoot for a preventative vs. reactive maintenance ratio of at least 60:40. The higher, the better.

Technology to Help Track Your Maintenance Services

Of course, tracking all these maintenance metrics manually can be time-consuming—and easy to get wrong. Purpose-built property management software gives you the tools to monitor performance and stay ahead of issues.

Buildium

Buildium is a comprehensive property maintenance management platform that centralizes your maintenance operations. It lets you accept, assign, and track work orders from a single dashboard.

Key features include:

• Routine maintenance task scheduling
• Vendor communication tools
• A 24/7/365 Maintenance Contact Center with live support agents
• Advanced maintenance analytics features for tracking task volume and performance
• The ability to group related tasks and work orders into projects and create templates for recurring tasks for easier, faster management

Property Meld

If Buildium’s maintenance tracking features aren’t enough, you can also sign up for Property Meld, which integrates seamlessly with Buildium. It helps you track work orders completed, repair speeds, resident satisfaction, average chat message per work order, average work orders older than 14 days, and more.

Using Property Management Maintenance Metrics to Improve Operations

To have a maintenance program that delivers results consistently and cost-effectively, you’ll need a system to track the metrics outlined in this post.

Remember these key takeaways:

• Start with the right metrics: Focus on KPIs that align with your specific business goals, such as reducing costs or improving tenant satisfaction
• Use technology to automate tracking: Property management software eliminates manual data entry and provides real-time insights
• Review data regularly: Monthly reviews help you spot trends early and make timely adjustments
• Act on what you learn: Use your metrics to make informed decisions about vendor relationships, staffing, and preventive maintenance schedules
• Measure tenant satisfaction: Post-maintenance surveys provide valuable feedback that drives continuous improvement

The good news is that you don’t have to create this system from scratch. Buildium can help you start tracking your KPIs immediately so you can spot issues faster, cut costs, and deliver better service. Sign up for a free 14-day trial or schedule a free demo today to take your maintenance game to the next level.

Frequently Asked Questions About Maintenance KPIs

What is a KPI in maintenance?

A KPI in maintenance is a specific, measurable value that shows how well your maintenance operations perform against your goals. Examples include first-time fix rate and response time to work orders.

How often should I review maintenance KPIs?

Review your maintenance KPIs at least monthly to spot trends and address issues early without getting lost in daily fluctuations.

What’s a good first-time fix rate for property management?

For property management, a first-time fix rate above 80% is considered excellent. It shows your team is well-prepared and diagnosing issues correctly, which saves time and keeps tenants satisfied.

How do maintenance KPIs help with tenant retention?

Maintenance KPIs directly impact tenant retention by helping you deliver faster response times and better service quality. When tenants see issues resolved quickly, they’re more likely to be satisfied and pay rent on time, increasing the likelihood they will renew their lease. This is critical, as research shows that when landlords miss rental income, 27 percent did not renew the lease and 59 percent encouraged the tenant to vacate.