Property Management Snow Removal

One written standard sets the baseline across the portfolio: trigger depths, response windows, priority order, de-icing standard, storage rules, and the record produced after every visit. Site-specific plans then vary the numbers where the property demands it.

Section 6.1 of Ontario's Occupiers' Liability Act requires written notice within 60 days of a snow or ice injury, served on the occupier or on the contractor hired to clear the site. Across a portfolio that exposure is multiplied, and it is the reason uniform documentation matters more than any single service decision. Every site produces the same time-stamped record in the same format, so a manager can produce the file for any property on demand rather than reconstructing it.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires accessible parking and the barrier-free path to the entrance to be maintained at every property, which means accessible stalls are a priority clearing element and are never used for snow storage anywhere in the portfolio.

Municipal clearing bylaws apply to the public sidewalk fronting each site, and the deadlines vary by municipality, so the plans are written to the local requirement rather than to one blanket assumption. In Toronto, that requirement is clearing within 12 hours of the snowfall ending, with sand or salt applied where the surface stays slippery.

Chloride use across a portfolio adds up quickly. The Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts captures organizations using more than 500 tonnes a year on a five year rolling average and any organization operating in salt vulnerable areas, so calibrated spreaders, temperature-matched rates, and covered storage are standard practice rather than an option.

Portfolio winter service fails through inconsistency: mixed standards, mixed record quality, routes that grew past the fleet, and one weak site that produces the claim.

Mixed standards. When each site has its own contractor and its own terms, the manager cannot answer a simple question consistently. One written standard across the book removes that.

Route creep. Contractors add properties to routes that are already full, and the sites at the end of the route are serviced late all winter. We size routes to committed equipment and hold that line.

Uneven documentation. A portfolio is only as defensible as its weakest file. Uniform, automatic, time-stamped records on every property mean there is no weak file.

Reporting that has to be rewritten. Records that arrive as scattered text messages or verbal confirmations are not usable in front of an owner or an insurer. Reports are issued per site and rolled up in a format a manager can forward without editing.

No escalation path. During a large event a manager needs one number and one person who can see every site. That is how the account is structured.