7 Maintenance Requests You Should Never Ignore

By Solutions Property Management — Fri Mar 06 2026

Some maintenance requests are cosmetic. Others are how small buildings become big insurance claims. Here's the list.

Most maintenance is boring — replace a fill valve, tighten a hinge, swap a light. The seven below aren't. Ignore any of them and you're rolling dice with your insurance premium and, in some cases, your tenant's health.

1. **Any water where it shouldn't be.** Ceiling stain, damp baseboard, condensation on a cold pipe. Water damage compounds. What's a $200 fix today is a $12,000 mold remediation in six months.

2. **No heat in a heating month.** In Ontario, landlords must maintain 20°C between September 1 and June 15. If a tenant reports no heat and you can't fix it same-day, put them in a hotel. That's cheaper than the LTB order.

3. **Any smell of gas.** Call Enbridge. Do not send a handyman. Do not text your tenant "try opening a window."

4. **Non-working smoke or CO alarms.** These aren't optional. Fine per unit under the Ontario Fire Code is significant, and the liability if someone gets hurt is unlimited.

5. **A dead lock or exterior door that won't secure.** Same-day fix. The tenant has a right to secure the unit.

6. **Sewage backup.** Bio-hazard, insurance claim, hotel voucher. Don't try to DIY this one.

7. **Anything electrical that sparks, smells, or trips repeatedly.** Licensed electrician, same-day. Old aluminum wiring and overloaded panels are how buildings burn down.

The pattern here: fast triage, licensed trades, documented response. Save the receipts. If you ever end up at the LTB, "we responded within 4 hours and here's the invoice" is a very different case than "we'll get to it next week."