A lift out of service, and nobody told
The lift contractor needs a day to replace a component. The building manager emails the tenants on the contact list. Two tenants have changed office managers since the list was updated. One forwards it to nobody. On the day, a tenant's staff member who uses a wheelchair arrives to find the lift out, and the complaint reaches the asset manager by lunchtime.
The same week there is a fire alarm test, window cleaning with cradles outside the upper floors and a planned power shutdown for switchgear maintenance. Each notice goes out the same way, with the same gaps.
Why occupier notices do not reach people
Tenants in a multi-let building change their people often. The office manager who received last year's notices has left. The landlord's list was built from lease documents and a welcome email, and nobody asks tenants to keep it up to date.
- Contacts are held per tenant, not per role, so the wrong person gets building notices.
- Notices go from the building manager's own inbox, with no record of who received them.
- Urgent notices go by email even when a text would be read faster.
- Tenants' staff never see notices unless someone forwards them.
- There is no record to show a tenant who says they were never told.
What missed notices cost
Complaints from tenants who feel ignored. Staff arriving to find lifts or power out. Contractors held up because a tenant was not ready for access. Fire alarm tests causing unnecessary evacuations. And an unhelpful argument about whether a notice was sent, with nothing to show either way.
The building manager also carries the risk personally. They are the one standing in reception when a tenant's operations director arrives to complain, with no way to show the notice went out a week ago and to whom. After a few of those conversations, managers start phoning every tenant for every notice, which takes hours and still leaves no record.
The occupier messaging we build
- Each tenant has contacts by role: building notices, emergencies, accounts, access. Tenants confirm or update their contacts through a short form, prompted every few months.
- The building manager creates notices from templates for common events: lift works, alarm tests, cleaning, shutdowns, access works. Each is addressed to a building, a floor or specific tenants.
- Notices go by email, with an option for text messages through a provider such as Twilio for urgent or same-day notices.
- Delivery and opening are recorded per contact, and the building manager can see who has not opened an important notice and follow up.
- Each building has a simple noticeboard page, which tenants can share with their staff or show on a screen in reception.
- A record of every notice is kept, so the history for any building or tenant is available when someone asks.
| Notice type | Channel | Who receives it |
|---|---|---|
| Planned works | Email and noticeboard | Building contacts for affected floors |
| Fire alarm test | Email and noticeboard | All building contacts |
| Same-day outage | Text and email | Building and emergency contacts |
| Access works in a demise | The affected tenant's building and access contacts |
What the building team notices
Notices reach the right people. The building manager can see who has read them. Tenants can pass them on to staff without forwarding emails. When a tenant says they were not told, there is a record. And contact details stay current because tenants are asked to confirm them regularly.
The same contact list serves everything else: emergency contacts are current for the out-of-hours team, access contacts are right for fob requests, and accounts contacts are right for demands. Keeping one list tidy is easier than keeping four.
Does this happen in your buildings?
- Tenants say they were not told about works or outages.
- Contact lists are out of date.
- Notices go from personal inboxes.
- You cannot show who received a notice.
- Tenants' staff never see building notices.