The Easy Way to Stop Condo Operating Fund Overspending
Quit Spending in an Account You Have Complete Control Over
Practical Guidance for Smarter Condominium Governance in Sarnia, Ontario
At Sapphire Condominium Management, we've reviewed thousands of repair invoices and vendor contracts on behalf of condo boards across Sarnia and Southwestern Ontario. One pattern is painfully clear: small, untracked maintenance costs can quietly drain thousands from a building’s annual budget. Most boards don’t even realize the bleed until it’s too late.
The good news? It’s completely avoidable. With clear spending policies and proper oversight, we’ve helped our clients cut operating expenses without cutting corners, often recovering tens of thousands simply by tightening how repairs and service calls are approved.
Oftentimes, there is not much to reduce in the condominium’s Operating budget. Sending multiple Request for Quotes each year for Landscaping, Insurance, and Cleaning expenses. Each of them is just going about bartering to get the same amount of services for as little an increase as possible.
The one account you have complete control over, month over month, and that can be the spending that drains the operating account, is the General Maintenance account. This account is the one you put the lightbulb replacement in, or line paint touchups, or a small pothole fill.
The Mistake: Overspending on General Repairs
This happens slowly—dozens of small, unplanned expenses that add up by year-end. For example, imagine you have $1,000 of budget for General Maintenance, and each month you’re $200 above. It’s minimal, not a huge amount, but by the end of the year, you are sitting $2,400 over budget. And if all else is equal, that puts your condo into a $2,400 deficit by the end of the year.
The great part is that the fix is relatively easy. Just some simple governance and someone on the board to protect the spending in that account. Keeping the spend per month below the allowance unless absolutely necessary.
The Fix
Let’s list these quickly here:
Stick to a monthly repair allowance
Categorize every expense by budget line
Prioritize repairs with a clear property to-do list
It’s very, very similar to personal expenses. Pretend like you have a jar of money, and when it’s gone for the month, it’s gone. This means you’ll have to prioritize your spending each month. To help with this, here’s a template you can use to create this list:
Sapphire—Condominium To Do List Organization Template
If you’d like to learn more about better condominium governance, check out our other articles: