Handypersons
Clean, paint, repair and maintain buildings, grounds and facilities.
A Wednesday on the unit block run
You are a handyperson looking after a block of units and a community hall, fixing, painting, cleaning and checking things around the buildings. It is 8am. You have a list of nine jobs, a hall to set up for a lunch at noon and a phone that keeps buzzing.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Sorry to ask, dear, but the power point in my kitchen has stopped working and my kettle won't turn on. You do a lot of repairs around here. Could you have a quick look at the wiring?
Open the faceplate and take a look to see if you can spot the problem
You find a burned wire behind the plate, and it is live. You've put yourself in danger, and Mrs Farrow's kitchen is now unsafe. Electrical work is for a licensed electrician, and checking is not the same as being allowed.
Tell her to try the kettle in another room and report it next week
She boils the kettle in the hall, but the faulty point is still in the kitchen. A week is a long time to leave an unknown fault. It needs an electrician sooner.
Tell her you will report it and arrange an electrician today
You put a sign on the power point, lend her a kettle and book an electrician. She is a bit disappointed, but safe. Knowing what you can't do is part of being a handyperson.
Three things have come in at once. A tap is dripping in unit 4, the front door lock is sticking in unit 9 and the foyer needs a fresh coat of paint before an inspection on Friday. What are you doing first?
Fix the lock first, then the tap, and book the painting for tomorrow
The lock is sorted in twenty minutes, the tap in ten, and you tell Wendy the foyer will be done by Thursday. Safety and access come before looks. A clear plan also keeps Wendy calm.
Start the foyer paint, because the inspection is on Friday and it takes longest
The paint goes on but the unit 9 resident is locked out that evening. The inspection will be fine, but you could have fixed the lock first. The longest job is not always the most urgent.
Do all three at once and see which one gets finished
None of the jobs are finished by lunch. The paint dries unevenly, the lock is half done and the tap still drips. Starting everything and finishing nothing helps nobody.
I've drilled into that old wall in the community hall and the dust is a bit strange. It's a grey sheet, and it's chipping. This hall was built a long time ago. Should I keep going?
Tell him to keep going and wipe up the dust, since it's just a small hole
Dust spreads across the room and the hall must be closed while it's tested. Old building materials can carry hazards that you can't see. A small hole can cause a big problem.
Stop, keep people out and tell Wendy straight away
Wendy closes the room, and a specialist tests the wall. It's an old sheet that needs careful handling. The lunch is moved to the next room, and nobody is exposed.
Cover the hole with tape and move to another wall
The hole is covered, but the dust is still in the air and nobody has been told. You've reduced the problem without stopping it. A material you don't recognise should stop the job.
How it went
The lock works, the tap is fixed, the foyer is booked and the lunch goes ahead in another room. Handyperson work is a mix of small jobs and big judgement calls, and it depends on knowing the limits of what you should do yourself. Could you enjoy being the person people call when something needs looking at?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The handrail that moved
A fictional case set in a handyperson service that looks after a block of units, a retirement village and a small community hall.
The situation
Reza was the handyperson for a community hall that ran a seniors' lunch every Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon, while checking the entry ramp, he put his hand on the rail and felt it shift slightly. One of the posts had worked loose from the concrete. The lunch was the next day, about thirty people would use the ramp, and the hall's committee had no money set aside for repairs that week.
What they did
Reza put cones and a sign at the ramp, then rang the hall manager, Dorothy, and showed her photos of the post. He couldn't fix the post alone, so he found a local welder who could come first thing the next morning. In the meantime he set up a temporary entry through the side door with a portable ramp, and asked a volunteer to greet people there.
How it turned out
The welder repaired the rail before the lunch started and the side entry was used only for an hour. Dorothy told the committee that the repair needed to go on the regular checklist. Reza now tests every rail with his hand on his Tuesday walk, and writes down what he finds.
What would you do?
- What would you have done if you could not find anyone to repair it?
- How would you explain to the hall manager why you closed the ramp?
- What other small things in a building could be a safety risk?