Disruptive works on an occupied apartment building, from water shutoffs to crane lifts, are logged in a works sheet. The day before, only the affected residents get a WhatsApp notice with the hours and what to prepare, and their replies reach the site manager.
Typical results
Day before
Every shutoff and noisy job announced by 5 PM
≈3 hrs/wk
Site manager time saved on notices and calls
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Renovating a building while people live in it means regular water and power shutoffs, crane lifts and days of drilling. Notices are printed and taped in the lobby, often the same morning, so residents are caught without water or blocked in the parking lot. The site office spends hours each week taking angry calls and knocking on doors.
Before and after
Resident complaint calls per week
−70%Hours per week on printed notices and calls
−75%The automation
The site manager logs each disruptive job in a works sheet with the type, date, hours and the floors or risers affected. Those floors are matched to the resident list, and at 5 PM the day before, each affected apartment gets a WhatsApp notice saying what will happen, when, and what to prepare. A reminder follows an hour before the work starts, schedule changes send an updated notice, and resident replies reach the site manager's inbox.
How it works
- 01
Works logged in the sheet
The site manager adds each disruptive job to the works sheet: water or power shutoff, crane lift, noisy drilling or elevator out, with date, hours and floors.
- 02
Affected units picked
The floors and risers on each job are matched to the resident list, so only the apartments that are affected get the notice.
- 03
Notice the day before
At 5 PM the day before, each affected resident gets a WhatsApp notice with what will happen, the hours and what to prepare, such as storing water.
- 04
Reminder on the day
A short reminder goes out an hour before the work starts. Any change in the works sheet sends an updated notice to the same apartments.
- 05
Replies to the site manager
Resident replies, such as a medical need or a delivery due that day, reach the site manager's inbox with the apartment number attached.
Starts from
- Disruptive works schedule
- Resident list by floor
Delivers
- Notice to affected units
- Reminder before work starts
- Replies to site manager
The impact
Complaint calls to the site office drop by about 70%, from around 20 a week to 6, because residents hear about every shutoff the evening before. Residents on other floors are left alone, and the site manager saves about three hours a week on printed notices, calls and door knocking.
Questions about this automation
How does it know which apartments are affected?
Each job in the works sheet lists the floors, risers or building entrance it affects, and the resident list records the same details for every apartment. A water shutoff on one riser reaches only the apartments on that riser, while a crane lift that closes the parking lot goes to the whole building.
How is the resident list collected?
Residents join by scanning a QR code on the lobby notice board, which opens a WhatsApp chat where they confirm their apartment number. Owners who rent out can add their tenants. Simple automations like this are usually live within days, starting from the works schedule the site manager already keeps.
What if the works run late or are canceled?
The site manager updates the date or hours in the works sheet, and the affected residents get an updated notice right away with the new time. A canceled job sends a short message saying the shutoff is off, so nobody fills bathtubs or moves cars for nothing.