The Scotia Group has 33 years’ experience specializing in providing a 24/7 x 365 service for repairs, maintenance and restoration to the Victorian strata sector.

Scotia Group’s Strata Concierge department is dedicated to providing strata residents care and attention from specialist staff who are trained to assess the situation and coordinate emergency response for make-safes with the necessary trades.

Around the clock availability

Previously, out-of-hours calls were redirected to a senior team member designated as being ‘on-call’, which could involve them coordinating an emergency response while going about their family life, away from the office.

Scotia Group recognized the issues this was creating, with the restricted level of support available to the resident and to strata clients. This led to the development and implementation of a dedicated team and developed customized software to provide a framework to deliver superior outcomes.

Scotia Group is very proud of the improvements to customer service from the investment in systems and training, specifically for our Strata Concierge out-of-hours team.

Whenever a resident in the buildings managed by one of Scotia’s strata clients calls for help, the company is equipped with specific information about their building to allow an appropriate and effective response. This reassures the caller that Scotia Group is an active and trusted partner with their strata managers to support them in a time of need. A dedicated phone number is provided to each strata client to personalize the introduction to reinforce their branding, search the database quickly and follow their specific instructions according to the circumstance.

Valued service providers

Scotia Group updates its system regularly with the current building information its clients supply and in turn provide them with detailed reports for the Strata Manager to ensure they’re kept up-to-date with the interactions our team have had while their office was closed.

Out-of-hours emergencies which impact strata residents create an inherently stressful time for everyone involved, especially as callers are often unsure of the process and how long it will take for help to arrive. The value of service provided to all Scotia’s clients when an empathetic and specialist Strata Concierge team member greets them and provides a calm and proactive response is very well received.

Case study

A typical scenario of how Scotia Group operates when insurers and strata management firms are closed is highlighted with a recent arson attack on two units in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. The incident happened late on a Friday evening and the strata manager called Strata Concierge on Saturday afternoon. Scotia’s systems identified CHU as the insurer of the building.  Our make-safe team met with the Melbourne Fire Brigade Arson Squad, and following their guidance, Scotia coordinated the necessary trades to secure the building with hoardings around the garage doors and works to secure loose roofing.

Scotia provided all stakeholders, CHU, insurance brokers and strata managers with a full detailed report of the incident, along with photographs, the next business day. A further request for additional make-safe work was made after the fire investigators were finished with their work. Works included our electrical contractor making the area safe and our licensed plumbers carrying out essential works. Scotia Group’s restoration team attended the site and carried out works to mitigate the loss, mainly water extraction after the fire brigade had put out the fire.

Reliable reporting

Our Strata Concierge service has come a long way from the early days of answering a mobile phone and then providing handwritten notes to a staff member to type-up a report to be sent. Our staff work around the clock to ensure reports are delivered in a timely manner so clients can rely on us, whenever we’re needed.