NEW PERMISSION TO ENTER FORMS AND A NEW WEBSITE FEATURE
In this memo I will be addressing two items: 1) Revised “Permission To Enter” Forms and 2) introduce a
new website feature similar to an Angie’s list. Based on the delivery of this memo, it may seem
contradictory but one of our objectives over the next few years is to reduce the amount of paper that
we generate. We currently have email addresses for about 90% of our community so I try to use the
email process as much as possible. Aside from special memos like this, we currently only provide a
paper notice under the door when we are going to be entering the unit for a preventive maintenance
issue or for privacy when the unit’s exterior windows are going to be washed. All other times we will try
to provide you with an email which will contain the actual message, have an attachment, contain a link
or direct you to something on the website. In the future, it is anticipated that a set of computerized
procedures will replace the present paper- driven front desk operations and the package receiving
system. But for now we are trying to improve and streamline the paper systems we are presently using.
NEW PERMISSION TO ENTER FORMS AND PROCEDURES
The primary purpose of the ”Permission To Enter” forms commonly termed PTE’s is to provide written
authorization for someone to enter your unit when you are not home. It should be noted that owners,
tenants, and family members can author a PTE whereas visiting or permanent guests cannot. There are a
number of scenarios for allowing entry into your unit: 1) Visiting guests, 2) a service provider such as a
maid or dog walker, 3) realtor, 4) contractors and 5) permission to use your parking space. Rather than
continue to attempt to make one form “fit all”, we have created 5 different PTE forms to address the 5
situations we just enumerated. Hopefully by creating the separate forms, each form will better or more
simply address those issues pertaining to that particular PTE scenario. For each type of form there is a
Farallon website eform version and a hard copy version at the front desk. The website form and its
corresponding manual form are similar in appearance and identical in the information requested.
By providing 5 separate PTE forms we were able to simplify each form. And by having them separate it
should speed up the look up process at the front desk. Therefore in review there are now 5 PTE form
pairs (online and hardcopy front desk)
1) GUEST PTE: Of note in this form are the 2 permission options. One option is “Any day, any time
until further notice”. These PTE’s will only be removed by a request by the owner/tenant to
terminate this PTE. The other option is permission for one or more days. This permission is in
effect just for the identified days. These PTE’s will be removed when the time frame has expired.
2) SERVICE PROVIDER PTE (Maids,dog walkers, nannies) This PTE is for those services that occur on
a fixed recurring basis. The form attempts to address any frequency /special day(s) combination
with a pull down menu (online) or check list (desk copy) but if the particular pattern is not covered
please indicate it in the comments section.
3) CONTRACTOR PTE This PTE is exclusively for contractors who are working in your unit. The
permission is only in effect for the indicated days that they are working in your unit. Please note
that the contractor’s workers are required to use the freight elevator when moving throughout
the building. Further, if the freight elevator needs to be locked down and pads put up a
separate request for the freight elevator must be made.
4) REALTOR PTE This form is unchanged. It will be reviewed in the future.
(OVER)
5) PARKING PTE This form is permission by the owner of a parking space to allow a short term guest
the use of their parking space. Note this is not for rental situations. The primary advantage in using
this form is to avoid having your guest’s vehicle towed. Our garage levels pretty much all look the
same and some guests have been known to park in the correct parking location but on the wrong
floor. If the front desk has this form, the doorman can call the owner of the vehicle or owner of the
parking space to inform them that the guest’s car is illegally parked and subject to be towed.
Please remember the seriousness of the security issues the door staff deals with every day. That is the
reason you are asked to fill out and sign the manual PTE copies or provide your password for the on
line version Unfortunately this past year we have had some cars pilfered through, some items stolen
from garage spaces and two units had items that were taken. This is also the reason I have instructed
the doormen not to take PTE requests over the phone since there is no real assurance that you are who
you say you are (even with caller ID- could be a stolen phone). Also often times we have fill-in doorman
relief. This doorman will most likely not recognize everyone so if you are asked to identify yourself,
please do not be offended.
A NEW FARALLON WEBSITE FEATURE – REVIEW FEATURE
At one of our board meetings last fall, one of our residents asked if there was some way for the
management office to provide a list of vendors/contractors that other residents have used and would
recommend. Everyone thought it was a great suggestion. When I did some investigation into our
website feature list, I discovered that our website essentially provided this “Angie’s List” feature.
This feature is called the “Review” feature and is one of the items in the website’s main pull down
menu. The way this feature works is that a set of service categories are set up and populated with
vendors for each category. Then any owner or resident on the Farallon website can read the
recommendations of other residents on a given service. Any owner or resident can also provide their
critique on a service that they just had.
Right now there are 13 categories of services. We are starting out fresh so there are no vendors or
vendor critiques available as yet. Just to have an example I have entered the vendor who did our
hallway painting and my critique. But in general the management office will not make recommendations
because some of these services are used for our common area and believe it would be unfair for the
management office to recommend any contractor. Just for fun I added a restaurant category. I thought
it might be helpful if the residents shared their dining experiences.
Unfortunately, category changes additions and deletions can only be done by the website administrator
which is me. This is a restriction of our website program. Also once a category has been established,
each new vendor for that category must be added by the administrator. So what I have done is create a
new eform. The new eform titled “ADDITIONS TO THE VENDOR REVIEW LIST” is the vehicle by which
you can request that a new vendor be added to a particular category. Once the new vendor has been
added any owner/resident can then write a review and rate this vendor. To avoid simple nastiness,
anyone who submits a critique must supply their name (not their unit number). This is also a program
requirement. This new eform also provides a place to request a new category. Once a category is in
place, vendors can be requested to be added.
Please try this feature and let me know what you think. Any suggestions, positive or negative, will be
appreciated.