Property assistants: booking repair visits with tenants

When a repair is needed, ask the contractor for the days and windows they can come, open those as bookable slots, and send the tenant your booking link so they pick the window when they'll be home. Name the service after the trade and the job, say in the description what the tenant needs to do before the visit, and pass the booked time to the contractor. You stop relaying times back and forth between tenant and tradesperson, and the contractor arrives to someone who expects them.

A repair visit fails when nobody's home or the tenant didn't know who was coming. Calling the contractor, then the tenant, then the contractor again takes time and leaves room for mistakes. If the tenant books from the contractor's real availability, the time is agreed in one step, and the tenant has it in their calendar with the details.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your page, and each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own capacity. Leave the price empty: tenants don't pay for these visits through your page.

Windows are examples: use the times each contractor gives you. For an annual round of checks across several flats, one service with a run of slots lets each tenant pick their own time.

A contractor may not commit to an exact minute. Use morning and afternoon windows as slots and say in the description that the contractor arrives within the window and will call on the way if possible. A window with one place keeps one visit per tenant; for a round of checks in one building, one window can take several flats if the contractor plans to visit them in turn.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that reaches you in the new booking email and appears in the tenant's calendar file. Ask in the note for the flat number and anything about access, such as a code-free entry or parking. Say in the description:

If a tenant can't be present, agree access with them directly, such as keys from the agency or a neighbour, and keep codes and key arrangements out of the booking note, since it appears in the calendar file. Book the visit yourself from your calendar in that case; first and last name are required, email and phone optional.

A burst pipe or a failed boiler in winter can't wait for the tenant to pick a window. For emergencies, call the contractor and the tenant directly and book the visit yourself from your calendar, so it still appears in the bookings list and the tenant's calendar if you enter their email. Keep the self-booking link for routine repairs, annual services and checks, where a few days' delay makes no difference.

Bookings arrive in the agency's new booking email and the bookings list. Forward each booked window to the contractor with the address and the tenant's phone number, or share a synced calendar: your bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars. One service per contractor makes it easy to see each contractor's visits for the week at a glance.

Tenants can't move bookings online: they contact you, and you move the visit from your bookings list, then confirm it to both the tenant and the contractor, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. After the visit, check with the tenant that the repair is done, and book a return visit yourself if parts were needed. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.