Emergency Response Plan
Being prepared with an emergency response plan for natural disasters, declared emergencies, or any other unforeseen threat or disaster can protect the safety of individuals, mitigate property damage, and prevent loss of life. An emergency response plan is a critical risk reduction measure for landlords. Improving readiness to respond and recover from disaster starts with preparedness planning to protect tenants and properties.
There are landlord legal obligations under most states’ landlord-tenant statutes regarding the warranty of habitability. Landlords are required to offer and maintain leased premises in a safe and sanitary condition fit for human habitation for the duration of the lease. Habitable conditions include essential services. If an emergency results in disruption, damage, or destruction of property or services which could threaten the health, safety, or well-being of tenants, the landlord and tenant have certain obligations by statute and lease agreement regarding legal rights for repairs of rental units or termination of the lease.
A landlord has the duty of care to take adequate measures to protect the safety of the tenant and tenant personal property from known risks. A landlord may incur liability or charges of negligence if the landlord’s response is inadequate or untimely during or following emergency conditions.
Following recommendations and guidelines provided by federal and state regulatory agencies and applicable federal, state, and local laws, a landlord’s emergency preparedness plan must provide appropriate measures for timely response to critical needs in hazardous conditions.
An effective emergency response plan identifies hazards, prepares mitigation and defense strategies, details preparation steps for action specific responses, and includes recovery procedures for return to premises and normal operating conditions for the locality of the business.
Identification of hazards is an important first step in developing an emergency response plan. Landlords should use a worst case scenario planning approach, taking into account what events could possibly happen and what events have happened in recent history.
Effective planning will address issues of responsibility, authority, and communication during the emergency in clear and understandable language. The plan is the guide for landlord, tenant, and rental staff to implement safety measures during an emergency and thereafter.
Every property has a unique and diverse tenant population. The emergency response plan should include measures to assist youth, older adults, and tenants with disabilities, mobility issues or functional needs during the emergency. There may need to be accommodations made for evacuation or sheltering in place. Alternative communication devices may be needed to provide protections for safety of a vulnerable population.
Emergency response plans may also incorporate pet safety rules and protections. Landlords may require that pets have identification tags with owner contact information. Landlords may allow tenants to place a decal on their unit door or window to alert emergency personnel that a pet is in residence.
Once the plan has been prepared, a landlord may gain extra liability protection by conducting a practice drill to rehearse procedures detailed in the plan. The drill allows the landlord and tenants to familiarize themselves with the safety measures in the plan and to be able to take appropriate action quickly during the real emergency. There may also be compliance requirements by state or local safety codes for practice drills.
Seeing a plan in action allows the landlord to add additional detail, modify or clarify procedure details to improve the effectiveness of the plan, and accordingly strengthen the safety measures for tenants and protections for the property.
A critical first priority in developing an emergency preparedness plan is creating a communications procedure for notification alerts between landlord and tenants regarding emergency situations and instructions to follow the emergency plan to shelter-in place or evacuate to the nearest sheltering location. Whether communication is by tenant portal, telephone, text, email, social media, or community news, it is important that tenants know what to do when an emergency arises, how and whom to contact for information, how to handle an evacuation or sheltering in place, and what to expect when the emergency is over and the property cleared for return.
Tenants should be provided contact information for the landlord’s business hours and after-hours emergency help, the telephone numbers for emergency services for fire, police, hospitals, ambulance, poison control, utility services, and local disaster relief agencies and shelters.
Landlords should have a readily available current rent roster with tenant name, unit number, address, tenant contact information, and tenant emergency contact person name and telephone number. As required by the circumstances, a landlord may need to confirm to first responders that all tenants are accounted for, either on premise or off premise.
A best business practice is to discuss the safety measures of the emergency response plan with the tenant during orientation. A copy of the plan could be included in the new resident information packet. The landlord can cover what constitutes an emergency. Natural disasters require little explanation but property emergencies can include a broad category of structural, mechanical, or other systems that may or may not require urgent attention. The emergency plan should provide examples of such property emergencies with instructions for the tenant as to who to call first and when to call the landlord. When eminent danger is present, there should be no hesitation to call the 911 emergency number and then calling the landlord.
As a proactive preventative measure during move-in orientation and inspection, the landlord should provide the tenant with instructions and location of water and gas shut off valves, circuit breakers, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, hot water heaters, or other safety or utility equipment.
Fire safety plans should always be a priority and clearly communicated to tenants. A building specific fire emergency guide with evacuation plans and locations of fire protection equipment should be developed and incorporated into a master emergency response plan. Tenants should be provided with locations and instructions as needed for manual pull fire alarms, fire extinguishers, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Instructions should be provided to tenants on the location of an outside assembly area once they have evacuated their buildings. This will allow responders to determine if all occupants have been accounted for. If a tenant has assistance needs, may be unable to evacuate the building using the stairwells, or a power failure has rendered certain equipment inoperable, the response plan should explore alternative means of evacuation for safety and protection of the tenants. The landlord should communicate and coordinate tenant assistance needs to first responders.
Utility shutoffs for water, gas, and electric services to buildings, individual rental units, and common areas should be clearly marked and locations and instructions provided to all management personnel and tenants and made available to first responders. Tenants should be instructed on the types of situations that might require their assistance with shutoffs.
In preparation for a potential power failure, instructions should be provided to building personnel, tenants, and posted in conspicuous locations regarding the manual operation of equipment needed for safety operations or as part of an evacuation route.
A map of the escape and evacuation routes and the location of areas designated as emergency shelters should be provided to tenants.
While an emergency may be viewed as a one-time event, adequate planning for protection is an ongoing function. The landlord’s emergency plan is an important risk management tool to respond and recover from a harmful event. The landlord should periodically review his emergency preparedness plan to update procedures as needed. It is recommended that after an emergency event has been cleared, that the information gained from the event be reviewed and incorporated into the preparedness plan as applicable.