A snowy winter is a child's dream. What's more fun than the chance to build snowmen, dominate in snowball fights and of course, relish in the pure joy that is a snow day? Oh, to be young, blissful—and mostly ignorant of the havoc wreaked by major winter weather.

Conversely, for adults, the prospect of a snow event is regarded with dread. Frosty the Snowman becomes a sinister sign of impending mayhem, especially for co-ops and condos, which are responsible for keeping residents safe from snow- and ice-related slips and falls.

The key is preparedness, says Michael Romano, an operations manager and director of snow operations with ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, a national landscape company, with a local office in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

“A well-developed snow and ice removal plan is essential to maintaining the safety, accessibility and financial stability of properties, while working to mitigate risks associated with weather conditions for residents and visitors,” Romano says. “Property managers in New Jersey must know when to build a comprehensive snow response plan, and how to select the most appropriate snow removal partner who can mobilize fleets, provide scalability on demand, and deliver well-trained crews under adverse conditions. The most effective snow plans are proactively established well before the arrival of winter storms,” he says.

Removal Responsibility

Unlike states such as New York, there is no statewide law regarding snow removal of property in New Jersey—individual municipalities and townships implement their own snow removal policies and regulations. Depending on the area and the association, snow removal services might be provided by the municipality, or a condo, co-op or HOA might take charge of removal themselves. Per the Municipal Services Act, which was implemented in 1993, municipalities must reimburse private communities in the designated townships for snow and ice removal.

Regardless of which entity is in charge of removing snow, the association is responsible for protecting residents from slips and falls and therefore, must be sure to keep areas clear of snow and ice.

“The homeowner’s association through the board, protect the safety and general welfare of the residents of the property,” Lynne Hartmann, the vice president of management and client services for MAMCO Property Management in Mount Laurel, says. “The HOA provides for the maintenance and operation of all common property in accordance with the governing documents,” she continues. “Compliance of snow and ice removal of walkways, sidewalks, driveways and common areas are found in maintenance responsibilities/obligations of the HOA in the association’s governing documents,” Hartmann adds.

Because of this inherent liability, associations can be held responsible for residents' winter-related injuries, so it is important for them to be on top of snow removal. In October of 2006, the Society Hill at Kilmer Woods I condominium association in Mahwah was sued and paid out $800,000 in a settlement for a slip-and-fall case. The woman suffered a concussion, among other serious physical ailments, after slipping on some ice on association property.

Depending on a building's staff, the size of its lot and the amount of snowfall, some board-management teams might choose to have staff members remove the snow, while others prefer to call in the professionals. If management delegates the work to the building staff, they need to make sure to provide their personnel with the right tools—salt pellets, shovels and mechanical equipment such as snow blowers—to do the job safely and thoroughly.

Snow blowers and salt pellets aren't the only thing to worry about when it comes to removal, however. It is important to leave room in the yearly budget for paying staff members overtime to clear snow, if need be. Often times, snow doesn't fall during convenient workday hours when staff is on call. Therefore, additional pay would be necessary.

Hiring Wisely

With the potential of a debilitating liability lawsuit hanging over their heads, building boards and associations do not want to skimp on quality snow removal. Experts suggest associations avoid hiring a local handyman or group of neighborhood kids for the job and sticking to the specialists—landscapers, engineers, and professional removal experts—to guarantee quality work.

Romano urges management companies to be thorough in their search for the most capable snow removal professionals. He suggests making inquiries such as the following to weed out incompatible candidates: “What size of properties can you best handle?”; “How much snow removal do you do?”; “How do you prepare your equipment for the snow season each year?”; ”Do you have a group of subcontractors as back-up and how do you make sure that they are qualified?”; “What type of insurance do you require of your partners?”; “How would you recommend our property be serviced to ensure we are completely satisfied?”; “Who are some of your current clients? Do you have references?” and lastly, “How long have you been in business?”

Contract Options

In general, property management companies are responsible for contracting out seasonal upkeep work to landscaping and maintenance contractors, generally bidding the jobs out each year or so. According to Hartmann, most associations combine landscaping and snow removal contracts in order to leverage for good quality landscaping and snow removal services. There are generally two different ways a building board or an association can choose to contract out for snow removal: a per-inch contract and a blanket contract.

“A per-inch contract is structured in two-inch increments, each with a corresponding price. A blanket contract is structured for a community to pay a one set dollar figure for snow services which may be broken up into monthly payments over the winter season,” says Patrick Cramer, the commercial sales director of By Design Landscapes, Inc., which has offices in Lakewood and Metuchen. “Some blanket contracts are all inclusive, and some have a cap to them. An example of a cap contract would be a negotiated number of inches of total snowfall that the contract would cover before the contractor is allowed to invoice additional payments.”

While it is important to consider factors such as projected season snowfall and lot size, the biggest deciding factor for associations is budgetary constraints, Cramer says.

“Typically, each contract is specific to an association's budget. The almighty dollar has the final say in it,” he says. “The per-inch contract is more structured to a pay-for-what-you-get-type contract, where other associations may be strictly on a budgetary figure and they don't want the unknown, so they use a blanket contract.”

Methods

Snow removal experts use a variety of methods and equipment to keep property safe for businesses and condominiums. The most basic snow-cleaning tool, after the shovel and plow, is, of course, chemical ice melt. The oldest (and cheapest) variety, commonly known as 'rock salt' is actually calcium chlorate, which is effective at melting ice—but unfortunately it also essentially melts concrete, penetrating into the pores of the pavement, heating up and splitting it apart. Use of calcium chlorate during the winter means frequent restorative maintenance during the other three seasons of the year.

Within the last two years, a liquid version of the calcium chloride mixture has been developed for use on municipal streets. It is green in color and works better than rock salt, without the damaging salt and sand that characterized its predecessor.

Other, more expensive (at least initially), options for snow removal are heated sidewalks and driveways, and the permeable paver system. Both of these systems are expensive to install, and heated sidewalks—which rely on radiant electric heat to melt snow and ice—require a steady supply of electricity to run them, but both get the job done in a way that scattered salt just doesn't.

The permeable paver system is not a method for snow maintenance in an entire community but could be a solution in problem areas, especially where there is a likely accumulation of water from melting snow which may then refreeze. This system works by excavating a dry well that is deeper than the geothermal frost line, in the area to be paved. The well is filled with layers of stones decreasing in size as they reach the surface, and then paving slabs are laid on top. This system creates good drainage for the wet area and utilizes the constant 54 degree (F) temperature of the earth below the frostline to help keep ice from forming.

Regardless of new paving and ice melting technologies, however, the likelihood of a crew needing to come out and shovel or plow or snow-blow at least some portion of a property is likely, thanks to this area's susceptibility to nor'easters. Unless the property also contains its own snow field for holding snow waste, contractors will need to remove the piles of plowed and shoveled snow off the property, too, to prevent them from melting into walks and driveways and refreezing.

Constant clearing is so necessary that experts say contractors must have special insurance, and sometimes crews will stay on a site over 24 hours—for example, during a blizzard—simply to make sure entryways, exits, walkways and driveways are cleared at least hourly.

“We're contracted to keep the roadways open and clear throughout the duration of the storm for emergency services, starting at two inches of accumulation on the roadways,” Cramer says. “Those roadways will be kept open throughout the duration of the storm. Typically, when the snow is starting to slow or stop is when we will bring in additional manual labor to start clearing the walkways and parking spots.”

Keep in Touch

Whatever contract option an association settles on, it's imperative for them to maintain an open line of communication with the snow removal contractor, Cramer says. In order to keep residents in the know, By Design Landscapes, Inc. contractors submit a snow removal procedure letter to all of the property managers, who then mail it out to the community.

“It keeps the residents aware of our procedures with aspects such as timing, priority clearings, how and when to clean the snow off of their cars and move it to an opened cleared space. It's been a very effective way for us to communicate with the homeowners and provide the best type of service in a shorter of a timeframe,” Cramer says.

Romano agrees, adding, “Having a plan that is well understood by both the community manager and the snow removal contractor is extremely important to insure complete satisfaction. Not having this plan mutually understood by the parties sets the stage for unmatched expectations as a result of over- or under-servicing the property,” he says.

“A contractor should supply an association with response expectations, equipment and personnel allocations, maps of the property marked with priority areas, special requirements and areas not to be treated, if any,” he continues.

The notification letter should also include information regarding the, “installation of snow markers at the onset of the snow season to prevent curb damage, contact information for 24-hour communication on the part of HOA manager and snow removal contractor, and lastly, a plan to locate equipment or materials on-site before the storm (for larger properties),” Romano says.

With the proper tools and crew in tow, making it through the harsh winter without any slips or falls is doable. Surviving the cruel wind chill without frostbite? Well, that's another story.

Jennifer Grosser is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer. Editorial Assistant Enjolie Esteve contributed to this article.