Snow and ice: what the building must organise before winter

A fall on an icy path is the most predictable claim of the year. It is also the one nobody anticipates.

On the first frosty morning, someone falls. Not in the street — on the building’s private ground: the access path, the entrance steps, the car park ramp. The liability question arises immediately, and it arises badly when nothing was organised.

The association must ensure the safety of the common areas. That does not mean guaranteeing no ice at all, but having put reasonable means in place and being able to show it.

What falls to the association

• Paths and routes giving access to the buildings.
• Steps, thresholds and ramps leading to the entrances.
• Car park ramps, particularly exposed.
• Internal parking and circulation areas.
• Pitched roofs, from which snow can slide onto a walkway.

The pavement outside follows separate rules, often set by a local by-law placing clearing on the adjoining occupiers. The manager must know the rule that applies locally: a question to ask before winter, not during.

Organise beforehand, not during

The commonest error is discovering the subject on the morning of the first snow, with no equipment, no product and no idea who acts. Three decisions taken in October settle the question.

• Who acts: caretaker, cleaning contractor, a dedicated seasonal contract?
• With what equipment: shovel, de-icing product, bins filled and accessible.
• From what point, and how often during a prolonged episode.
• Which areas are treated first, and which are closed if necessary.
• How residents are informed of a particular danger.

The first deserves checking in the existing contract: snow clearing is almost never included in a standard cleaning contract. See the cleaning contract specification.

The product and its side effects

De-icing salt damages surfaces, corrodes metal and harms planting. Heavy use every winter ends up costing more in resurfacing than it ever cost in product.

Alternatives exist — gentler products, sand or grit for grip, heated mats on limited areas. The choice takes account of the state of the surfaces: see refurbishing the entrance and hall.

Documenting, because that is what counts

After a fall, the question is not whether there was ice — there was — but whether the association did what it should. That is shown by traces: dates and times of interventions, product used, areas treated, photographs where useful.

A simple dated log suffices, and it changes everything in how the file is handled. See keeping an incident log and handling a claim.

The insurance point to check

The association’s liability cover in principle covers damage caused to third parties by the common areas. Better to confirm it in writing before winter, with the terms and the applicable excess.

See the building policy’s cover: an annual check that takes five minutes.

After a fall, nobody asks whether there was ice: they ask what time someone came out to grit.

Log your interventions with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony records each intervention with its date, photos and the area treated, and keeps the history from one winter to the next. Create your free space.