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Wear a mask when they're in your unit, ask them to do the same. Stay distanced, keep track of surfaces they touched, and disinfect them when they leave.
But most importantly, take a chill pill. Have you not gone to a single grocery store or anywhere else during the pandemic? You'll be alright.
Enthusiast
All this. But also, provide hand sanitizer on entry into your apartment. Squirt / spray it yourself if you have to. Just tell them it’s house rules. And if they ask to use your bathroom, say no.
The alternative can be that something goes wrong with your HVAC, chutes, plumbing, etc and the building is stuck paying for the difference, which often times add up to more than the preventative maintenance.
Many buildings will do temperature checks and Covid questionnaires for building service workers. You can request that the property managers require these.
If anyone is in the high risk category, try to isolate them behind a closed door.
As mentioned previously, ensure masks are worn and sanitize surfaces when they leave. Keep your distance, and if you’re not in a freezing cold location, open windows for a cross breeze and to circulate fresh air. Even if it’s cold, pop the window open when they leave and go for a walk while your apt airs out if you are concerned about lingering air droplets.
All these people acting like hard surface transmission is still a thing.
Chief
It's the air particles you worry about, not the surfaces.
I work with maintenance...though in the office. The nicest thing tenants could do for the maint team is to wear masks and do everything possible to help keep them safe too. I guess it’s the same wherever we go. Work, school, stores, restaurants, doctors, etc. This pandemic has been taxing on us all, but it definitely brings out the human spirit of kindness and genuine concern and love for each other. I hope everything goes well.
Do you have a deadbolt?
Chief
OP I am an owner. I’m required to provide access to my unit for maintenance. It’s part of the contract I signed. This is standard protocol, your cousin can spout off whatever they want
Already emailed building mgmt back with my concerns around 5pm but of course no response since it was after office hours
Ask them to come back another day. Set up a camera and if they trespass sue them for reckless endangerment
Wear a mask while they’re there or leave while they are in there. My god the level of fear is ridiculous.
Rising Star
OP, you can ask the workers to wash their hands or use sanitizer when they arrive at your apartment. That way, they can’t bring any infectious particles from another apartment to yours. Open a window to improve ventilation. As long as you’re both wearing masks and keeping a distance, there is little chance they will infect you even if they’re infected.
Rising Star
All the above, and once they leave, strip and wash your clothes, and take a shower. It’s what I do every time I return from the grocery store.
For things like replacing the filters in the AC you can offer to replace them yourself. It’s super easy to do and there’s always a YouTube tutorial on these things. If it’s something like pest control, that’s a bit more difficult because an infestation can ruin a whole floor and building if not dealt with right away. One thing I explored with my apt complex was to ask to get my own pest control because the maintenance crew wasn’t always respectful or listened to my directions on even simple things like waiting outside for a minute. If I got another company to do pest control (and in this case it was a natural company because I’m allergic to typical pest control chemicals) they would follow my directions better vs maintenance who gets their check from someone else. I ended up moving out before we reached a conclusion, but they were definitely open to the AC filter stuff and we were open to the alternative pest control as long as I showed receipts.
Rising Star
I would me more annoyed about the very short notice. But unless you live in a shoebox you'll be fine. Just keep distance, ventilate, wear mask and wipe down the surfaces they touched
Chief
the short notice would annoy me. routine maintenance is part of apartment living.
Our building had mandatory fire alarm testing in every unit, mandated by the county so there was no opt out. There was a group of 5 men standing outside our door, but only 2 needed to enter, one at a time to do different testing. Everyone wore masks & even shoe booties before entering the unit. They were in and out within 5mins. But the fire alarm was on for almost an hour.. Productive day it was... 😒
Conversation Starter
Happened with me, don’t worry. They usually wear mask and follow good hygiene. Just wipe everything they touch and floors after the work is done if that gives you some peace of mind. As long as you both wear masks, you should be good.
Chief
You don’t have a lot of control here with preventing the workers from entering the unit and doing what they are supposed to. You would likely get fined if you locked them out. Just let them in, stay away and wear a mask, and sanitize afterwards. Or step out of your apartment into the hallway for the time they are in there. From what you described, it should be a 10-15 min process.
What they are doing is to prevent fire, so you will be putting the whole building at risk if you don’t. Maybe opt out but say you will do it all yourself. They probably has insurance policies that require them to do this.