A property management vendor list is usually a phone list, which is why it fails at the moment it is needed. A working list holds six things per vendor and has a second name for every trade, and maintaining it is a half hour a quarter. The value is entirely in what it prevents: the Friday evening when the only plumber anyone knows is unavailable and somebody hires whoever answers.
Six fields per vendor
Trade and what they actually do, the area they cover, insurance and any licence with their expiry dates, agreed rates including call-out and out-of-hours, typical response time, and the person's name and direct number rather than a switchboard. The expiry dates are the ones nobody tracks and the ones an insurer will ask about after an incident.
Two names per trade, minimum
Every trade needs a second vendor who has done at least one job for you, because a vendor you have never used is not a backup. The moment you need the second name is always a moment of pressure, and a list with one plumber is a list that will produce an emergency call-out at an unknown rate from somebody nobody has checked.
Verify insurance before the first job, and again
Ask for the certificate, record the expiry, and diary it. A contractor working uninsured on your property is a risk that lands on you, and certificates lapse quietly. This is the single most valuable discipline on the list and the one most often replaced by an assumption that a long-standing contractor must still be covered.
Keep a record of how they perform
Jobs done, roughly what they cost against estimate, and whether they turned up when promised. Three lines per vendor per year is enough to know who to call first, and it converts individual memory into something the business owns. It also makes a difficult conversation about price or quality evidence-based rather than impressionistic.
Questions people ask about property management vendor list
How many vendors does a small portfolio need?
Two per core trade: plumbing, electrical, heating, general repairs, and one cleaner. Anything beyond that is added as needed.
Should vendors be paid by the landlord or the owner?
Whatever the management agreement says, consistently. What matters is that the invoice reaches the right property and the right owner ledger every time.
Why track insurance expiry?
Because certificates lapse without anyone being told, and an uninsured contractor on your property becomes your exposure after an incident.