Walk every rental before the first hard freeze of winter 2026. Drain outdoor hose bibs, insulate pipes in unheated spaces, set a steady thermostat, change the furnace filter, and write a dollar cap on a work order before you call a vendor. A hard freeze is a night cold enough for standing water in a pipe to turn to ice. Finish the list while the forecast is still a watch, while a tenant is still warm, and while a plumber can still put you on the calendar.

This is a maintenance routine, not legal advice. Minimum heat, entry notice, and who pays for a burst pipe depend on the lease and on state, provincial, and city rules. Ready.gov describes winter storms as events that can last hours or days and can cut off heat, power, and communication. The American Red Cross explains that water expands as it freezes and can break metal or plastic pipe. The lines that fail first are outdoor hose bibs, pool and sprinkler lines, and supply pipes in basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, and cabinets on exterior walls.

Frost on the ground in front of a row of brick houses on a cold, clear morning.
Image: Pauljriley · Public domain

What should you finish before the first hard freeze?

Finish outdoor water first, then unheated interior pipes, then the heating system. The Red Cross tells people to remove and drain outdoor hoses, close the inside valve that feeds each hose bib, and open the outside bib so leftover water can expand without splitting the pipe. Do that in November 2026 on every rental, including vacant units. A vacant unit is the one nobody hears drip at 2 a.m.

Then look for supply lines in cold air: under a sink on an outside wall, in a crawl space, across a garage ceiling, or in an unheated attic. Sleeve bare hot and cold lines. If you use heat tape, use a listed product and follow the label. If you are unsure, book a vendor and cap the spend in writing.

Change the furnace filter on the same visit. ENERGY STAR says to check filters every month during heavy heating months and to change them at least every three months. A dirty filter slows airflow and makes the system work harder. A November change means December and January are not the months you discover a filter that looks like felt.

Photograph the main water shutoff and note whether it turns freely. A valve that sticks in November is a scheduled repair. The same valve during a burst is a flood. If a pipe still lets go in January 2027, the person on call needs that photo on the work order.

Which pipes fail first in a cold snap?

The first failures are the pipes a leasing tour never shows. Outdoor hose bibs fail because the line was left charged. Irrigation lines fail for the same reason. Crawl-space pipes fail when the access door is missing and wind blows through. Pipes on an exterior wall fail when the cabinet doors stay closed and room heat never reaches them.

A dripping faucet is a cold-night tactic, not a substitute for insulation. The Red Cross says that in very cold weather you let cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes, because water moving through the line is harder to freeze. Use that on the night a hard freeze is forecast, and only on units with a known cold wall. Do not leave every faucet running all winter. Tell the tenant the drip is for that night. On a vacant unit, crack the faucet yourself, put a bucket under it if the drain is slow, and check it the next morning.

Do not use an open oven or an unvented fuel heater to warm a cold room. Ready.gov lists carbon monoxide poisoning among the risks that rise in winter storms. If the furnace is already dead, stop the prep list and open a no-heat repair.

How do you set heat in occupied and vacant units?

Set the thermostat and leave it steady through the cold spell. The Red Cross recommends keeping the same temperature day and night in very cold weather, instead of a deep nighttime setback, so the pipes do not cool while the house sleeps. In an occupied unit, agree the number with the tenant and write both the arrival reading and the leaving reading on the work order.

You are not inventing a legal minimum. Cities write their own. New York, for example, requires heat from October 1 through May 31. Between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., if the outside temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, the inside temperature must be at least 68. Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the inside temperature must be at least 62, regardless of the outside temperature. That rule is published by NYC Housing Preservation and Development. Your city, or a Canadian municipality, may use a different number or none at all. Read the lease and the local rule before you promise a tenant a temperature.

Vacant units still need heat. A lease scheduled to start in January 2027 does not make a December pipe optional. Set vacant heat high enough to protect the coldest pipe, not merely high enough for a showing. If the owner wants 55 degrees to save fuel, get that instruction in writing and tell them which pipes you have already insulated. If that setting cannot keep those pipes above freezing, say so before the cold night.

If one boiler serves several units, record the setpoint on the building work order. One tenant's space heater does not protect the neighbor or the stack.

What goes on the pre-freeze work order?

Use one work order per unit for in-unit tasks, and one building work order for hose bibs, the crawl space, and the boiler. Mixing them makes the December owner statement hard to read.

On each unit order, record the filter size and whether you changed it, the thermostat readings, the pipes you insulated, any drip instruction with the date, and whether the tenant was home. If you entered under a notice, note the notice date. Attach the shutoff photo when the valve is inside that unit.

On the building order, record each hose bib, whether the inside valve is closed, and whether the outside bib is open, drained, and covered. Record the crawl space or attic in one line. If you did not go in, say why.

Entry still follows the lease and local notice rules. A freeze forecast is not a key to walk in. If the tenant refuses a reasonable time, offer one other slot that same week, document the refusal, and tell the owner. Do not skip the unit and hope the pipe holds.

Put a not-to-exceed amount on the order before a vendor is booked. "Insulate the crawl space at 14 Oak, not to exceed $200, November 2026" is an instruction. "Handle winter" is not. A leaking fitting the vendor finds is a new approval, not a silent add-on.

What does a pre-freeze pass cost on an eight-unit building?

Maria Chen owns 14 Oak Street, an eight-unit building. On November 12, 2026 her available trust balance is $4,200.00. She emails you to approve freeze prep up to $400.00. You do the walk yourself and hire a vendor only for the crawl space.

Item Quantity Unit cost Line total
Furnace filters, changed on site 8 $14.00 $112.00
Foam pipe sleeves for exposed lines 6 $8.00 $48.00
Hose-bib covers 4 $6.00 $24.00
Vendor, crawl-space insulation, invoice 441 1 $185.00 $185.00
Total charged to 14 Oak $369.00

Check the math before you pay anyone. Eight filters at $14.00 are $112.00. Six sleeves at $8.00 are $48.00. Four covers at $6.00 are $24.00. The vendor invoice is $185.00. Add them in order. $112.00 plus $48.00 is $160.00. $160.00 plus $24.00 is $184.00. $184.00 plus $185.00 is $369.00. That is $31.00 under the $400.00 cap she approved.

Pay Northline Insulation $185.00 from the trust account and code invoice 441 to 14 Oak. The materials are $184.00. If the management agreement lets you repay a supply purchase from trust, record $184.00 as a reimbursement with the receipt attached, still against 14 Oak. Do not add a markup the agreement does not allow. Do not pay the bill from another owner's balance because this one looked busy. Her balance was $4,200.00, so the bill fits. After both charges, $3,831.00 remains available before the management fee and the regular owner payout.

A burst pipe is a different bill. Do not bury a January emergency inside this November work order. If unit 3 bursts on January 8, 2027, open a new order, with its own photos and its own vendor. The freeze-prep order stays closed at $369.00 so Maria can see that the prep happened and that the burst is new.

What do you send the owner before December?

Send a short note the day you close the walk. Name the building, the date, what you finished, what you could not enter, and the dollar figure. For Maria, four sentences carry it: On November 12, 2026 you drained four hose bibs at 14 Oak, insulated six exposed lines, changed eight filters, and paid Northline Insulation $185.00. Total freeze prep is $369.00, under the $400.00 she approved. Unit 6 refused entry on November 12. You are scheduled again on November 14.

Attach the photos to the work orders. If a bib valve would not close, say that in the same note and ask for a repair cap before you book a plumber. A stuck valve in November is a business-day repair. The same valve on a holiday weekend is an emergency rate.

If a January 2027 night is forecast colder than the November test, do not buy the sleeves again. Recheck vacant thermostats, the drip list, and any bib you were unsure about. Put that recheck on a new line so Maria is not billed twice for the same foam. A tenant report of a faucet that will not run is a new portal request, tied to the unit work order, not a text that disappears.

Log the November walk as one work order per unit plus the building order, and keep the vendor bill on that property's trust ledger. The December owner statement should show $369.00 of freeze prep. Log each freeze-prep visit as its own work order in Tivio, and the vendor's bill will sit on the same property as the job.