The Pre-Season Snow Checklist Every NJ Property Manager Should Run
September 25, 2025 · JRW Services LLC
By the time the first storm is on the radar, it's too late to fix most winter problems. Run this list in November.
On the property
- Stake curbs, islands, hydrants, catch basins and speed bumps before the ground freezes. Plow drivers can't miss what they can't see.
- Walk the lot for potholes and settled trench patches. Plows find them the hard way, and freeze-thaw makes them worse by March.
- Confirm downspouts and drainage don't discharge across walkways. That's how you make a skating rink you own the liability for.
- Mark where snow piles go. Piles placed wrong block sight lines, bury hydrants or melt across pedestrian routes.
- Check exterior lighting. Crews working at 4 a.m. and customers walking at 6 p.m. both need it.
On the contract
- Confirm the trigger depth and whether walkways have a different one than the lot.
- Confirm who monitors weather and dispatches. If it's you, you don't have a snow contract, you have a phone number.
- Get the certificate of insurance for the current season, with your property listed.
- Agree on the service report format and who receives it after every event.
- Have the pre-season site walkthrough documented with photos, so spring damage conversations are short.
An hour of November beats a week of February. If your current contractor won't do the walkthrough, that tells you something too. (Want this as a printable one-pager? It lives on our winter readiness page.)
Looking for a contractor that is prepared for the worst?
That is the whole way we run. Fill out the form or call (973) 459-0074, and we will walk your property and build the plan before the first storm.