Common areas and yards

Housing cosiness and comfort also depends much on how well cared and cleaned the building’s common areas and garden areas are kept.

The first impression of the residential area, the property and its tenants consists precisely of those factors.

Staircase and the elevator

The staircases and the elevators are the most used common areas in a building. They are, however, unsuitable to serve as meeting places. Due to fire safety concerns items may only be stored at places reserved for storage. The staircase or the outer hall are not suitable storage areas for baby prams, child seats, summer or winter toys nor the outdoor equipment, for example.

The doors in the staircases are usually provided with electric locks, which will lock them for the night. After this anyone who is using the door must take care that the door is locked after them. Some properties have a pass code for the door, in which case the doors are locked the whole day. It is not recommended to give the code even to your best friend in order to avoid the misuse of staircases and other common areas. If you encounter inappropriate traffic in the staircases during evening and night time, contact the on-duty janitor. You will receive your door code from your location’s tenant committee.

Balcony

Common and apartment balconies are meant for airing the bedlinen, clothes and such. Dusting carpets on the balconies is prohibited. Throwing litter from the balconies is also not allowed. The user of the balconies is responsible to keep them clean. Balconies should be kept clean and during the winter the snow should be cleared from the balconies. Grilling etc. on the balconies is prohibited as well. Possible strings for drying the clothes should be positioned so, that they won’t be visible to the yard or the street. Hanging of any objects outside the railings of the balcony is not allowed. If you install a flower box etc. inside the balcony to the railing, take care of the protection of the railing.

Apartment storage rooms and other storage space

Most of the apartments have a separate space for the storage of outdoor equipment such as bicycles, skis and often also baby prams. The outdoor equipment storage room is not a playing room for the children. It is everyone’s advantage that everyone would take care for that the doors are locked.

There is usually a storage room or a locker available through online booking for each apartment.  The locks for them each tenant should provide by themselves. If the building has separate cold cellar closets, should the tenant take care of the locking as well. In most locations the storage space or lockers are reserved online through the OmaPSOAS system. Storage of items on the corridors of the apartment storage rooms or any other storage rooms is prohibited due to fire safety concerns. It is also not allowed to store dangerous substances such as gasoline canisters, gas or other inflammable liquids. You should empty these storage areas from your items upon moving out.

Sauna

The sauna shifts are for the tenants. To go to the sauna is free. The sauna shifts are reserved through the OmaPSOAS system according to the ground rules determined by the tenant committee.

Leave the sauna clean after your turn, in a condition you would like the sauna to be in the beginning of your own shift. If you want to use seat covers, you should bring your own. To bring a pet in to the sauna area is prohibited. In a sauna building the ventilation is automatic. Adjusting the ventilation is a professional task. Adjusting the thermostat in the sauna is prohibited, as it might cause the sauna to overheat.

Rinsing the wooden structures in the sauna before and after sauna will shorten the life of the structures, and in the worst case it might even cause rotting in wood components, or even mould damage. Hence excessive usage of water in the sauna should be avoided.

Laundry room

The instructions on the usage of the laundry room are available in the laundry room. Laundry shifts are reserved through OmaPSOAS. Familiarise yourself with the user manuals of the machines before using them. Usage of laundry rooms is free of charge in each property. Remember to wash your underwire bra in a washing bag to avoid the washing machine braking down.

You are not allowed to wash carpets in the washing machines of the laundry room, as they won’t stand the weight of the wet carpets. Washing of pets, bikes or baby prams etc. is prohibited as well.

Drying room

It is recommended that you dry your laundry in the drying room instead of your apartment, because constant drying of laundry in the apartment might cause moisture problems. The heat blower should not be used during night time. The dried laundry should be collected as soon as possible, in order to free up space for the next user.

Tumble dryer

It is always recommended to dry the laundry in the tumble dryer. Familiarise yourself to the user manual of the tumble dryer before usage to avoid damage to your laundry. Tumble dryer may only be used to dry washed laundry.

Hobby rooms

The tenant committee takes care of the usage, order and the cleaning of the club and craft rooms, unless agreed otherwise. You can consult your tenant committee on the location and the reservations of the diverse hobby rooms.

PSOAS’ club and craft rooms are for all the tenants at PSOAS apartments. Please make sure that no one else is allowed entrance to the club spaces. If you let people you know / don’t know inside the space you are responsible for the visitors.

Yard and playing areas

Voluntary work and the independent initiative of the tenants promote comfort and make it easier to get to know with your neighbours. Playing areas and equipment is designed for children’s use only. Walking your pet in playing areas is prohibited. If the apartment has its own yard the tenant is responsible for taking care of it.

Parking

Parking space can be reserved through OmaPSOAS. If someone has parked their car on your space, please contact the property manager.

Driving on the yard roads and pavements is prohibited except for necessary emergency and maintenance traffic. It is also not allowed to park against the parking signs on the yard area, driveway or someone other’s parking space. Incorrectly parked cars impede for example maintenance and emergency traffic. Storing scrap vehicles on yards and parking space is also prohibited. Removal costs of the cars are for the holder of the car to be paid at all times.

Based on the electrical safety act PSOAS prohibits leaving the cord of car heating and/or the extension cable connected to the outdoor socket while the car isn’t connected to the cable. Cords or cables left to the sockets are collected by PSOAS. Also the casings of the outdoor sockets should be kept locked at all times.

Tell your guests to park on the guest spaces or by the side of the road. Outside of the P areas you are only allowed to stop temporarily for loading or unloading while moving or similar maintenance traffic so, that it doesn’t impede other traffic. In a case like this a note should be attached to the windscreen with the reason of the incorrect parking, address of the apartment and the driver’s phone number.

If the janitor notices an incorrectly parked vehicle, he or she is obliged to call to parking supervisor in order to get the car fined.