Are maintenance staff supposed to enter someone's dorm if nobody answers the door?

<p>So apparently, I was in the bathroom taking a shower at the time, but it seemed like someone from maintenance had knocked on the door several times (mind you, the door was locked), then apparently used his keys to gain entry inside (and I didn't know maintenance people HAD their own set of dorm keys).</p>

<p>Uhh, are maintenance people even allowed to do that (forcibly enter someone's dorm room if they don't answer)? :| Turns out one of the workers was here to fix the shower door that had been broken, but apparently he didn't get the memo that another maintenance guy already fixed it. Also luckily, he didn't step into the bathroom. I just heard him screaming "MAINTENANCE" after I had stepped out of the shower and poked my head outside the door.</p>

<p>Yeah, they can I think. They do at my apartment…requesting something to be fixed usually results in some maintenance guy who let himself in knocking on your bedroom door at 8:30AM on a Saturday. I guess their logic is that they can’t wait around for you to be there, but it’s still super annoying.</p>

<p>yes - that is what they are supposed to do if no one answers, knock a few times and then enter</p>

<p>Yup. That’s the stated policy for our Facilities Managment workers.</p>

<p>Depends on the uni. At mine, I don’t know if they’re allowed to or not, but they don’t.</p>

<p>At UB, putting in a work order gives maintenance permission to enter your room and fix what you asked them too. You didn’t honestly think that you had the only set of keys to your room, right?</p>

<p>@ jojo: I live in a suite-style dorm configuration, so it wasn’t the door to my room he was entering, it was the door to the main room that he opened. </p>

<p>@ everyone: thanks for the responses.</p>

<p>Yes. One of my suite mates had a bedbug problem, so maintenance guys have been in and out of our suite a lot, but when she wasn’t around, they’d knock a few times and then enter if no one answered.</p>

<p>Think about it for a minute…if they could only enter when a student was home, when would that be? Or how inefficient?
I’m sure it was uncomfortable for both you and the maintenance person.</p>

<p>Technically, your college should be following your state’s Landlord-Tenant Law, which typically states the notice for entry into the residence. Most states it is at least 24 hours (some 48 hours).</p>

<p>However, colleges know that students aren’t abreast of Landlord-Tenant Law, so they probably put some waiver in your housing paperwork that states they can enter the residence at any time. It depends on the state if that is legal to do.</p>

<p>They probably can enter your dorm without notice if there is reasonable cause, such as they need to fix something (leak, etc) to prevent further damage to the building (aka, an emergency).</p>

<p>Yup. At my dorm, they usually came when I was in class (so did the cleaning service). We would put in a maintenance request, and they would come within 48 hours, so we knew roughly when they would be there.</p>

<p>If you put in a work request they do not need to notify you that they are entering. By virtue of asking them to fix a problem, you are giving them permission to enter.</p>

<p>The thing is, the problem had already been fixed (and plus, it was my roommate who put in the request). You’d think that after a problem has been fixed, they’d record it in a computer or something.</p>