Repairs and Maintenance Service Standards

Transcription

1 Repairs and Maintenance Service Standards We want to help you keep your home and neighbourhood in a good state of repair. If you have something that needs repairing, please let us know and if it s our responsibility, we ll do all we can to get it fixed. We are continually making investments to improve our homes, and have planned maintenance programmes; by keeping homes well maintained we can reduce the need for tenants to contact us for repairs because things shouldn t break or should go wrong less frequently. Nottingham City Homes Repairs and Maintenance Service Standards have been introduced following consultation with our tenants. What we will do Provide a first class repairs and maintenance service Provide a fair and equal service to all customers Always be polite and treat you with respect Keep our promises to you, if we say we will do something then we will do it Keep your personal information secure, and use it to provide personalised services in response to your individual needs and preferences Offer a range of contact options that allow you to access our services in the way that most suits you Ensure our website is easy to use, and that you can access our services on line Provide a 24/7 telephone response service. When you call we will answer promptly, introduce ourselves and provide a named contact for you if we cannot resolve your enquiry straight away. Offer repairs through our contact number (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) or by at repairs@nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk Offer an emergency repairs service outside working hours using the same telephone numbers. Keep our appointments with you Keep you informed about anything which affects your home and ensure that you are consulted about major decisions which affect you Provide you with information that is clear, easy to understand, and jargon free Be highly visible in your communities, and ensure staff are well equipped to help you when they are out and about Listen to your feedback and ask for your views to inform improvements to our service Offer ways for you to be actively involved in setting high standards for us and monitoring our performance against those standards Provide a complaints service so that you have a voice if you think we have got it wrong. Provide a complaints procedure which will include an option to have your complaint heard by a tenant s panel if not resolved to your satisfaction. Provide you with feedback on our performance, which tells you how we are doing

2 We will send you an appointment reminder by text We will call you when we are on our way to your appointment Carry out gas and electric checks on time Make sure that we have quality mechanisms in place to inspect a percentage of works we carry out once they are completed. We will regularly survey you to find out if you re happy with our service and we will leave a satisfaction card behind after every repair for you to let us know how we did. For priority or planned works offer you appointments where you need to be in for us to do work and ways to change appointments when you can no longer keep them. What you are responsible for Looking after your home and garden Reporting repairs promptly and being honest about the nature of the repair. If we believe that you have exaggerated the nature of the repair to gain a quicker response you may be charged for the call out. Providing our staff and contractors with safe and reasonable access to your home. Providing access for gas and electricity checks to ensure your own and your neighbour s safety. Ensuring there is credit on your electricity and gas meters when we attend for gas or safety checks. Not smoking while our staff or contractors are working in your home. Ensuring that there is a responsible adult present when our contractors attend. By responsible adult, we mean the tenant or someone aged 18 or over. Keeping appointments made or informing us at the earliest opportunity if appointments can t be kept. Keeping the property and internal decoration in good, well-maintained order. Obtaining written permission to carry out any improvements to your home which may affect the structure or fixtures and fittings maintained by us. Leaving the property and the inside decoration in a clean and tidy condition when you end your tenancy. If this is not the case we ll charge you for the cost of repairs and the clearance of rubbish. This will include the removal of floor coverings unless it has been agreed that these can remain. Damage that you have caused. Maintaining boundaries and hedges Under the terms of your tenancy agreement, you have to carry out some minor repairs and pay for them yourself. These are repairs to: Letterboxes, door knockers and doorbells latches and bolts door handles

3 kitchen cupboard and drawer handles, knobs, catches and hinges plugs and chains to sinks, basins and baths blocked pipes to sinks, basins, baths and toilets coat hooks toilet seats and pull chains tiles and splash backs, including fireplace tiles window catches and fasteners on wooden windows in houses, but not flats plaster cracks caused by shrinkage External grates. If you lose your keys, it s your responsibility to get the lock changed and new keys cut. We can do the repair and charge you if you prefer. If the lock has seized up, we will do the repair. A blocked waste pipe to a bath, shower or basin is not an emergency and we expect you to repair this yourself. We have some advice and tips to help you look after the repairs that are your responsibility and we offer training to enable you to complete these repairs. How soon are repairs carried out? Emergency repairs Emergency repairs are those that need doing because there s an immediate risk of serious injury or death if they re not carried out for example if a property isn t secured, if it s been significantly damaged, or if there s a loss of heating in winter. We offer a 24/7 emergency service and we ll always try to get to an emergency repair callout straight away (within 4 hours) depending on the urgency of the situation and in any case no longer than 24 hours. We know that when something needs fixing, it can seem like an emergency but please use your common sense, and use the list below as a guide. Total loss of electric power or partial loss where serious inconvenience is caused Unsafe electrics Total loss of water supply Total or partial loss of gas supply or suspected gas leak Blocked flue to open fire or boiler Total loss of water/heating Partial loss of water/heating (November to March only) Blocked or leaking foul drain, soil stack or toilet ball valve/overflow

4 Leak from water or heating pipe, tank or cistern Leaking roof Insecure external doors or windows Blocked toilet (unless there is another working toilet in the property) Unsafe floorboards, stair tread, banister or handrail The above service will always make safe to contain the emergency and if possible we ll complete the repair whilst onsite. If we are not able to complete the repair within the allotted time scale we will arrange a follow up appointment on the appropriate priority. Please make sure you re at home when we come out to your emergency repair. If you re not in and the repair that you ve reported isn t an emergency, the job will be cancelled and you may be charged for the callout. If you have any doubts about whether your repair is an emergency or not, call us on Target We will attend 80% of emergency repairs within 4 hours, and all emergency repairs within 24 hours. Priority Repairs These are repairs that may affect how you use your home or its facilities. We aim to attend these repairs at the first available appointment at your convenience, typically within 7 days or as a maximum within 30 working days (if the item is a renewal) of them being reported to us and to complete as many of these as possible at the first visit (Right First Time). Right First Time can be defined as a repair that is completed by the operative without the need to return a second time. A repair is considered fixed at first visit when the operative has attended the property, identified, diagnosed and remedied the fault, and carried out any making good before then leaving the property. Different technical skills (e.g. plumber and electrician): Where the job requires different technical skills who may follow on from each other, then the work would still be considered completed at first visit so long as each of the tasks were completed in one visit.

5 Examples of priority repairs are: Minor leaks with plumbing and ball valves Faulty door entry systems Damaged stairs and handrails Partial loss of electricity Repairs to external doors and windows for security purposes Minor repairs to internal walls, doors, skirting boards, etc. Routine repairs to gutters, roofs and outside walls Minor kitchen and bathroom repairs Minor floor repairs Minor work to exterior brickwork / rendering Targets 1. We will attend 80% of priority repairs within 7 days, and in any case no longer than 30 days 2. We will attend 99% of appointments on time 3. We will complete 94% of priority repairs right first time Planned work These are repairs which can be carried out as part of planned programmes of works. We aim to attend to planned works at your convenience or as a maximum within 90 working days. We will let you know when an appointment has been arranged to carry out these works. Examples of planned works are: Replacing doors and windows Replacing kitchens and bathrooms Painting the outside of your property Major roof repairs or replacements Replacing concrete or tarmac Fencing and hedges You are responsible for maintaining boundaries and fences. However, if you have a problem with your fencing, you will need to contact us for help and advice on the contact details shown at the bottom of this document.

6 We are only responsible for repairing fencing and gates that we have installed. If you think your fence may need repairing contact our call centre to arrange an appointment and we will complete a repair within 15 working days. We always aim to repair fences, rather than replace them. If a replacement is required we will let you know on the day of your fencing repair appointment what work is to be renewed giving a new target date for this work and inform you of the type of fencing to be erected. We don t provide fencing to keep dogs in or out. We re proud of the mature hedges that form some of the boundaries to your home. They make the area greener and more pleasant. We prefer to have a hedge rather than a fence and will do all we can to retain them. If we approve any repairs or replacement works these will be carried out within three months of you reporting the issue to us. Damp, mould and condensation We will work with you to make sure that your lifestyle helps to reduce amounts of condensation in your property. Condensation can be the main cause of mould growth. Where condensation is the likely cause of any reported dampness, we will advise you of the action you need to take to deal with the problem and avoid any repeat occurrences. Condensation is caused by: Humidity of indoor air Low temperature Poor ventilation Mould caused by condensation is usually black and typically grows in bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms. If we think your home may be suffering with damp, mould or condensation we will send someone out to have a look at it within four weeks of you contacting us. If we approve any remedial works these will be carried out within three months of you reporting the issue to us. Target We will deliver 92% of planned repairs within 90 days.

7 Gas servicing and safety For your own safety it is a legal requirement that we test gas appliances at least annually. Tenancy Agreement 4.3 Gas servicing: We have a legal obligation to inspect and service certain installations in your home for the supply of gas (including flues) every 12 months. In accordance with clause 3.5 (Access), we will give you written notice when we need access to your home for these purposes. However, in cases where we are unable to get access, despite written requests in accordance with our written policy, we reserve the right to force access to your home, solely to enable us to perform our legal obligation. In such cases we will immediately re-secure your home and rectify any damage caused. We will always consider recharging you for the additional costs incurred. As part of our responsible tenant reward, your 100 payment will be at risk if you fail to provide us with access. The Right to Repair scheme for tenants makes sure that repairs that might affect your health, safety or security are completed within a certain period of time. If we have failed to carry out repairs within the required timescale under this agreement, you have the right to instruct another contractor to complete the repair. Target We will complete 100% of gas and solid fuel servicing within a 12 month period Repairs by appointment Wherever possible we will offer you a repairs appointment time slot to suit you. For all emergency and routine repairs we will offer the following appointment slots for you to choose from: Morning 8am to 12.30pm Afternoon 12.30pm to 6pm School run 9.30am to 2.30pm All day 8am to 6pm Saturday 8am to 1pm We will send you an appointment reminder by text if we have your mobile phone number and we will tell you as soon as possible if we will not be able to keep an appointment.

8 Our operative will call you when they are on their way to your job. All appointments will be available for you to select to suit your convenience even if this is outside the prescribed target dates for completion set out above. If you are not in when we attend your appointment we will leave you a Sorry we missed you card explaining what action you need to do to re-raise the appointment and our operative will take a photo of your front door showing the time and date they attended. You must be in at the appointment time agreed with us. As part of our responsible tenant reward, your 100 payment could be at risk if you fail to attend. Out of hours service Outside our main hours we will only respond to emergency repairs (please see list above). If we can fix the problem then we will but we may need to make the situation safe and then arrange with you to return within one of our repairs priorities to complete the repair. Our dedicated out of hours team will cover the following hours: Monday to Friday 6pm to 8am Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays 24 hours If the out of hours team decide that the repair can wait until normal working hours then it will be dealt with this way. Additional information If you do not think that we are meeting the standards set out in this document please let us know. If you have any questions please contact Nottingham City Homes at the address below. Translation By request we will do what is reasonable to provide copies of the wording of any document in another language or format. Repairs and Maintenance contact details Telephone repairs@nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk

9 Website - Nottingham City Homes Repairs and Maintenance Department Harvey Road, Bilborough, Nottingham NG8 3BB