Repairs Procedure
If you live in the property for any length of time, inevitably, there will come a time when some sort of repair work will be needed.
We are under legal obligations to maintain the condition of the property, so we need you to let us know if repair work becomes necessary between inspection visits.
Reporting repairs promptly helps prevent further damage and ensures the property remains safe and comfortable for you to live in.
If you wish to report a repair issue at the property, please follow the procedure below:
- Please notify us of any repair work required using our online system (FixFlo), which is accessible via the menu link ‘Lettings’ –> ‘Online Access –> ‘Tenant Maintenance Reporting’, or by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
- If the work is urgent, you may prefer to contact us initially by telephone on 02392 550555. An urgent issue is one that poses an immediate risk to health, safety or the structure of the property, such as a serious leak, electrical fault, or total loss of heating in winter.
- If possible, please send a photograph or video of the problem.
- If an emergency occurs outside normal office hours only, which poses a risk to safety or to the property (such as a major leak or fire), please call our emergency number on 07824 512859, after calling the emergency services if appropriate. For all other issues, please use the online maintenance reporting system mentioned above.
- Do not delay, as this may result in the problem escalating, resulting in higher repair costs (and note you could be asked to contribute to any additional costs).
- Once we have been notified, we will aim to contact you within 48 hours of receiving your report to confirm receipt.
- If the work is urgent, we will, if possible, try to visit the property within 24 hours. For non-urgent repairs, we will normally arrange an inspection within 7 to 14 days.
- We will always endeavour to arrange for inspection visits and for tradespeople to attend at a time convenient to you, if you wish to be present. Alternatively, you may be happy for us to attend (alone or with tradespeople) using our keys to gain access while you are out. But we will only do this with your agreement.
- It may be possible for the repair to be completed during the initial visit, and if so we will endeavour to do this.
- Otherwise, during the inspection visit, we will discuss the issue with you and agree on a plan. If you are not present at the inspection visit, we will discuss the issue with you by phone as soon as practicable after our inspection visit. We will confirm our plan of action to you via our online reporting system and/or email.
- Depending on the nature of the work concerned, we will probably require our tradesperson to attend, either to carry out the repair work or (for more serious issues) to inspect and provide us with an estimate of the cost.
- An appointment to get the work done will then follow. Note that in some cases, there may be a slight delay if we are unable to source an appropriate tradesperson immediately.
- If an appointment is arranged with you and you wish to attend, it is important that you do so. If you fail to allow access, this will be a breach of the terms of your tenancy agreement, and we will be entitled to require you to pay the tradesperson’s call-out charge (if any).
- The Landlord will cover all other costs unless the damage has been caused by you or your visitors, or the cost has escalated due to your delay in reporting the issue to us. Where appropriate, we will make a claim for the cost to our insurers.
- If any part of the cost is payable by you, we will provide full details and give you time to pay.
- Once the work has been completed, we will notify you in writing and ask you to confirm that you are happy with the work done. If we do not hear from you within seven days, we will assume you are satisfied with the work.
Procedure if we need to carry out improvement/upgrade works.
Sometimes it will be necessary for us to carry out other work. For example
- if we spot something that needs repair during one of our inspection visits
- If we are required by legislation to carry out upgrade works
- If we are required by legislation to carry out works to improve the carbon footprint of the property
- If we want to improve the property for future use
If this becomes necessary, we will notify you to arrange for a visit. You will always be given at least 24 hours’ notice or more, except in emergencies.
During this visit, we will, in consultation with you, arrange for a time or times when the works can be carried out. and let you know how long we will expect them to take. We will try to keep any disruption to a minimum.
If the works mean you temporarily cannot use part of the property, we will discuss practical arrangements with you to minimise inconvenience.
All contractors attending your property will be suitably qualified and instructed to treat your home with care and respect.
Following on from this, we will then confirm the agreed arrangements. If the works cause unavoidable disruption or loss of amenity, we will agree a fair level of compensation in advance, which will be confirmed in writing.
We will not begin work until we have discussed and agreed the arrangements with you, except where urgent safety work is required.
As set out above, failure to comply with agreed arrangements may result in you becoming liable for call-out charges if our tradespeople are denied access.
