Repairs Standards

A standard for our Repairs Service, agreed by tenants for tenants.

What We Guarantee:

You can contact our repairs service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year
When you report a repair you will be told who will do the work, and the target time for its completion
You will get a printed receipt confirming what you have reported
Whenever possible, work will be carried out by prior appointment
Work will be undertaken by experienced & competent tradespersons
Our tradespersons will be presentable, polite and identifiable
The right materials will be used to achieve a permanent repair
We will undertake quality inspections of work carried out
You will have an opportunity to comment on the standards of quality and service for all repairs carried out on your home
We will investigate any complaints about the quality of out repairs service and report back within ten days of receiving that complaint.

Reporting repairs

Access

Our Repairs Line, staffed by our Customer Service Team, is open between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday on 01323 443375. During these times our Customer Services Team will deal with all routine or urgent repair requests and issue any necessary Works Orders. Alternatively you can report a repair online.

If you require an urgent repair outside the above hours or if you are not able to call during these times please contact our Lifeline service on 01323 443666, where our staff will record the details of your request and, in the event of an emergency, refer the repair to our emergency repairs service.

Customer Care

You will always be treated in a courteous, polite and professional way by all of our staff. Detail - Our staff will ask you sufficient questions to check whether a repair order should be issued or, alternatively, whether the problem needs to be investigated further by one of our technical staff.

Confirmation

Once a repairs order is issued, you will be sent confirmation which will include details of what you have reported, who will be carrying out the work, and the date by which the work should be completed.

Appointments

Whenever possible, our contractors will try to arrange repair calls by prior appointment. When taking your call, our Customer Services staff will check the arrangements for contacting you, and will advise you who will contact you to make an appointment.

Satisfaction

There will be a satisfaction questionnaire attached to the order confirmation which we would ask you to return, using the Freepost address, regardless of how you feel. This will help us to ensure that our services are continually monitored and reviewed.

Carrying out the work

Training

Our staff and contractors will always be trained to carry out their work competently and, where necessary, will hold appropriate qualifications. All work will be carried out strictly in accordance with current safety standards.

Conduct

Our staff and contractors will always be polite and presentable and will offer proof of their identity (if you ever have any doubts about the identity of anyone calling at your home, please telephone us for verification before you let them in).

Cleanliness

Our staff and contractors will treat your home with care and respect. They will take all reasonable precautions to ensure inconvenience is kept to a minimum and will clean up after they have completed the work.Materials - All materials and workmanship will be to the relevant British Standard specification.

And after the work has been done

Inspections

We will inspect 10% of all completed jobs, covering quality, value for money and customer satisfaction.

Complaints

We will investigate any complaints made regarding the quality of our repairs service, or that of our contractors. In most cases we will report findings back to you within ten days of receiving your complaint. However, in some instances it may not be possible to gather the necessary information within this timescale. If this is the case you will be told immediately and we will agree a date by which you will receive a full report.

Warranty

Wealden District Council will ensure you are able to report a repair at any time. Your call will be dealt with in a sympathetic and polite way by staff who have undergone extensive training. When reporting, providing an inspection is not required, you will be told who is going to do the work and the target time for completion. The tradesperson undertaking the work will be competent to do the job, use the right materials and will treat both you and your home with care and respect. We will deal promptly and openly with complaints.

This is how we guarantee our repairs service is accessible to every tenant when they have a problem. It also ensures you are fully aware at all times of the progress being made towards completing the work and that once completed you are fully satisfied.

If we fail to meet the requirements of this standard contact the Housing Service right away, tel: 01323 443322 or email housing@wealden.gov.uk