Kingdom Housing / News Archive / Updated Repairs and Maintenance Information for Tenants - 22 December 2020

Updated Repairs and Maintenance Information for Tenants – 22 December 2020

We are continually reviewing our services in line with the latest Government guidelines in order to ensure we comply with the guidance and help minimise the spread of Covid-19, to ensure both the safety of our residents and of our staff team.

In line with the latest announcement from the Scottish Government, it is necessary for us to restrict some services whilst in Covid Protection Level 4, in effect from 26 December 2020.

Any work which is classed as essential shall continue to be carried out where possible, including emergency/urgent repairs, gas servicing, medical adaptations, smoke detector maintenance, gas servicing and repairs.  Further information is detailed below.

Emergency & Urgent Repairs

The following shows the definition of each of these types of repairs, as outlined in our Reactive Repairs Policy, a full copy of which is available here.

Emergency Repairs are repairs in a situation where work is required to make a property safe or secure or where there is an immediate safety risk to the tenant or members of the public from an issue on or within the property.

Urgent Repairs are works which are not classed as emergencies but which would cause a high degree of unavoidable inconvenience to the tenant, but where there is no immediate threat to health, safety or the security of the property.

 

Other Essential Repairs and Safety Checks are also allowed when they are related to essential services such as gas water or electricity or for safety or security.  In addition we are also required to continue to carry out our normal programme of safety checks to ensure key facilities in your home continue to operate safely, this includes our annual gas service programme and our new 5 yearly electrical safety check programme.

 

When you contact us about your emergency repair we will ask you some questions about your current situation and whether you are self-isolating so that we can understand how best to protect you and your family, as well as the member of staff that attends your home. Please be patient with us while we ask these questions. These are required to protect the health and wellbeing of you, our staff and our contractors, which is essential in allowing us to maintain services.

 

If it is deemed essential that a member of staff does attend your home, they will:

  • Ask some further questions at the front door before entering the property
  • Distance themselves by at least two metres from anyone in the property
  • Avoid touching surfaces where possible
  • Wear a face covering, protective gloves and other additional protection equipment where necessary

 

All of our staff are encouraged to keep up to date with the latest government health advice, follow good hygiene practice and to inform their manager if they feel unwell. Staff are expected to follow official advice and if anyone is suspected of having the virus, we would expect them to self-isolate.

 

We kindly ask you to minimise interaction with our operatives as they carry out work in your home. To keep our colleagues safe, we would ask that you stand at least two metres away from them where you can. All operatives will show you identification when they visit your home. Please check this and, once you are satisfied, leave our operatives to carry out their work. Upon completion of the job, they will advise you they have finished and are leaving, and they will see themselves out. By following these steps, we want to reassure you that there is a low risk of infection from a home visit by a staff member.  If there is anyone in your home who is showing symptoms of the virus and emergency repairs are required then additional precautions will also be introduced.

 

Non-Essential Repairs

If you have a repair issue to report but it is not included in the definitions above, then we are asking you to continue to report these issues so they can be logged. We will monitor government advice closely and seek to resume normal service to deal with these repairs as quickly as possible. 

 

Any non-emergency repairs already scheduled for the period 5th to 15th January have been postponed.  There is no need to contact us to postpone future non-emergency appointments in your home.

 

When we are advised that we are in a position to restart non-emergency repairs, we will contact you either via phone or text to arrange to carry out any work that has been on hold.

 

General Updates

For updates, please keep checking our website at www.kingdomhousing.org.uk, or you can find us on social media by searching for Kingdom Housing. If you haven’t already done so, you might look at signing up for our online portal, My Kingdom, which can be accessed via our website, where you can directly check on service changes and report repairs, along with access to other services and information.

 

We hope you find this information useful and thank you for your patience and understanding during this unprecedented time.