From Wednesday 1st July, we are planning to re-start our normal routine repairs service. This is in line with the recent move into Phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s route map.

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.

LOCKDOWN

Since the start of lockdown in March we have been providing an essential repairs only service, carrying out only emergency and urgent repairs.  During this period we have built up a backlog of routine repairs, some of which were reported before lockdown and others reported during lockdown.

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S PHASE 1

Following the move to Phase 1 of the government’s route map, on Monday 8th June we restarted external routine repairs, which has helped reduce some of the backlog.  We now think the time is right and safeguards can be put in place for us to re-start additional repairs and maintenance services.

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S PHASE 2

With the move into Phase 2 from Wednesday 1st July, we plan to restart routine internal repairs and deal with the remaining backlog of routine repairs. 

If you have reported a routine repair to us that is outstanding, we will contact you in the coming weeks to arrange an appointment. As you can appreciate, it is going to take some time to work through the backlog, and our plan is to start with the oldest repairs or the repairs that will be causing the most inconvenience first.

We have controls and plans in place to ensure we can carry out routine repairs in a safe manner in your home, and details of how we will do this are shown at the end of this document.

We do not anticipate restarting safety checks such as on your home’s electrical systems, or internal planned replacement work such as kitchen and bathroom replacements, until August. However, external works such as our roof replacement programme and external painter work will start before this.

ROUTINE REPAIRS TIMESCALES

For new routine repairs, until we work through the backlog we will not be in a position to meet normal repairs timescales.  We will continue to focus on new emergency and urgent repairs and so, any new routine repairs reported now will be added to the backlog and will be worked on in order. As timescales cannot be met until the backlog is dealt with, the Right to Repair regulations will remain suspended.

In the meantime, you should report repairs in the normal ways, either through your My Kingdom account or by calling our Customer Contact Team on 01592 630922.

We will provide an update on our repairs service once we have dealt with the backlog and we are in a position to start dealing with new routine repairs in the normal timescales.  

WHEN REPORTING ANY REPAIR

When you report a repair, or when we contact you to arrange an appointment for one of the backlog repairs, our staff will ask you to confirm:

• If anyone in your home is isolating due to Covid-19 symptoms, is shielding or is in any of the vulnerable categories. What you tell us will determine if or when your repair can take place, and staff will explain this to you during the call’.

and

• You will also be asked if you agree to have our operatives working in your home.  If you don’t agree you will be asked to call back when you are happy for the repair to take place.  When you call back we will make an appointment for the work to be carried out.

Where an appointment has been made, our team will also contact you on the day of the appointment, before coming out to your home, to check that there have been no changes to the information you gave us previously. If we are unable to speak to anyone then the appointment will be cancelled and a new appointment will be made once we are able to check that there has been no change in your circumstances in relation to the virus.

HOW WE WILL SAFELY ORGANISE AND CARRY OUT INTERNAL REPAIRS

What you need to do:

When our operatives are working in your home, everyone in the household must:

• Stay in another room from the operative during the visit.

or

• If this is not possible, for example where you need to discuss the purpose of the visit with the operative, this must be done from a minimum of 2m distance and for as short a time as possible.

What we will do:

While our operatives are in your property, they will:

• Practice good hand hygiene and wear appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment) as required by our risk assessments, depending on the work they are doing.
• Always maintain appropriate social distancing.

• Clean down the area where they have been working.