MAINTENANCE GROUP POLICY AND PROCEDURE
The maintenance of Tangram's houses is the responsibility of the maintenance group. The
role of the worker is to administer and facilitate the maintenance of these properties.
1) REPAIRS
Procedure is as follows:
 Tenant fills in repair request form and returns it to the office.
 Maintenance Group member authorises request or if the work is less than £50 worker can
authorise.
 The worker orders the work and informs the tenant accordingly.
 The worker / maintenance group cannot inspect all repairs when they are completed and it
is usually up to the tenant to report a faulty repair to the office.
 Repairs fall in to five categories, emergency, urgent, general, cyclical and major repairs.
EMERGENCY & URGENT REPAIRS
All tenants have a copy of the emergency repairs list and where appropriate they can contact
the contractor direct and inform the office on the next working day. Otherwise tenant follow the
usual procedure for repairs. The worker is able to order these as they have been pre-okayed
by the maintenance group. The worker must order emergency work immediately as
contractors must carry out emergency repairs within 24 hours of the request being made.
For urgent repairs, the worker should consult with one member of the maintenance group
before ordering the repair to be carried out. Urgent repairs must be carried out by a contractor
within 7 days of the request being made.
Emergency Repairs:
 Total or partial loss of electrical power
 Total or partial loss of water supply
 Total or partial loss of gas supply
 Gas leak
 Total loss of heating or hot water supply
 Blocked or leaking drain, soil stack or toilet
 Blocked sink, bath or basin
 Leaking water-pipe, heating pipe, tank or cistern
 Fast flowing leaking roof
 Insecure external window, door or lock or principle door jamming
 Unsafe power, lighting socket or electrical fitting
 Tenant Member locked out of property
 Fire Alarm Fault
Urgent Repairs:
 Blocked to open fire or boiler
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Partial loss of heating or water supply
Tap not working
Loose or detached banister or hand-rail
Door entry phone not working
Rodent Control
Replacing / repairing a cooker
TENANT MEMBERS LOCKING THEMSELVES OUT:
On the first time a tenant member locks themselves out, the co-op will pay for the cost of
gaining them access and the repairs involved. Any subsequent times a tenant member locks
themselves out, they will have to pay the contractor when the work is carried out or be charged
for the cost if Tangram pay for the work to be done. If the tenant member does not pay for this
cost Maintenance Group will bring this to the General Meeting.
GENERAL REPAIRS
Tenants must follow the usual procedure for repairs. The time limit for ordering the work is 3
weeks for maintenance group to decide on the repair and 4 weeks after that for the contractor
to carry out the repair - from receipt of form, subject to approval by maintenance group.
In some cases response times will need to be reconsidered to take account of tenants who
have special needs.
WHAT TO DO IF THE REPAIR IS NOT DONE IN THE GIVEN TIME SCALE
If a repair is not done within the set time scale the tenant should inform the worker that the
repair has not been done. The worker will re-order the work and inform the tenant.
THE RIGHT TO REPAIR.
Where the Co-op fails to undertake the repair requested under the procedure, the tenant shall
be entitled to compensation of £10 outright plus £2.00 per day (up to a maximum of £50.00)
for every day the repair remains outstanding after the expiry period of the second time it is
reported.
CYCLICAL REPAIRS
The maintenance group sets an annual programme of cyclical repairs and improvements
which it hopes to achieve within the year. This includes external painting, painting of
communal hallways, kitchen improvement and pointing.
MAJOR REPAIRS
Maintenance group prepares a yearly bid to the Housing Corporation for major repairs works.
These include central heating installation, double glazing and roof repairs etc. If the bid is
successful a programme of repairs is drawn up and the work goes out to tender to approved
contractors. Maintenance group reviews the contractors list annually and management
committee is informed. Maintenance also decides on the contractors to be used for each
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contract for the approval of management committee. The group also appoints a consultant
and clerk of works from an annually approved list
Before the work starts, tenants will be given at least one week's notice of a provisional start
date and how long the job will take. Some improvements such as window replacement, roof
replacement, wall relining etc. can cause upheaval to the tenant. If tenants wish to move out
during this period they are not eligible to pay rent. If tenants do not or cannot move out they
are required to pay rent on a pro rata basis depending on how many rooms are having work
done. The Co-op cannot usually provide decant accommodation for the tenant. The money
received from the Housing Corporation includes an extra allowance of 26% of the works cost
(13% for disabled adaptations). This has to cover professional fees, decant costs etc. and
there may be some money to cover expenses incurred during the work - extra cleaning etc.
The tenant is expected to claim for these themselves. If Tangram's cleaning contractor is not
used, the maximum amount payable is £10 per room/£15 per hall and landing.
2) BILLS
All bills for repairs are sent to the office and are approved by a member of the maintenance
group, the management committee of general meeting depending on the amount. The
approved amounts are:Worker - £50 per bill
Maintenance group member - £2000 per bill
Management committee - £3000 per bill
General meeting - anything above.
3) RECORDS AND FINANCES
The worker prepares a monthly breakdown of spending by type of maintenance work and a
monthly budget report. The group tries to keep within its given budget.
All repairs are transferred to a database for reference for reference and the repair statistics
are reported to the Annual General Meeting.
4) CONTRACTORS
a) The group reviews the general contractors list annually. Maintenance aims to be in line with
the Co-op's equal opportunities policy and actively tries to improve the number of female and
ethnic minority contractors. All contractors have to fill out an application form and are subject
to references. They are also issued guidelines. If any tenant experiences discrimination or
abuse or is dissatisfied with any contractor they should report it to the group immediately and
the complaints' procedure will be put into process.
b) Complaints about contractors: If we receive a formal complaint about a contractor, we will
treat this in a fair way. Initially, we will let the contractor know that there has been a complaint
and what it was about. If the complaint about the standard of work carried out, the
administrative worker will liaise with you to get the work put right. If we receive three
complaints about a contractor, we will invite them to a meeting with members of Tangram’s
Maintenance Group to discuss these, with view to trying to resolve the issues of complaints.
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5) STANDARDS OF REPAIR AND MONITORING
Maintenance aims to improve the quality and standard of work done. Monitoring of this will be
done by maintenance group by:a) Annual questionnaire to tenants on repairs done.
b) Annual cost of repairs per unit.
c) Review of contractors.
6) IMPROVEMENTS
a) Definition: improvements include double glazing, central heating installation, kitchen
replacement, roof replacement shower installation etc. Capital improvements increase the
value of a property - e.g. central heating installation, non-capital improvements e.g. shower
installation do not increase the value.
b) Improvements are made by the Co-op to its properties with money from the annual
maintenance budget known as cyclical maintenance and money applied for from the Housing
Corporation (see major repairs). The Co-op should obtain permission in writing from the
tenant to make such improvement and if written permission is not obtained the tenant has a
right to compensation.
The Co-op undertakes to improve properties to a given standard in accordance with its
planned maintenance programme. (Appendix 2)
c) Tenants may also apply to the Co-op to make their own improvements, according to a predetermined list, to their property at their own cost. The tenant must receive written permission
from the Co-op before making any such improvement. Having gained permission, they should
submit three estimates from bona fide contractors for the work to maintenance group and
state the reasons for choosing a particular estimate. Only when the Co-op has agreed the
estimate can the tenant instruct the contractor to start work.
If a tenant wishes to make an improvement prior to the Co-op's planned programme - e.g.
install a shower they are entitled to recompense for the amount they paid for the shower BUT
NOT NECESSARILY AT THE TIME OF INSTALLATION. Payment may have to wait until the
time installation was planned by the Co-op.
7) ENHANCEMENTS
a) Definition : an enhancement is classed as work carried out by the tenant which is in excess
of standards set by the Co-op.
There are two types of enhancement:
(i) An addition to the property above the Co-op's standards e.g. a porch or conservatory.
or
(ii) a tenant may wish to enhance the quality of a standard fitting - e.g. a tenant may want to fit
their kitchen in oak rather than the standard unit.
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b) Tenants may apply to maintenance group to make enhancements to the property at their
own cost. The tenant must receive written permission from the Co-op before proceeding and
the Co-op has the right to refuse an application.(this will be maintenance group, MCM or GM
depending on the enhancement). When permission is obtained they must submit three
estimates from bona fide contractors for the work to maintenance group and state the reasons
for choosing a particular estimate. Only when the Co-op has agreed the estimate can the
tenant instruct the contractor to start work
At the point of giving permission for the work for an item falling into category (ii), a level of
depreciation will be agreed upon between the tenant and the Co-op which is dependant upon
the life of the improvement. For example, a tenant installs a kitchen unit at a cost of £300 with
a life of 15 years. The expected standard by the Co-op is a unit costing £150. At the time of
installation a level of depreciation is agreed upon for the standard cost. In this case this would
be £150 divided by 15 - £10.00 a year. If the tenant leaves after ten years they would
therefore be entitled to £50.00.
This amount will be set against any money that may be owed to the Co-op by the tenant.
Where the tenancy is terminated by the Co-op through a possession based on a breach of the
tenancy agreement, the tenant will not be entitled to compensation.
The Co-op is not obliged to recompense the tenant for any item in category (i) as this is
beyond the Co-op's agreed remit. The Co-op is not obliged to maintain such enhancements in
any way. When the tenant leaves the property they may take restore the property to its
original state or leave the enhancement in place at no cost to the Co-op.
Last Updated at GM on 7th May 2000
And ratified at the Management Committee Meeting of 18th February 2002.
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