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Home Decent HomesCustomer Service Charter

Customer Charter for Major Works

The Customer Care Charter is designed to provide you with information on the standards and levels of service that you can expect to receive from the contractor employed to carry out works in and around your home.

ALL OF OUR CONTRACTORS AIM TO MEET THESE STANDARDS

If you feel that the service standards are not being met please let your Project Manager know.

1. Complaints procedure:

  • The contractor has to provide a complaints book, held on site. You should record details of any complaint in the book and you will be given a copy back. Each month the contractor will be asked to tell us about all complaints made and explain how they have all been dealt with.

2. Responding to enquiries:

  • It is the contractor's responsibility to answer all letters, received from the residents, within 10 working days. They must also arrange for personal visits and telephone enquiries to be dealt with promptly, efficiently and without excessive delay.
    This process will also be monitored at the monthly site progress meetings.

3. Equalities and Diversity:

  • The contractor must not treat people adversely or discriminate against them because of their race, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or understanding.
  • The contractor must also ensure that their entire staff treat all residents with respect at all times.

4. Treating your home with respect:

  • The contractor will carry out a video recorded condition survey of your home, before any works commence within the property. H & F Homes and the contractor will each hold a copy of the survey. The purpose of this survey is to ensure that in the unlikely event of any damage being caused by the contractor or his operatives, we will have a visual record of your home's original condition. The survey will be available for you to look at, should you wish to view it.
  • The contractor is responsible for ensuring that his operatives treat your property with respect whilst the works are undertaken. They will be vigilant and take care not to damage the furniture, fixtures and fittings in your home.

They will also:

  • Not allow any of their employees to use your toilet, telephone, kitchen or any other facilities within your home.
  • Leave your home in a clean, tidy and safe condition every day.
  • Always protect your possessions where necessary with clean dust sheets.
  • Ensure that your home is secure at all times whilst it is being worked upon and at the end of the working day.
  • At the end of every working day the contractor will ensure that you have a WC and cooking facility, electricity, a kitchen sink, running water and where appropriate a source of heating. The contractor will always aim to minimise the time that you are without full services within your home and will provide temporary services if necessary.
  • On projects that include window renewal, the contractor will ensure that old windows, when removed, are quickly replaced with new ones before the end of each working day.
  • If any of your external fixtures need to be removed as a consequence of the work, the contractor will take care when removing and refitting them afterwards. Examples of these items include window boxes, TV aerials etc.
  • If the work requires larger items to be moved from your home, such as furniture or carpets etc, the contractor will inform you in advance and provide a storage facility, should it be required. If you are unable to move any furniture or need help with clearing cupboards etc you should request support from the Resident Liaison Officer, who will always aim to assist you.
  • If you have a personal satellite dish fixed to a wall, roof or any other part of the building that needs to be worked upon, the contractor will be instructed to remove the dish, but not refit it. This is because, wherever possible, H & F Homes will install a new digital integrated communal TV aerial that will allow all residents to subscribe to Sky or Hotbird TV services.
  • The contractor's operatives are required to consider that residents homes located around the property being worked upon, will be occupied. They should therefore show due respect, care and consideration to residents when working in such conditions.

5. Working Hours:

  • Week day working times are Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm daily. Noisy work including any scaffolding activities, will not be permitted to take place before 9:00am or after 4:00pm.
  • If any particularly noisy work is planned, the contractor will give at least 7 days notice to residents.
  • Weekend working, including Bank Holidays, is not allowed. If the contractor needs to work on any of these days, we will consult with you first, before agreeing to any requests.

If any part of the work is likely to create significant amounts of dust and or dirt, the contractor will provide the residents with adequate notice. In addition, the contractor shall agree with us, a detailed plan of how the work will be carried out to minimise any inconvenience caused to residents.

6. Outside your home:

  • Contractors will make sure that emergency services and refuse vehicles can still reach your home at all times.
  • The contractor's vehicles should not be parked in either residents or visitors parking spaces and they should not interfere with easy access to the area.
  • The contractor must minimise and discourage any unauthorised access onto the scaffolding. This requirement will include the installation of a perimeter hoarding around the base of the scaffold, removing and securing all access ladders when not in use and where appropriate the use of scaffold alarms.
  • Contractors must not use any passenger lifts for materials without specific agreement from the Housing Manager and any Tenants/Residents Association. An external hoist will be erected if possible to bring materials up the building. If the passenger lifts are used they must be fully boarded out before use to protect them.
  • Communal staircases and walkways will be kept clear of materials and in a clean condition.
  • Temporary lighting will be supplied and fitted to scaffolding, storage areas and site buildings.
  • Contractors will ensure that the delivery and storage of materials on site is managed to minimise inconvenience to residents.

7. Residents Liaison Officer:

  • A full time residents' liaison officer will be employed by the contractor to make arrangements with residents for access and to deal with issues that arise in relation to customer care. The liaison officer is responsible for the welfare and security of residents and their property. This person will be given a separate office on site with a separate telephone number and a mobile phone. When required the liaison officer will work in the evenings and occasionally at weekends to meet with residents.

8. Making arrangements to come in to your home:

  • Access to your home will be by arrangement with you.
  • You will be given at least 14 days notice before the contractor needs to come inside.
  • Arrangements will be confirmed with you not less than 48 hours before the contractor is due to start work.
  • The contractor will keep a record of arrangements made for access.

9. Contacting the contractor :

  • At the start of the work you will be given a resident's pack. It will include contact details of the contractor's key personnel including the resident liaison officer. The contractor will also provide a telephone number that can be used to contact the contractor in the event of an emergency at any time.

10. Confirming identity of contractor's staff:

  • The contractor must ensure that their entire staff always carry and visually display a photographic identification card, at all times whilst on site. The up to date photo of the worker and his/ her name must be displayed together with the contractor's company name and a contact telephone number. Under no circumstances should you allow anyone into your home if you cannot be certain of their identity.