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Repairs and Maintenance – Reacting to Events, Or Driving Up Standards?

What should be driving decisions when it comes to housing repairs and maintenance? Compliance will always be a significant factor and emergency repairs can never be ignored. But delivering value and a good resident experience calls for something more imaginative and ambitious.

Unless there’s a framework that takes the overall condition and performance of the stock into account, the focus inevitably stays on what’s urgent – not because it’s the best way to do things but because there’s no better way to decide on the priorities.

Reacting or Planning?

Does this reactive ‘sticking plaster’ approach deliver what residents really want? Is it the way to get the best value for money? Probably not. It’s like patching up a roof every time it leaks rather than understanding its overall condition and planning for when it needs replacing.

A successful and value-driven R&M partnership has to be about asset life cycles, asset management and planned interventions. It also has to be about giving residents a stronger voice in decision making.

For example, with planned works and cyclical maintenance, it makes sense to look at historical data to identify the high-risk properties that generate a high demand for repairs. Alongside comprehensive stock condition data, this provides a basis for a long-term maintenance programme with clear rationale for those repairs given a higher priority. The properties where fabric upgrades need to be incorporated into the capital investment plan can then also be taken out of the routine maintenance cycle.

We typically use a seven-step asset management process:

  • Inception looks at existing commitments to residents and elected members, the stock condition survey, and repair data trends.
  • This information feeds into the Programme and Specifications phase of multi-level planning, from the overall master plan down to individual property project plans.
  • Pre-construction involves detailed communication with residents and stakeholders, validation of the works to be carried out, Section 20 notifications, statutory consents and health and safety registration.
  • Step four is to coordinate the Labour, Plant and Materials needed to execute the work programme to ensure everything stays on time and on budget.
  • Once work is underway there is careful monitoring of the Progress of Works with a similar multi-level approach to quality assurance, reporting and communication.
  • Works Completion and Handover includes a health and safety file and detailed future maintenance information to be included in the asset management strategy.
  • Finally, Financial Completion requires the updating of programmes of work data and the stock condition database, along with test certificates, photos and any other relevant information.

Planning ahead allows budgets to be allocated according to where they will have the most impact. It ensures that the repairs carried out are appropriate for the condition of each property and that residents can be kept fully informed with accurate information.

A more holistic and planned approach can ensure that budgets are optimised to deliver cost savings that can be reinvested in new and better homes. Our long-term partnerships with local authorities have proved the value of this approach.

Find out more about our Repairs and Maintenance service

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