Repair standards
If you would like a copy of our Customer Care Code of Conduct for all our staff, including our operational staff, please phone the Contact Centre and we will send you a copy, or you can download it from our website. You can also request a copy of our Service Standards booklet.
Your questions answered
Do you check the standard of work?
We will inspect a sample (usually 10%) of all the repairs that are completed. These are selected on a random basis. This means we can keep an eye on the general level of work.
We also send out satisfaction questionnaires and do phone surveys when specialist work has been carried out.
Can I comment on the standard of service?
Yes. We welcome all comments, suggestions, compliments and complaints about our service. There is a feedback form attached to the repair confirmation letter we send to you every time we arrange for a repair to be done to your home. Please fill in the form with whatever you would like to say about the service you received. We provide a freepost envelope to return it to us. We take your comments seriously and use them to help us improve our service. When appropriate, we will pass your comments to the staff involved.
Are there regular safety inspections for gas and electrical appliances?
We carry out a safety inspection once a year on all electric warm air and gas appliances. Also, we must, by law, carry out a safety check on all gas appliances
and pipework in your home, even if you don’t use it or it leads to your own
appliance. We carry out these checks to protect the health and safety of you and your family.
We also carry out safety checks on all electrical fittings and wiring in your home at least once every 5 years.
These inspections and safety checks will be done by qualified members of our own workforce or specialist contractors.
We will write to tell you which day we will be coming to carry out inspections or servicing in your area. Please contact us immediately if the date we give is not suitable for you. Alternatively, you can go on to our website to ask for a different date.
If you do not allow our contractors into your house to do these inspections, you will be breaking the conditions of your Tenancy Agreement. If necessary, we will take legal action to allow us to enter your home. We will charge you for any costs involved.
What we expect of our operational staff
Anyone working on our behalf in your home must:
- carry an identity card, show it to you and ask your permission to enter your home;
- wear a staff uniform displaying their name;
- take reasonable care to protect your belongings from damage, dust and paint;
- be polite and treat you and your home with respect, fairness and dignity;
- make sure materials and tools do not cause danger and remove them from your home when they are not being used;
- tidy up inside your home at the end of each working day and arrange for rubbish to be cleared away from your home and garden as soon as possible after the work is finished;
- repair any damage caused by their work in your home;
- make sure gas, water and electricity are connected at the end of each day and when the repair is completed;
- warn you about any likely noise or disturbance they will make, and keep it as low as possible; and
- keep you informed about how they are getting on with the repair.
Operational staff are not allowed to:
- smoke, play radios or personal stereos in or around your home;
- be in your home with children under 16 without an adult member of the family or adult friend present;
- accept gifts from tenants;
- keep keys to your home; or
- use mobile phones during their work, unless it is in connection with their work.
Operational staff must ask your permission to:
- use your phone;
- use or move anything that belongs to you;
- use your toilet or washing facilities; and
- open windows or doors, or go into other rooms in your home.
Tenants’ Right to Repair
Under the Right-to-Repair scheme, you have the right to have certain emergency and urgent repairs carried out within a certain number of days. These are repairs which, if not carried out on time, could affect your health or safety. They are called qualifying repairs.
If we do not complete a qualifying repair within the correct time, you have the right to ask us to get another contractor to do the work. If the second contractor also fails to carry out the repair, you may be entitled to compensation. Phone the Contact Centre if you would like a list of qualifying repairs.
‘Customer Care Code of Conduct’
‘Oxford City Homes’ Service Standards’
