Repairs
Reporting Repairs
When things don’t work as expected or need fixing, then let us know, and we’ll get it sorted for you.
You can tell us if you need us to carry out repairs in your home in a variety of ways. You can report a repair by calling us on 0151 452 0202 during our opening hours or using the webform on our Contact Us page.
If you have an emergency repair that needs attending to out of working hours, you should call us on 0151 452 0202 and speak to our out-of-hours team. They will assess the repair and, if necessary, will arrange for someone to visit to carry out a repair or a temporary fix if it’s a larger job.
When you report a repair, we will let you know when the work should be completed by, and we’ll send you a text message to confirm this. Different types of repairs have different timescales that our contractors work to. You can find out more about the timescales below and the types of repairs that would fit into each of them. Where tenants live with disabilities we will make appropriate reasonable adjustments when carrying out repairs, for example to how we work or possibly the timeframes we work to.
We want to make sure you are safe in your home, and that it meets all the relevant health and safety requirements. If there are any health and safety concerns you have please let us know right away.
Repairs Timescales
-
Emergency
All emergency repairs will be completed within 24 hours of the repair being reported.
-
Urgent
All urgent repairs will be completed within 48 hours of the repair being reported.
-
Routine (5 or 15 Days)
Routine repairs will be completed within 5 days or 15 days of being reported.
-
Major
Routine repairs will be completed within 90 days of being reported.
Types of Repairs
+ Emergency Repairs
If something happens in your home which is an immediate hazard or a danger then call us straight away on 0151 452 0202. Emergency repairs can still be reported using this number outside of our normal opening hours.
Examples of emergency repairs would be a burst or leak, total loss of all electrical power or total loss of heating during the winter period. If you have a burst or leak, turn off your water supply using the stop tap. For electrical faults in emergencies, turn off the power at the meter or fuse box.
If you smell gas, contact National Grid on 0880 111999 immediately. Turn off the gas, open your windows and ventilate the property. Do not turn on or off any light switches or power supply.
Emergency repairs are those that:
- Put people in danger
- Make tenants home unsafe or insecure
- Damage the property
- Make the existing damage worse; or create unreasonable risk, suffering or difficulty.
Examples of emergency repairs include:
- Total loss of electrics
- Bare or live electrical wires or fittings
- Faulty electric cooker point
- Water leak from the storage tank
- No single form of heating or hot water (between October-April)
- Escape of gas or fumes
- Broken doors or windows causing the property to be insecure.
+ Urgent Repairs
We will attend within 48 hours of the repair being reported when repairs are not of an emergency nature but will be required to be completed within a short time frame or on any specific needs of a resident.
+ Routine Repairs (5 Days)
We will attend within five working days where repairs are not an emergency or urgent but need to be actioned in less than 15 working days.
+ Routine Repairs (15 Days)
We will attend to carry out these repairs within 15 working days when a repair does not pose an immediate danger. We will arrange an appointment within 15 working days. We will only work outside of this time frame if otherwise agreed by the resident or where the work has been identified as part of a long-term programme of planned works.
Routine repairs include:
- Central heating system (during cold months October-April) where backup heating (i.e. fire and hot water) is available.
- Roof leak: where no danger in relation to Health and Safety (falling objects) is present.
- Minor plumbing leaks.
- Insecure internal doors.
- Re-glazing.
- Re-fixing loose tiling, wall and floor.
- Defective kitchen unit door/drawer.
- Repairs to kitchen units (not handles or hinges).
- Easing and adjusting doors.
- Gutter leaks.
+ Major
We set out to complete major repairs within 90 working days of the repair being reported. Major repairs are works that require more planning, materials and resources than the typical routine repairs. The target for this type of work is, therefore, set longer at 90 working days.
As well as providing a repairs service for emergency and routine repairs, we also carry out improvement work to homes. We have an annual plan in place showing where we are improving homes by replacing major elements in your home once they have come to the end of their life. You can find the detail of which homes are on the latest programme here.
Water, Gas and Electricity Suppliers
Sometimes it may seem like a repair is needed but there’s actually a supplier issue that’s the cause of the problem, these usually happen when the utility companies have interruptions to their services.
Water - you can find out if there are any interruptions to your local water supply by contacting United Utilities and using their online Up My Street service which tells you if there are any incidents in your area.
Gas - if you smell gas or suspect a gas emergency you should report this immediately at 0800 111 999. Further information on gas safety can be found on the National Grid website.
Electricity - if you want to check if there is a power cut affecting where you live you can check on the Electricity North West website, or you can call them on 105 to report a power cut.
Appointments
Appointments will be offered between 8am to 12pm and 12pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Saturday morning appointments will be prioritised for residents who are unavailable during normal working hours. An ‘avoid the school run’ appointment slot between 10am and 2pm is also available.
Inspections
It may sometimes be necessary to inspect certain works to ensure we accurately diagnose the fault. If this is the case, we will arrange for an inspection to be carried out to assess the nature and scope of the work. This inspection may be in person or done virtually. As part of the inspection, we will confirm with the resident what works will be carried out and when we expect that the work will be undertaken. We will then contact the resident to confirm the appointment.
Improving Your Home
If you want to make your own improvements to your home, you will need to ask us for permission. In most cases, we can make a quick decision, but we sometimes need to visit your home and assess the work you have planned. Please call us and we can find out more details on what work you would like to carry out and advise you on how to get permission.