Repair responsibilities
Repair responsibilities
We have three categories of repairs – this section provides details of what we include in each category. We also include an overview of works that will be included in our Programme work category, as well as explaining the repairs residents are responsible for.
The three categories of repairs we work to are:
Planned responsive repairs
Emergency repairs
Routine repairs
We also complete programme works as part of our ongoing investment in homes.
Emergency repairs
- A repair is an emergency repair where there is an immediate health and safety risk to you, your home or your neighbours.
- A resident can report an emergency repair 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by calling us on 0330 343 0016.
- We will complete an emergency repair within 24 hours to make the situation safe and reduce the risk. There may be further works required to fix the problem, which we will complete under a different priority. These additional priorities are detailed in the following sections of this document.
Emergency repairs include:
- Fire – call 999 first
- Installing smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms if there are none in the property
- Where the property is not secure such as ground floor window repairs, and repairs to the front and back doors (if damage is found to have been caused by the resident or a member of the household, this will be a recharge)
- Smoke detector sounding
- Carbon monoxide alarm sounding
- External sewage leaks and blocked toilet where it is the only toilet in the home and has not been blocked by the tenant. (If it is found to have been blocked by the tenant or member of the household there will be a recharge)
- No power to the home (the resident should check first check with their local power supply company and utility provider)
- Total loss of heating and or hot water between 1st November and 30th April
- Electrical fault, smoking or sparking outlets
- Exposed electrical wiring
- No drinking water to the home
- Lifts and stairlifts not working
- Leaks that cannot be contained
- Emergency light failure
- Plastering repairs when there is a safety risk
- Sudden structural issues with the home
- Making safe loose items causing a health and safety risk (e.g. roof tiles, guttering, fascias)
- Leaking roof – make the immediate area watertight
- Make safe loose or detached banister or handrail where there is no alternative in line with Right to Repair
- Faulty wet room pump (sheltered schemes only)
- Loss of lighting in kitchen or bathroom (sheltered schemes only).
Routine repairs
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- Routine repairs are repairs carried out following a request from a resident to fix or make good something in their home or communal area that we are responsible for.
- We aim to complete all routine repairs within 28 working days, but will always risk assess the repairs needed, based on what we know and what a resident tells us, and prioritise accordingly.
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Routine repairs include:
- Repairs to floorboards
- Non-emergency repairs to stairs, bannisters and handrails
- Electricals, including plug sockets, light switches, light fittings and other electrical fittings we have installed
- Repairs to water storage tanks and overflow pipes
- Slow draining sinks, basins and baths (If blocked by the resident this will be a recharge)
- Isolated repairs to roofs causing water to enter the home
- Extractor fan faults
- Contained leaks
- Shower/bath not working (where there are other means of washing, we will not repair a shower over a bath unless installed for medical needs)
- Toilet not functioning (where there is another working toilet in the home)
- No water from one set of taps (where others are working)
- Repairs to the waste pipe, guttering and soil stack
- Non-emergency external lighting fitted by Settle
- Disabled facilities fitted by Settle (such as grab rails, shower seats)
- Seized water stop cocks and valves
- Sinks and basin and bath repairs (unless damaged by the resident or household, which will be a recharge)
- General repairs to gas central heaters (including boilers and radiators)
- General repairs to electric, oil-fired or solid fuel heating systems
- General repairs to the hot water cylinder and immersion heater
- Outside drains (if the issue is with the main drain this needs to be reported to the local water authority)
- Main front and back door general repairs
- Window general repairs
- Boundary fences where it leads onto a public highway or is open to the general public. Our standard fencing is chain link.
- Non-emergency general plastering repairs
- Communal TV aerials (on schemes or blocks of flats)
- Planned responsive repairs are bigger jobs. They usually involve at the least one of the following:
- Extensive works, often requiring multiple trades people
- Measuring and ordering of materials
- Manufacture of specific items
- Scaffolding
- We aim to have assessed these repairs within 90 working days to understand the work required. This work will then be arranged according to the availability of the tradespeople and materials needed to complete the repairs.
Planned responsive repairs include:
- Repairs to chimney flues, chimneys and chimney pots
- Internal door frames (not doors or hinges)
- Garages – roofs, guttering, walls, doors
- A porch attached to your home
- Large cracks and areas of plaster where there is no health and safety risk
- Fascia boards and soffits
- Decoration as a result of damage caused by or as a result of repair work carried out by Settle.
- Programme works are bigger jobs that are inconvenient but pose no risk and are not covered by the repairs responsibilities included within this document. We will batch these jobs together and complete them within 12 months as part of our ongoing investment in residents’ homes.
Programme works include:
- Boundary fences (when not onto a public highway or open to the general public). Our standard fencing is chain link.
- Paths to front and back doors (where there is no health and safety risk)
- Pitched or flat roof replacement
- External cladding
- Large roofing repairs
- Extensive repairs to brickwork and render
- Garage door replacement
- Guttering replacements
- Chimney rebuild or extensive chimney repairs
- Extensive structured wall where there is no risk
- Installation of thermal boarding (where deemed necessary)
- Front or rear door replacements (where it is beyond economical repair)
- Window replacement (where it is beyond economical repair).
The following areas are residents’ responsibilities:
- Unblocking blocked toilets, waste pipes, sinks, baths, basins and toilets
- Locksmith if you have locked yourself out including lost keys for garages
- Plugs and chains
- Kitchen cupboard door and drawer handles, hinges and runners
- Bath panels, unless damaged by Settle. If replaced following damage by Settle, this will be renewed with a standard MDF panel
- Damaged bath enamel (residents can find repair kits at DIY stores)
- Toilet seats (unless in sheltered schemes)
- Curtain rails, shower riser rails and shower holders or clips
- Blockage in the U-bend under sink, bath, toilet or shower
- Catches, spy holes, door numbers, letter plates, security chains, draught excluders (unless in sheltered schemes)
- Internal doors, including the hinges and handles
- Broken window glass (unless a protected tenancy or sustained as part of a crime with a crime reference number)
- Arranging for a gas and/or electric supply and connection to your property
- Gas meter (resident to contact their gas company)
- Arranging for a cooker to be safely connected to the gas supply by a qualified person
- Washing lines/rotary dryers/clothes posts (unless in a communal area)
- Rainwater collection tanks
- Outside taps
- Cutting grass, hedges and maintenance of trees and other vegetation
- Collecting and disposing of fallen leaves
- Dealing with pests (such as rats, pigeons, wasps, ants) unless in a communal area
- Fences and gates at the front of the property
- Arranging the supply of electricity to the property and reporting any faults to the supplier
- Resetting trip switches at the main fuse board (consumer unit)
- Cords for pull cord light switches
- Phone, broadband, TV and satellite sockets
- TV aerials at individual properties
- Replacing or cleaning the filters in extractor fans
- Coal bunkers
- Minor cracks and damage that can be filled with common wall filler
- Painting and decorating
- Coving and dado rails
- Wall tiles in rooms other than kitchens and bathrooms
- Carpets, laminate flooring and other floor coverings
- Floor tiles in rooms other than kitchens and bathrooms* (please see note below)
- Driveways
- Cleaning drain gullies and grates
- Sheds
- Lean-to extensions and conservatories (resident must get permission from Settle first)
- Fuses in plugs and appliances
- Replacing light bulbs, including flourescent (strip) lights and fluorescent light starter motor
- Replacing light bulbs in sealed lights unless in sheltered schemes)
- Loft and roof insulation upgrades.
*Some old floor tiles sometimes found in kitchens and bathrooms can contain minor traces of asbestos. Before removing any please read our asbestos page on our website at https://www.settlegroup.org.uk/your-home/repairs-and-maintenance/asbestos
Planned improvements
These are larger jobs like replacing your kitchen, bathroom, windows, fitting insulation, external repainting etc.
Every five years we’ll do a full inspection of your property. When these larger jobs are needed, we’ll plan them with you.
If you want to do any improvement work yourself check our DIY and making improvements to your home page.