Written Statement of Services
Barrhead Housing is required to provide all Factored owners with a formal written statement of the services we provide. This document is your ‘written statement of services’. Please keep this and read it in conjunction with the Title Deeds for your property.
Authority to Act
Barrhead Housing has the authority to act as Factor of your property at your address in accordance with title deeds and/or by formal appointment by majority voting following a consultation of owners.
As Factor, we can instruct that repairs and maintenance to common parts of the factored property be carried out. However, you should note that our instruction to have any repair or maintenance work carried out is conditional on the basis that the anticipated resulting cost to each owner does not exceed £250. The only exemption would apply if work was required due to an emergency or where we consider the expense to be justifiable on the ground of health or safety.
If the anticipated cost of work exceeds the above sum and is not an emergency or health and safety concern then it shall be instructed and carried out only when the work has been approved by a simple majority of the owners of the development and where we have received funds by the owners for the full amount of the estimated cost. This procedure will apply to cyclical and planned works also.
Services Provided
We are pleased to offer the following core services to our Factored customers. This includes details of the target times for taking action in response to requests for both routine and emergency repairs and the frequency of property inspections:
- Instructing repair and maintenance to common parts
- Arranging common utility services
- Arranging block insurance
- Provision and maintenance of information signs and notices
- Maintaining and servicing any firefighting equipment (optional)
- Invoicing of common charges
- Liaison with owners and interested parties
- Answering any queries
- Facilitating close meetings (as required, with online options available)
- Formal joint property inspections (1 per annum with all owners invited)
- Maintaining an approved contractors list
- Receiving and paying tradesman accounts
Repairs and Maintenance
Barrhead Housing aims to maintain your building to a high standard. We operate three main types of repair categories:
- Reactive – Day to Day – these are repairs which are unexpected and require attention as an emergency (24 hours), urgent (2 working days), routine (10 working days) or appointment (date specified by yourself).
- Cyclical – these are repairs which require attention on a regular cycle. Examples of this are internal close painting and external close painting, gutter cleaning Barrhead Housing will arrange these repairs by competitive tender with a range of contractors.
- Planned Works – this applies to elements of the property which have an anticipated life expectancy and will require to be replaced at some point to ensure the building remains watertight, secure and well maintained. Due to the cost implications, we will consult owners regarding this type of repair and will issue tenders to contractors.
Homeowners are legally responsible to ensure that the common parts of the building are maintained and kept in good condition, as per the Tenement (Scotland) Act 2004 (Section 8). We have delegated authority to act, which means that we are able to carry out repairs to your building up to your building up to a cost of £250.00 per owner within the block. If a repair is to cost more than the delegated level of authority amount, we will contact owners to seek permission to proceed with the repair. If a majority is not in favour of the repair being carried out, we will not proceed with the repair. This will only be reviewed if circumstances change, for example if the damage gets worse, or owners approach us to notify us that they have changed their mind.
We are not required to gain consent for a repair if there is a health and safety risk to the building and/or its occupants.
Reactive Common Repairs Service
Barrhead Housing Group operates a main reactive service to meet the maintenance requirements of our own properties and the common repairs.
The procurement of reactive maintenance contractors is completed through Public Contracts Scotland in accordance with the legislation set out in the Procurement Scotland Act 2014. On completion of the tendering process all submitted tenders are evaluated on price and quality and the outcome of the evaluation reported to the board of Barrhead Housing for approval of the most economically advantageous tender. The successful contractors will then be appointed to undertake maintenance repairs as reported.
Procurement pathways used by the Barrhead Housing Group include the I-FLAIR Dynamic Purchasing Framework and the Scottish Procurement Alliance framework. These frameworks are generally used for main component replacements within developments or individual properties and include items such as roofs, render, bathrooms, windows, doors, kitchen, heating systems, paint work, landscaping and other major areas of work.
Insurance
If you live in a flat or maisonette, we are responsible for ensuring that the whole building and any common parts are adequately insured at all times, including all necessary Public Liability Insurance. We can arrange this for you as part of a common policy or you can arrange your own cover. Full details of the buildings insurance is available upon on request and via our website.
If you want to opt out of the block insurance policy maintained by us and arrange cover for your own property yourself, you must notify us within 14 days of being enrolled into the block insurance policy and provide us with evidence of alternative adequate insurance, together with evidence this insurance is being maintained. In these instances, we may apply a small annual charge to your account for administrating and monitoring this.
Your insurance must cover a share of the common parts of the building/development of which your property forms a part. In instances where you have arranged insurance cover for your own property, we must ensure that your cover always remains in place. It is your responsibility to provide us with evidence of this on an annual basis.
If you fail to provide sufficient evidence to us in a timely manner, we will insure your property on your behalf and the whole annual fee will be applied to your account. Where your property does not form part of a tenement or block of flats, you will be required to arrange your own building insurance.
Service Contracts
The Barrhead Housing actively looks to promote opportunities for local contractors and SMEs to access the contracts that are available and will signpost them to contract opportunities as they arise. All service contracts such as landscaping, cleaning, gutter cleaning, door entry, Legionella, asbestos and insurance are tendered using Public Contracts Scotland or other procurement frameworks that the Barrhead Housing has access to.
Details on the service contracts tendered will be reported to owners receiving a management service us where they receive the service being tendered. The owners will have the opportunity to approve or decline the service at this time as part of their consultation.
On completion of the tendering, evaluation and consultation process the board of Barrhead Housing will be asked to approve the most economically advantageous tender.
Estate Management
The local area and/or block for which we are responsible will be inspected by a named Customer Services Officer of Barrhead Housing, who will also be available for any queries you may have relating to our services. Details of the Customer Services Officer for your area, along with their contact details, are available on our website.
We will conduct an annual inspection of your property, to which we will invite you and other owners in your block or area to participate and offer your input as to the services we provide.
Out with of this annual inspection, there will be estate management visits conducted at least every three months which will monitor the standard of services being deliver out on a regular basis, as well as the condition of the area. Where required, the Customer Services Officer will liaise with our contractors and East Renfrewshire Council to help resolve any issues that may arise in the area with regards to its condition and cleanliness. Copies of the report will be available to owners upon request.
Additional Services
If you receive additional services, these will be listed and charged accordingly on your account. Additional services may include:
- Landscape maintenance
- Communal area cleaning
We may expand the services we offer at a later date if sufficient demand exists.
All works carried that are £1500 or above may incur a 10% Project Management fee. This fee is put in place to cover the cost of:
- Cost of original consultation
- Preparation to tender
- Report drawn up for owners
- Management of tender
- Administration and setting up of contract
- Final report to owners
- Management of the defects period with contractors
Customer Engagement
We will aim to hold regular engagement with our customers, to let you know about the good work Barrhead Housing is carrying out in your community. We will demonstrate how we are providing good value for money for you and our customers. We will include our owners by sending our regular newsletter, to keep you informed and to give you an opportunity to participate. We will also offer all owners the chance to meet with your dedicated Customer Services Officer, at one of the regular estate management visits, the annual property/area inspections or at another time of your choosing, to discuss our services and how we can improve them.
Complaints
We always aim to provide excellent service, but sometimes things may go wrong. In the first instance, please contact our friendly and helpful Customer Service Hub on 0141 881 0638 or by email on enquiries@barrheadha.org and we will do what we can to make things right. However, if you wish to make a formal complaint you can find full details of how to do so on our website, along with our complaints policy.