Reporting a Repair

Repairs and maintenance responsibilities are listed in your lease. The following contains details of the main responsibilities that are common to most leases:

Our Responsibilities

We are responsible for looking after the communal facilities, including common entranceways, halls, gardens and shared utilities and facilities used by all such as the lift and laundry equipment. Specific additions or exclusions to these examples will be contained in your lease.

Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for all fixtures and fittings and the decoration of the inside of your property. There may be other items included in your lease such as external doors and windows. Shared ownership leases usually state that the shared owner, not Colne, is liable to carry out repairs. The only exception is for repairs covered by insurance, e.g. storm damage.

You can report a repair in any of these ways:

• Use our Report a Repair form
• Contact Repairs on 01206 244700 during office hours
• Contact Invicta helpdesk out of office hours on 01732 781979 for emergency repairs only
• Contact repairs@colnehousing.co.uk
• Contact your Leasehold Scheme Officer or Warden
• Leave a message on our Residents Hotline 24 hours a day on 01206 244744 for non-emergency repairs

If you have just moved into a newly built home, or one which the Society has just bought, your general repairs will be covered by the builder for 6 months and electricity and plumbing repairs for the first 12 months. Please see the details given to you in your welcome pack.

When you report your repair, please tell us:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your telephone number
• What repair is needed
• Where the problem is
• When it first occurred

If you are out all day, please make arrangements for our contractors to have access to your home, either by leaving keys with a neighbour or friend, or by arranging for a member of your family to be at your home. Our contractors are not able to do routine repairs outside regular working hours.

When you have reported your repair, we will tell you:

• If we need to look at your repair before the work can be ordered
• Who will be doing your repair
• What priority your repair has been given
• When the contractor will finish the work by

How quickly will we do your Repair?

Repairs are divided into different priorities, with response rates as follows:

Emergency "A" - within 2 hours
Emergencies with risk of significant harm to persons or property, e.g. unsafe walls, severe water burst / flood.

Emergency "B" - same day response
Other emergencies such as no power, no heating (during winter months), tap running full bore, secure / board up doors / windows, severe roof leak.

Emergency "C" - next day response
No hot water, no heating (during summer months), lift breakdown.

Urgent - within 3 working days
Minor plumbing leaks, blocked toilet (where there is more than one toilet in the property), tripping electrical circuits / partial loss of power, faulty light switch.

Routine - within 15 working days
All other repairs not deemed to be emergency or urgent.

This list does not include every type of repair, but it is a guide to our general policy. Wherever possible, tradespersons will complete your repair in one visit.

Reporting out of hours emergency repairs and holiday periods

If your repair is an out of hours emergency or it occurs during an extended holiday period when the office is closed, contact Invicta helpdesk on 01732 781979.

Please do not report a repair as an emergency unless you are sure it warrants immediate attention, as this may result in you being recharged for an emergency call out fee.

Repairs Satisfaction Survey

If you have recently had a repair rectified and would like to let us know how our contractors performed, please download a Repairs Satisfaction Survey and return to the Society at the freepost address.