Gas safety check fiasco

poppysarah

rexmedorum wrote: »

But do you really have to be there? Can't the gas fitter just go & get a key from the council? This seemed to be the standrd practice when renting privately?

Councils - unlike private landlords - don't keep keys for their tenant's homes.

AliceBanned

rexmedorum wrote: »

But do you really have to be there? Can't the gas fitter just go & get a key from the council? This seemed to be the standrd practice when renting privately?

Thanks for reply - I am just reviewing this thread as I've heard nothing from the HA!

Not only will they not allow me to leave a key with the housing assoc or neighbour, they say it is "against regulations" for them to be present in my flat without me there". all this red tape nonsense..:mad:

AliceBanned

sKiTz-0 wrote: »

If the timer isn't standard practice, and was there due to the previous tenant then I can almost certainly guarantee that you will be able to have it replaced if you complain enough.

When a tenant moves out of a property, the housing association have the keys returned. This then goes to the empty property team, commonly known as the 'void' team. While the property is void, somebody will carry out a full inspection and make a list of any work required. This includes general maintenance to bring a home up to a lettable standard - i.e. doors, windows/fixtures/fittings all work fine, plasterwork, boiler service etc.

But this also includes any previous tenant's own fittings - i.e. if they have put their own light fittings/kitchen/bathroom etc. Now this is for 2 reasons - 1. It may be that things like light fittings etc don't comply with current regulations - may be spotlights fitted in the bathroom or some such other, and also 2. The HA will only maintain their own fixtures and fittings. This again is both due to regs, and things like being able to cheaply and easily source parts etc.

Still with me so far? Well, the exception to this rule would be, lets say a tenant has fitted a nice bathroom suite. They will have asked for permission from the HA and signed a waiver to say that they will now be taking responsibility for the maintenance of the bathroom suite as it isn't that HA's standard fixtures and fittings. Which is fine. However, if you then move into the property, you should be made aware that these fixtures and fittings aren't standard and asked to sign a similar document agreeing to take ownership of the previous tenants fittings and responsibility for the maintenance of them. If you have signed no such document then the HA is at fault and is obliged to carry out the maintenance or replace with their own fixtures and fittings.

Going slightly off tangent there, but my point is this - in the period that the property was void, everything should have been set back to standard. Standard as in - no timer to switch off the gas supply. It sounds most likely to me that the voids team have not picked up on the timer being fitted, and have therefore not supplied you with a 'standard' supply for it. It will be easily missed by the voids team, as it will be a different team responsible for the gas who know about the timer. They will sub-contract all the gas work out to another company - hence the engineers not being aware of it when they arrive annually. Easy mistake to make when it will most likely not be documented on the system anywhere for the voids team that a timer like this is fitted - remember, when the property is void, the gas wil lbe turned off by the sub-contractors. it will then have a 'turn on and test' when it is re-let, so the voids team won't normally touch or look at the meter.

I would think you have a reasonable argument to say that due to the timer being fitted due to the previous tenant's behaviour, and you not being supplied with the standard fittings - you have acted fairly so far, booking a half day off to allow them to carry out a test every year - it is unfair that you are punished (having to book more than the one half a day off) for the previous tenant's failures. It is only fair for the housing association to supply you with a standard meter.

If you do not get a very good outcome from the stage 1 complaint you will be able to escelate to stage 2. This will then open a new complaint that somebody higher up in the organisation will be able to assess and rule on. You may get a better answer here, as they will try to avoid going to a stage 3 complaint as this involves the ombudsman and looks very bad on them. Again, you are not asking for anything unreasonable here so it would be silly of them not to rule in your favour.

The way to achieve this though is to not get irate. The people on the phones are very busy taking calls, sometimes from very irate tenants, with issues that 99% of the time are not the call handlers fault. They will be much more likely to help you if you are nice towards them and patient with them. Same applies to the complaints person - if you have a dedicated complaints manager etc assigned be aware of the fact that every call they take will be from somebody who is stressed out and irate and shouting at them about things that have happened before or are beyond their control. They are trying to help you solve your complaint, things will be much easier all round if you are able to amicably agree a solution rather than bickering. You want the complaints manager on your side.

Source - I work for a housing association.

Apologies for the essay, but I hope this helps somewhat.

sKiTz

ETA - P.S. let us know how you get on

Very helpful, thanks. I am just reviewing this thread as I realise I've heard nothing from the landlord. Will chase this up. I feel a bit calmer now but still want them to sort it out and your argument about the standard fittings is a very helpful one. Thanks:)

AliceBanned

RESULT! Thanks everyone, especially Skitz-0 - your comment about standard fixtures did the trick! I emailed them yesterday asking for the standard etc and they have emailed back to day to apologise and say they will remove it and have the standard timer put in!!

sKiTz-0

Winner.

Happy to have helped.