property maintenance (contractors)

Proxima_Centauri

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I'm not 100% sure which board is the right one.


We pay a maintenance charge which goes toward the upkeep of our block of flats. This includes things like cleaning the interior (vaccing the corridors, etc) and cleaning the windows and skylight on the outside of the property, and maintaining the garden, mowing the grass, etc.


This all used to be done on a regular basis.


However a few months ago a new company took over the contract to carry out these tasks, and the work's not being done to such a standard. The windows, for example, haven't been cleaned for months now, and the outside of the property has got some sort of algae growing all over it.


My question, for people who live in similar arrangements, is how long is a reasonable length of time to leave windows without cleaning them? This new company say they'll clean them quarterly, which apart from the fact that they don't (!) doesn't seem regular enough, given that we live in a place where there are a lot of seagulls flying around!! We are left wondering what we are paying our maintenance charges for.

G_M

It depends on the contracts involved.

You should receive accounts each year breaking down what your annual service charge is for. For example it might say "weekly window cleaning" or "quarterly window cleaning".

However this will only be given to you at the end of the year.

I assume there is a freeholder, or perhaps a residents' management company, who have employed the maintenance company? There is nothing to stop you writing to them to ask
* when/why the contractor was changed
* whether the terms of the new contractor's contract are the same as the last one
* specifically how often the windows should be cleaned under the current contract (or corridors vacuumed etc)

You could also point out how often these things are now actually being done. It may be that the freeholder will be unaware, and very grateful to find out the new contractors are not doing what they are being paid to do.

Proxima_Centauri

Thanks, yes we were told the contractor was changing and looking at the blurb it now says quarterly for window cleaning.

My (or our!) issue is that this really isn't frequent enough, given that we've got gulls flying around, and also that it doesn't seem to be done even quarterly now.

eddddy

Proxima_Centauri wrote: »

My (or our!) issue is that this really isn't frequent enough, given that we've got gulls flying around, and also that it doesn't seem to be done even quarterly now.

I assume you are a leaseholder.

If you and all the other leaseholders want the windows cleaned more often, just tell the freeholder/management company. There's no good reason for them to refuse. Obviously it will increase your service charge.

If the contractors aren't currently cleaning the windows as often they should, tell the freeholder/management company. They probably don't know.