Heating repair gone wrong!

scoey1001

Hi all,

Looking for some advice please.

Property is a council maisonette. Had 2 radiators stop working in the living room in December. On the council website it states this as an emergency repair 'total or partial loss of heating between October & May - fix time 4 hours'.

To cut a long story short their heating contractor has been to the property 10 times (plus one no show), have broken the boiler 4 times leaving us without heating and hot water for days at a time (it is currently broken again as of last night). They have also told lies, not followed policies etc. a right set of amateurs.

We have made ourselves available for all 10 of these appointments (5 have been all day jobs replacing various parts etc. which seemed to make the problem worse) including using up all out remaining annual leave and been co-operative throughout.

The situation now is they believe there is a kink in the pipe, their solution was to run vertical pipework exposed in the centre of the living room. I said no, and the council agreed.

This means the flooring needs to be taken up, the council say it is down to the tenant (my partner) and will have to then be replaced with carpet as she signed a disclaimer. The disclaimer reads the following;

Name -

Address -

'The following non standard items will remain in situ at the above address:

All flooring
Bathroom mirror
All feature shelving

If any of the above require repair the landlord will only replace with standard fittings.

If any items which are not a statutory legal requirement fall into disrepair the landlord will not be responsible for replacing.'

I am struggling with how to interpret the wording of this disclaimer and where we stand legally.

All comments welcome. Thanks.

pinklady21

Have you tried Shelter?
http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/complain_about_council_or_housing_association_repairs

They also have a phone helpline, I think.
Best of luck, sounds like you have had a ghastly experience!

anselld

Sounds like she will have to lift the flooring and then the Council will fit a carpet. (or presumably she could re-lay the flooring if it is not damaged)

What type of flooring is it?

G_M

Escalate via a formal complaint in writing?

Mind you -

emergency repair 'total or partial loss of heating between October & May - fix time 4 hours'.

Dam**d ambitious target!

Even a 4 hour call-out target would be ambitious. but 'fix'??? :shocked:

martindow

G_M wrote: »

Escalate via a formal complaint in writing?

Mind you - Dam**d ambitious target!

Eve a 4 hour call-out target would be ambitious. but 'fix'??? :shocked:

That surely can't be the wording can it? Heating breaks down at midnight and an engineer comes out to fix it before 4am?!

HampshireH

Most places is attendance within 1 working day or 24 hours.

I googled the wording in the OP and nothing was an exact match which is unusual if quoted directly from a webpage.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

No, the OP is taking it too literally. An HA or LA will consider nil heating/hot water an emergency and thus 4 hour attendance but within reasonable parameters (i.e., not in the middle of the night) and that does not necessarily mean they'll fix it. If parts are required, then quite rightly, they'll need to order them. They should provide temporary heaters though.

Sounds like the OP has had a rough time of it. Contractors working for LA and HA's are generally !!!!!. I once had 6 visits to fit a new double glazed unit that had blown. The operative had measured the window incorrectly on one occasion and forgot to bring it with him on another.

Personally, I'd escalate to a formal complaint, copying my MP in. I'd also ask, in writing, for clarification, as to what they mean with the flooring.

scoey1001

Hi everyone thanks for the replies.

I fully agree 4 hours is a ridiculous target! and have stated this to the council that i wouldn't expect them to attend in this time. However it has now been 7 weeks, 10 engineer visits (plus one no show) boiler broken 4 times (fixed last night but again down to human error) lies, stress, 6 days annual leave lost etc. etc.

- Council is East Kent Housing and the following is from their website.....

1. Emergency repairs - we aim to fix within 4 hours in all areas
Definition: We class emergency repairs as any repair required to fix any defect which puts the health, safety or security of a resident or third party at immediate risk or which affects the structure of the building.

We provide an emergency response service 365 days a year and over 24 hours a day

Examples of an emergency repair could include:

Uncontrollable water leak
Total or partial loss of gas supply
Report of fumes
Leaking oil tank or pipework
Total or partial loss of heating between 31 October and 1 May
Repair request from a sheltered scheme
Repair request from a vulnerable tenant
Repair request to attend a communal heating site

- I have made a formal complaint which was responded to. Although they apologised many times they failed to answer any of my questions directly and their version of events had many inaccuracies such as ' we tried to fit XYZ but it had to be delayed as you had boiler trouble' when in fact it was their engineer that had broken the boiler. Another time an engineer attended and turned the boiler off stating it was unsafe but later denied touching it and said it was fine. When they sent someone out 4 days later it was in fact found to be unsafe!

Hopefully this gives an idea of the type of company i have been dealing with.

Safe to say i rejected their complaint and it has now been escalated to someone nominated by the chief executive.

It's just the wording of the disclaimer i am having trouble with.

P.S it is wood flooring.

pinklady21

If they are trying to get you to sign something that you do not fully understand, then ask them to explain it to you in clear and simple terms.
I often think I have understood something, and when I try and explain it to someone else, realise I didn't get it at all!
I hope you get someone competent to fix your heating - is employing your own contractor and then reclaiming the cost from the Council an option?
Best of luck.

HampshireH

Ok. In relation to the disclaimer most Associations or Councils do not provide flooring. By accepting it and signing a disclaimer you take full responsibility. This includes making the area beneath it accessible for repair.

The Council are only responsible for the repair. Are you not able to relay the wooden flooring after the work has been done?

If you don't understand it ask them.

I read it as you have signed for responsibility. If they have to repair something it so be replaced with standard items.

Example. If you had a non standard kitchen and needed a door front. They may put one on for you but it won't match. Likewise you fit a posh tap they fit a normal one. They won't match.

Carpets and flooring are not something for repair therefore they have no responsibility to replace it.

They may choose to but they aren't liable to.

It is poorly worded.

HampshireH

Additionally your tenancy agreement with spell out your responsibilities vs theirs. I expect flooring is referred to as yours.