Housing maintenance, repairs and improvements Flashcards
What is housing maintenance?
- Housing maintenance mitigates wear and tear
What does housing maintenance comply with?
- Regulations
- Energy Efficiency
- Large-scale refubishment
What types of housing maintenance are there?
-
Planned
- Decoration
-
Preventative Maintenance
- Like cleaning of gutters
-
Responsive
- Emergency leak repair
What is a repair?
- A repair is fixing something that is broken
What is an improvement?
- Making a change to something which improves it (like decorating)
What is the purpose of housing maintenance and improvement?
- To maintain value
- The property and items are reliable and function correctly
- Health and Safety compliant
- Legal compliance (Section 20)
- To avoid deterioration and expensive repairs
- To keep property attractive
- For comfort and hapiness of users
- Corporate social responsibility (green initiatives)
What are the standards for property managers and landlords?
- Decent and Safe Homes Code (DASH)
What standards might a Local Authority have?
- Licensing (HMO’s)
What standards are required by law?
- Housing Act 2004
What other standards can maintenance and repairs be contained in?
- Lease or Service Charge
What is the legal requirement for maintenance repair?
- There is a liability and duty of care which can be a criminal offence for non compliance.
What is generally the Health and Safety Requirement?
- Specific drivers for maintenance adn ofter most urgent works is prioritized
What is The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)
- It was introduced unnder The Housing Act 2004
- A risk based evaluation tool for Local Authorities
- Identifies risks and hazards to Health and Safety in dwellings
How many hazards are there under the HHSRS System
- 29 Categories of hazards
What does Hygrothermal conditions relate to and Space, security, light and noise?
- Damp and mould growth
- Excess cold
- Excess pollutants
- Asbestos and manufacttured fibres (MMF)
- Biocides
- Carbon Monoxide and fuel combustion
- Lease
- Radiation
- Uncombusted fuel gas
- Volatile organic compounds
- Crowding and space
- Entry by
- Lighting
- Noise
What does hygiene, sanitation adn water supply relate to
- Domestic hygiene, pests, and refuse
- Food Safety
- Personal hygiene, sanitation, and drainage
- Water supply for domestic purposes
What does protection against accidents - falls relate to?
- Falls associatedd with baths etc
- Falls on level surfaces
- Falls associated with stairs
- Falls between levels
What does electric shocks, fires, burns and scalds relate to?
- Electric hazards
- Fire
- Flames, hot surfaces and materials
What does collision, cuts and strains relate to?
- Collision and entrapment
- Explosions
- Ergonomics
- Structural collapse and falling elements
What is The CDM Regulations?
- The Construction, Design and Management Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015)
Whhat does the CDM 2015 do?
- Regulations governing health and Safety on a construction project
How does CDM 2015 help?
- By choosing the right team
- Helping them work together
What should the principle contractor do?
- Manage the risks on site
What are the biggest causes of accidents and ill health in construction?
- Falls from height (collapse of excavations or structures)
- Exposure to building dust
- Exposure to asbestos
- Electricity
What can a desiigner/contractor to to minimise risks?
- Protect members of the public or client
- Secure the site with net scaffolds and use rubbish chutes
What is best practice under CDM?
- Allow adequate time
- Provide information to designer and contractor
- Communicate with designer and contractor
- Provide adequate welfare facilities on site
- Construction phase plan is in place
- Keep a Health and Safety file
Under CDM 2015 when ddo you need to inform HSE prior to work starting?
- If works last more than 30 ddays with more than 20 workers at same time
- Involves 500 personal days of work
What are the Control of Asbestos Regulattions (CAR 2012) - Responsibilities?
- Make sure a risk assesment is carried out before work commences
- A landlord must appoint a competent contractor
- Landlord to carry out ddue diligennce checks on competent contractor
- Landlord to inform contractor of any presence of asbestos
- Landlord to ensure the control of asbestos regulations are complied to in domestic premises includiing common parts.
What is the fire legislation relating to Houses for a single family?
A joint tenancy by 3 or more persons?
Bedsits occupied by 3 or more persons?
Flats?
-
Rented single household
- The smoke and Caarbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and Licensing Conditions
-
Rented shared house occupied on joint tenaancy by 3 or more persons
- The smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and Licensing Conditions
- HMO Management Regulations and Licensing Conditions
-
Bedsits occupied by 3 or more person
- The smoke and Caarbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and Licensing Conditions
- Fire Safety Order 2005
- HMO Management Regulations and Licensing Conditions
-
Flats
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2015 states a risk assessment is required for the Common Parts
- This is to be carried out by the responsible person
- Can be freeholder, Right to manage company, Residents management company
What is a stock condition survey?
- A survey of property about condition of stock for a defined purpose.
What does a condition survey assist with?
- Strategic management decisions
What types of the built environmennt can have a condition survey?
- Domestic
- Commercial
- Industrial
- Institutional
- Public spaces (parks, pavements)
- Private spaces (corridoors, atria)
- Facilities (provision of lighting, accessibility)
- Atttributes (material, measure, location)
What does condition mean?
- The criteria in which the stock is to be judged
What types of condition issues are there?
- State of disrepair
- Physical state and need for maintenance
- Existence of components
- Health and safety
- Fitness for purpose
- Capactiy to meet regulatory requirements
- Capacity to meet performance requirements
What types of information are gathered?
- Accurate measurments (updating floor plan, NIA)
- Sampling of materiials (Asbestos, Water)
- Photographic records
What sort of questions are imposed for a condition survey?
- Can we priortise repairs, provission for accessibility, upgrading energy or componants within a limited budget.
- What are the financial provisions needed to maintain stock for anotehr 20 years.
- Can we manage this efficiently and economically
- Is there a lack of statutory compliance in the portfolio
- Do we meet energy efficiency standards
- Which assets to we improve or dispose of
How do you carry out a stock condition survey?
- A general building description and location with property address
- Area of building
- Accommodation
- Usage
- Current occupancy
- Brief history of the building including alterations or additions
- Landscaping
- External buildings
- Works (existing and recommended)
- A coded building component condition rating
- General condition of structure, fabric, services, facilkities and fittings
- State of repair and energy efficiency in respect of Decent Homes Standard
- Asbestos present
- To comply with Diisabilikty Discrimination
- Energy conservation measures
- Upgrading or installation of fire precaution measures
- Alteration to comply with HMO
- Testing water
- Radon testing
- Window restrictors fitted and an escape window to meet Building Regs
- Safety glass for low level glazing
- Structural addaptions to meet tenants needs
- 5 year maintenance programme with costs
- 30 year life cycle
- Any liimitations to the survey
- Existing floor plans and photo evidence
- Current value of the property
- SAP assessment 2005/2009
What is the information from a condition survey used for?
- Financial planning
- Prioritiise work
- Planned maintenance programmes
- Properties on a scale
- feed into Valuations
- Inform insurers of likely risk and mitigation
How oftern can Stock condition surveys be carried out?
- Annually
- 5 yearly
- As required
What is a Scott Schedule?
- A speadsheet containing costings of works to be agreed between botth parties surveyors
What is dilapidations?
- Dilapidations are potential breaches of a lease for poor or lack of maintenance.
- This casn also require reinstatement of alterations which can lead to disputes.
What is planned maintenance programme and capital expenditure plan?
- A detailed assessment of a building or site.
- Confirms condition of works
- Provides costs and priority ratings to the works
- Assess the building fabric of exzternal parts and common parts
- Assesses repair and maintenance (roof, brickwork, stonework, windows,doors)
What should a planned maintenance plan/captial expenditure plan include?
- Mechanical and electrical plant
- electricity, water, gas and drainage
- communal boilers, water tanks, lifts etc
- health and safety issues
- any remedial works recommended
- fall arrest systems on roofts etc
- asbestos removal
- upgrading water tanks
What is a section 20 notice of L&T Act 1985 as amended by S151 of the Commonhold naand Leasehold Reform Act 2002)?
- It is for major works to flats and sets out precise procedures landlrods must follow.
What is the Service Charge Regulations 2003?
- Regulations that a landlord must follow.
- The consultation procedure is split into four schedules
What are qualifying works?
- Proposed repair and maintenance that will cost a leaseholder more than £250 in a service charge year (Sometimes referred to major works)
What is a Qualifying long term agreement?
-
Where the works will last for more than 12 months and costs any leaseholder more than £100 per year.
- maybe lift maintenance
- cleaning services
- gardening
What is an RTA?
- Resident tenants assocation
What legislation is an RTA recognised?
- Section 29 L&T Act 1985
Who must be consulted?
- Leaseholders and any Residant Tenants Association
- Contractors are nominations of the leaseholders and RTAs
What is thé regulation that Landlords have to invite leaseholders to nominate contractors?
- Under Schedule 1 and Schedule 4 (Part 2) of the Regulations
What notices have to be served on leaseholders?
- the pre-tender stage - notice of intention
- the tender stage - notification of landlord’s proposals (estimates)
- in some cases - a notice of reasons for awarding the contract
