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Services Provided
In you are a SACHA resident or shared owner then you may need to contact us from time to time about repairs or maintenance to your property or its surrounding area. As well as repairs, we often undertake regular maintenance to our properties.
If you need an emergency repair you should telephone 020 8886 4422 rather than reporting your repair online. If the emergency repair is out of office hours a specific contact number will be indicated in the answer phone message.
Below you can find information on:
Our Repair Responsibilities
We are responsible for keeping the structure, exterior and interior of your home in good repair. This includes:
- Roof, drains, gutters and down pipes
- Outside walls, external doors and windows (inc. sills, handles and catches)
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Internal walls, floors and ceilings, doors, frames and skirting boards but not including painting and decoration
- Boundary walls and fences (erected by us), principal pathways, steps and/or other means of access
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Any installations provided by us for space heating, water heating and sanitation ensuring you have an adequate supply of water, gas and electricity. Other installations include:- baths, basins, sinks, toilets, flushing systems and waste pipes, electrical wiring, sockets and switches, communal television aerials, gas pipes and water pipes, water heaters, fitted fires and central heating systems, common entrances, halls, stairways, lifts, passageways, and any other common parts including electrical lighting.
- Cyclical decorating internally and externally, normally every 5 years.
Your Repair Responsibilities
You are responsible for keeping your home clean and in good decorative order. You are also responsible for:
- Replacing lost keys, changing locks when keys are lost and adding security fittings to windows and doors
- Replacing fuses and light bulbs
- General household tasks such as oiling hinges and tightening screws.
- Keeping your home free of pests
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Maintaining any fittings or appliances you have fitted yourself such as ovens, washing machines tumble dryers or fridges.
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Clearing blockages in waste pipes or toilets which are caused by lack of care (fat, tea leaves etc.) or unusual objects (nappies, air fresheners)
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You are also responsible for any repairs caused by neglect, carelessness or misuse by you, your family or visitors to your home, you will be expected to return the property in a clean and clear state of decoration and will be charged for additional clearance or damage.
How to Report a Repair
You can report your repair to SACHA by calling our offices at Central House on 020 8886 4422.
You can also Report Your Repair Online.
If you need an emergency repair you should always telephone us rather than reporting your repair online.
Speed of Repair
There are three categories of repair as explained below:
Emergency
For our Out of Hours service, this would normally be a "make-safe" option until we can arrange for a permanent fix to be done. This is when:
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The repair presents an immediate danger, such as loose or falling brickwork, gas leaks, electrical faults likely to cause shock or fire and total loss of power.
- Further damage will be caused if the repair is delayed e.g. burst pipes, severe roof damage
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The repair is a potential health hazard, i.e. drainage problems causing waste water to back up or flood entrance paths, or communal staircase lighting
Urgent
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Faults causing considerable inconvenience or risk, such as a blown fuse to an electrical circuit, loose or damaged stair tread or hand rail, defective multi-point or central heating boiler, loss of staircase lighting, non flushing WC, blockages to sink/bath/basin unless these are stand alone sinks or basins and the blockage is caused by food waste, soap scum or hair.
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Minor structural faults likely to create further damage in the short term, such as missing or slipped slates, dripping pipe or waste.
- Front entrance or fire door needing easing and adjusting.
Routine
- All other essential repairs
Planned Maintenance
This is a regular programme of repairs to all SACHA homes to keep them in good condition. Planned maintenance ensures that the parts of your home suffering from wear and tear are regularly repaired or replaced.
You may not realise that works need to be done. One of the aims of planned maintenance is to make sure that we spot any problems you might not have noticed, or might not have already reported to us on the repairs contact number or through Repairs Reporting.
Gas Inspections
As your landlord we have to make sure that all gas appliances, fittings and flues that we own and you use are safe.
The law says that every 12 months we need to arrange safety checks on each gas appliance and flue by a gas installer who must be on the Gas Safe Register and issue you with a copy of the safety check record within 28 days.
These safety checks are so important that the tiny minority of residents who don't let us carry them out are unfortunately taken to court and prosecuted. Sometimes we even have to evict people in extreme cases.
We truly do not wish to do this but we simply cant risk the safety of our residents or their neighbours.
Scheduled Appointments
In most circumstances, our staff will agree with an appointment date and time when you report your repair. If, under exceptional circumstances this cannot be done, we will tell you and arrange for the contractor to contact you directly to arrange a convenient time.
Once we confirm your appointment, an order will be issued to our Contractor. If circumstances change and you are unable to be at home at the arranged time, you must contact the contractor directly to re-arrange another suitable time.
If you're not at home when the contractor comes to do the repair, you may find your repair delayed or cancelled. You may be charged for follow up visits to do the repairs.
You may be entitled to compensation if the contractor or our surveyor fails to call as arranged.
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