Tenants promised quick repairs
Leaky taps, stiff doors and other minor repairs should be fixed faster at South Staffordshire Housing Association thanks to a labour-saving £40,000 investment in handheld computers. Leaky taps, stiff doors and other minor repairs should be fixed faster at South Staffordshire Housing Association thanks to a labour-saving £40,000 investment in handheld computers. Around 100,000 sheets of paper and thousands of hours of workmen's time should be saved each year by the organisation, meaning tenants will get day-to-day repairs carried out more quickly. The hi-tech devices receive electronic messages from a central system after a tenant calls in with a repair. The workman can then schedule the work, which makes it a paperless operation and removes the possibility of a job sheet being mislaid or overlooked. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Around 100,000 sheets of paper and thousands of hours of workmen's time should be saved each year by the organisation, meaning tenants will get day-to-day repairs carried out more quickly.
The hi-tech devices receive electronic messages from a central system after a tenant calls in with a repair. The workman can then schedule the work, which makes it a paperless operation and removes the possibility of a job sheet being mislaid or overlooked.
A pilot scheme involving six repair staff recently saved the organisation around 100 work hours and 10 per cent on mileage in one week. The mobile computers – called PDAs – will now be rolled out to all 50 operatives by the end of the year to see how much it speeds up their work repairing common faults at residents' homes.
Adrian Eggington, assistant director of housing, said the investment was part of an ongoing drive to improve efficiency, tackle green issues and maintain the high service levels for repairs the organisation was already achieving.
"We generate around 100,000 pieces of paper each year dealing with responsive repairs so what we are doing is bringing in PDAs to replace that system," he said. "We will save in processing invoices but also in actually bringing about customer service improvements."
The association celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
A full assessment of the results of the pilot scheme is now being carried out by the housing association, based at Acton Gate, between Stafford and Wolverhampton.
It is a community-based housing association primarily serving South Staffordshire, Shropshire and the Midlands. Its main aim is to provide quality homes and services that people want and can afford, in communities where people want to live.
More than 5,000 homes are currently managed and maintained by the association.
