Maintenance and repairs to your home - Fact sheet - Housing NSW

Fact sheet
July 2010
Maintenance and
repairs to your home
A new contract for Housing NSW
maintenance began in October
2008 that covers planned
maintenance and repairs and
work requested by tenants.
The Maintenance Contract has led to
maintenance and repairs now being
more organised which means a better
service for you. Some of the benefits
are:
• clear waiting times for requested
maintenance work
• shorter waiting times for
maintenance
• completion of maintenance and
repairs before problems become
urgent
• a higher quality of maintenance
work
• the same high maintenance
standard no matter where you live
in NSW.
Requesting maintenance
and repairs
Most maintenance is carried out
under a planned program of works.
Your local Housing NSW office can
tell you what maintenance work is
planned, if any, for your home.
However, if you need urgent
maintenance, the Housing Contact
Centre is the single point of
contact. You can call the Housing
Contact Centre about repairs and
maintenance on 1300 HOUSING
(1300 468 746), 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. To make calling
as easy as possible, your local
Housing NSW office now has a
telephone with a direct link to the
Housing Contact Centre available in
the lobby for you to use.
Responding to your
requests
After you have described your repair
or maintenance problem, the Housing
Contact Centre staff member can
decide, in most cases, on the spot
what needs to be done. They will
categorise the urgency of your
problem and tell you the expected
response time.
The expected response times are:
1. up to 4 hours for maintenance
problems that immediately threaten
your health, safety or security and
need prompt action (eg. electrical
danger, or sewer overflows in
common areas)
2. up to 24 hours for problems that
threaten your safety or security and
need prompt action (eg. no working
lights inside, blocked drains
outside, broken smoke alarms)
3. up to 48 hours for essential items
that have broken (eg. hot-water
heaters, room heaters installed by
Housing NSW)4. up to 72 hours
for other essential items that
are broken (eg. stoves, washing
machines and dryers supplied by
Housing NSW, entry door locks that
are difficult to open or lock)
5. up to 20 working days for general
repairs that need to be done before
maintenance under the planned
program of works (eg. easing the
opening and closing of windows).
Planned program of
works
Under the Maintenance Contract,
Housing NSW contractors conduct
property asset inspections once
www.housing.nsw.gov.au Phone 1300 HOUSING
every two years on all homes to
determine what maintenance needs
to be planned and undertaken. They
will contact you by letter before
conducting the inspection.
At the inspection, the contractor
notes the repairs needed for your
home (eg. walls painted in five
years,bathroom updated in 10 years).
These details go into the planned
program of works.
Annual smoke alarm
service
From 1 July 2010, contractors will
service your smoke alarm every year
to ensure that it is working properly.
What you can expect of
contractors
All contractors carrying out
maintenance and repairs for Housing
NSW must:
• contact you in advance to arrange
a suitable time for work
• show you their identification
when they call at your home
• behave courteously
• carry out repairs and maintenance
safely and to the required standard
• complete work within the time set
by the new maintenance contract.
Your responsibility for
home maintenance
As a tenant you have responsibilities
in maintaining your home. You must
• ensure you keep your home in
good condition during your tenancy
• allow Housing NSW contractors
into your home for inspections,
regular servicing or other
maintenance work. Remember
that Saturday is a ‘work day’ for
contractors
Page 1 of 2

Fact sheet
July 2010
Maintenance and
repairs to your home
• pay for the cost of damage to your
home that is beyond fair wear and
tear. For more information, see the
Tenant Repair Costs fact sheet.
Feedback
Our staff will telephone some tenants
at random to get feedback about
maintenance so that we can improve
our services. The calls may take up
to 15 minutes. We encourage you to
participate but the decision is yours.
If you need more information, have
any questions or would like to giveus
feedback about maintenance, please
contact the Housing Contact Centre
on 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746).
Further information
For more information about tenant
damage charges:
• visit your local Housing NSW office
Monday to Friday, 8.30 am – 4.30
pm (closed public holidays and 8.30
am –1.00 pm on Wednesdays)
• phone 1300 HOUSING
(1300 468 746), 24 hours a day,
7 days a week
• go to the Housing NSW website
www.housing.nsw.gov.au
It is illegal for an officer of Housing NSW to ask for money or favours or other benefits of any
kind in exchange for helping you with your housing needs.
It is also illegal for you or anyone else to offer money or favours or other benefits of any kind to
an officer of Housing NSW in exchange for helping you. If you have any information regarding
this, please contact Business Assurance on 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746). Housing NSW
may refuse the provision of further housing services to anyone who has engaged or sought to
engage in corrupt or illegal conduct.
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www.housing.nsw.gov.au Phone 1300 HOUSING Page 2 of 2