Decision Report 201800422

Summary

Mr C complained that the association did not respond within a reasonable timescale to his reports of water ingress in his home.

We found that the association's repairs policy states that emergency repairs should be responded to within four hours, urgent repairs within three working days and routine repairs within 20 working days. The association provided no evidence to support how Mr C's reports were categorised, however, it took two months for investigations to be carried out to Mr C's reports of a fault, outwith all timescales. Therefore, we upheld Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise to Mr C for not responding to his reports of a fault with the roof within a reasonable timescale. The apology should meet the standards set out in the SPSO guidelines on apology available at www.spso.org.uk/leaflets-and-guidance.

What we said should change to put things right in future:

• Ensure processes are followed to respond to reports of a fault.
• Ensure repairs are categorised as either emergency, urgent or routine.

We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.