As stated in your tenancy agreement, you are responsible for reporting any repairs that are necessary, either in your home or in any shared area that we are responsible for.

You can report a repair to us in the following ways:

• on-line;
• by e-mailing HousingRepairs@tendringdc.gov.uk;
• by letter or by returning one of our prepaid repairs cards;
• by telephoning the Housing Maintenance Section on 01255 686477 or our out-of-hours telephone number 01255 222022 for emergencies outside of normal office hours;
• by faxing 01255 686406; and
• by calling in person into Housing Reception at the Town Hall or any of our area offices.

Please note that on-line requests, faxs and emails sent to our address will only be dealt with during working hours.

However you notify us, please tell us your name and address; full details about the repair; and when someone will be at home to let the contractor or our Maintenance Surveyor in. If you prefer, when you report a repair, you can tell us whether you would like the contractor to arrange an appointment with you. We will then tell our contractor and they will contact you direct to arrange a specific time. This compensation is payable under the Right to Repair regulations.

What happens next?

We give all reported repairs a priority rating that sets out when the work should be completed. Some repairs are covered by the right to repair regulations. These ensure that certain small, urgent repairs - known as 'qualifying repairs' - are completed within a specified time. 'Qualifying repairs' are normally those that are likely to affect your health, safety or security.

When you report a repair, we will be able to tell you whether it is a 'qualifying repair' and, if so, how long we have to get the work done.

If your repair is covered by the right to repair regulations, we will send you a copy of the repair notice that we send to the contractor. This will tell you the name and address of our contractor; what the repair is; and when it should be completed by. If the repair is not completed by this time, please contact us and we will arrange for another contractor to do the work. When we have done this, we will send you a copy of the repair notice that we send to the second contractor. This contractor will have the same time to complete the work as the first. If this second contractor does not do the repair in the time given, you will be entitled to £10 compensation, plus a further £2 for every extra day that you wait, up to a maximum for any one repair of £50. We will deduct any money you owe us (such as rent arrears) from the amount of compensation that we pay you. The Council does not offer any discretionary allowances for overdue repairs

Please note: You will not be entitled to compensation if you were out when the contractor called after saying you would be at home, or if you did not allow access to your home.

For repairs that are not covered by the right to repair regulations, we set the timescale for completing the repair, basing it on the type and urgency of the repair needed.

The specified timescales for completing repairs range from six hours for emergency works - such as total loss of electricity supply or water supply (where this is not the responsibility of the service supplier) - to 56 days for completing less urgent works, such as external plastering.

For straightforward repairs, we will be able to order the work as soon as you report the problem to us. However, if it not clear from the information that you give us exactly what is required, we will arrange for a Maintenance Surveyor to visit your home. This inspection will normally take place within 10 days of you reporting the problem to us.

Please note: If a Maintenance Surveyor needs to carry out an inspection before ordering any work, the timescale for the repair will start from the date the order is passed to the contractor, not from the date that you reported the problem to us.

If you are out when either our Maintenance Surveyor or the contractor visits your home, they will leave a card telling you when they called and how you can contact them to make a new appointment.

After the repair is completed, you may get a visit from one of our Maintenance Surveyors to check that it has been done properly.

To see the service you should expect to receive from use, please see our Service Standard for Repairs.

If you need to you can download the free adobe reader here.