Repairs Contract update

We’re pleased to announce that following a comprehensive procurement process, which started with consultation with residents and staff at the end of last year and included resident involvement in the assessment and 16 initial bidders, Gilmartins have emerged as the ‘preferred bidder’ to deliver our new responsive repairs and voids refurbishment service.

This covers around two thirds of day to day repairs but excludes specialist services such as electrical, gas, door entry and lifts. These will be the subject of separate procurement exercises.  

The new contract is due to start on 6 June 2023.  

It will be a long-term agreement of five years with the option to extend by a further five years giving a maximum 10-year contract. A long-term contract (with break clauses) provides for a stable foundation for continuous improvement in customer service and efficiency 

The assessment was on both price and quality with 70% based on quality. Gilmartins achieved the highest scores for both the Price and Quality elements of the tender.   

New service standards 

With a new service standard and approach to service delivery, shaped by feedback from residents, we believe this is a good outcome for residents. The new specification focuses on our resident’s expectations of better communication, improved levels of first time fix and quality of work.  Gilmartins demonstrated they understood our new requirements and in their written submissions and at interview explained clearly how they would achieve this.   

The tender was assessed on price and quality, with 70% based on quality.  

Some key changes based on your feedback includes: 

A stronger approach to: 

• Appointments - better communication with residents to avoid missed appointments and to ensure updates on the day  

• Quality of work –  targets for the level of post inspections required to check on completed work as well as before and after photos for each job.   

• Contract management - we strengthened the skills and expertise in our internal teams earlier this year and have expanded the range of performance measures in the new contract  

• Communication - minimum frequency with which we expect the contractor to keep residents updated if there is any delay in completing their repair.   

• Online access – In the first year of the contract we will work with Gilmartins to develop a way for residents to report, track and monitor repairs through a ‘website’ or ‘app’.     

Next steps 

Formal (Section 20) consultation letters are being issued to leaseholders this week as we must give formal notice of our intention to enter into this long-term agreement. Leaseholders have the legal right to make written observations about this proposal over the next 30 days, and we must consider these before entering the contract. If you are a leaseholder please make your observations via the contact information in your letter.     

If you are a tenant and have any observations to make please let us know by emailing 2023repairscontract@originhousing.org.uk ensuring your name and property address is included in your observation. Comments must be received by 23rd January 2023 

We will provide further updates next year once the formal contract has been awarded and also more detail on what you can expect from the new arrangements as we approach June 2023, when the contract will start.