Responsive and Emergency Repair Services
History
During the 1980's and 1990's government investment in social housing provided the financial resources to improve the standard of social housing.
Many authorities improved their properties with the installation of double-glazed windows, Upvc was seen as the way forward, requiring little or no maintenance to the frames, vast quantities of which where installed during this period.
Many occupants have enjoyed a higher quality of life as a direct consequence; the main benefits provided by these products are improved thermal and acoustic insulation coupled with a high degree of security.
Hardware
However, the same cannot be attributed to the hardware or double-glazed sealed units that provide these benefits.
Hardware requires periodic maintenance; as the hardware becomes worn adjustments and lubrication are required to ensure continued operation, most hardware is manufactured from metals, which have a protective coating preventing corrosion caused by exposure to atmospheric conditions.
Many of the coatings used are also corroded by exposure to atmospheric conditions but at a vastly reduced rate, once this has occurred the metals they protect corrode and fail.
Sealed units (glazing)
Sealed units form an integral part of your double-glazed installations; having the largest surface area they provide you with your acoustic and thermal insulation and are vital for that task.
Performance life:
The performance life of a sealed unit is determined by its MTR or moisture transfer rate, this is the rate at which moisture is absorbed into the unit from the surrounding atmosphere, during the manufacturing process a moisture absorbent substance is encapsulated within the unit, the substance (typically desiccant) absorbs the moisture until saturation, at which point a misting effect within the unit is observed indicating that the unit has now failed and must be replaced.
80's and 90's technologies gave manufacturers the confidence to guarantee their sealed units for as long as ten years against failure, in some cases these units have lasted for as long as fifteen years, however sealed units over fifteen years can be expected to fail at any point and represent a financial time bomb for the unprepared.
Prima Service Plans (PSPs)
What are Prima Service Plans?
PSPs have been developed and tailored to address the needs of social housing providers in maintaining and repairing their double-glazed installations, and meeting the government's "Decent homes" initiative.
Every year providers use their budgets to basically 'fire fight', not knowing what's around corner means the budget is spent on responsive repairs. Without the availability of funds to proactively prevent failures will mean that the failure rate will increase as the installations age, a vicious cycle is effectively created where all available funds are forced into responsive repairs, this will eventually lead to premature replacement of the installations.
Typical installations over five years old, which have not been maintained, will be showing signs of deterioration, rusted locks, espagnolettes, catches and keeps worn friction stays and handles, as well as blown sealed units.
How do they work?
Firstly we undertake a survey of the installations across your housing stock (see Data analysis PSPs). From this survey we are able to determine the condition of the items installed and estimate the resources required to restore them to full working condition.
Once the properties have been restored, we take on the liability of any further repairs that may be required for a further twelve months.(see Typical liability transfer graph)
After twelve months we will return to each property and carry out preventative maintenance at a vastly reduced rate and carry the liability for a further twelve months. (see Flow chart PSPs in operation)
What benefits do they provide?
PSPs incorporate responsive repairs and preventative maintenance; this enables you to predetermine your annual expenditure, reduce administration costs and proactively address the condition of your installations (see Comparisons between responsive repairs and PSPs)