Maintenance
Requests for Maintenance
The purchase of the co-op motor vehicles and the legalities associated with the use of not only the co-op motor vehicles, but also the co-op use of member’s private motor vehicles has resulted in the co-operative’s Management Committee reviewing the way in which minor maintenance is undertaken by our MAAC team.
Minor maintenance undertaken by the MAAC team is defined as being non urgent, non life threatening and non safety issue. Therefore it does not need to be done as soon as possible. A minority of co-op members have an expectation that any request for maintenance will be dealt with on the same day, or the day after, they make their request.
Old Arrangements
Previously, members would contact the office with their maintenance request and the co-op would arrange for a nearby MAAC team member to inspect and either fix the problem or report back to the office that a contractor will be needed. The MAAC team member would use their private motor vehicle to make the trip to and from the property which required the maintenance.
Our legal advice is that we must use the co-op motor vehicles, for maintenance work. MAAC team members should not be using their private motor vehicles to undertake any maintenance. This will mean that from now on a co-op motor vehicle will need to be booked out to the MAAC team member who will need to come to the office and collect the motor vehicle and then proceed to the property requiring maintenance.
This made it quite difficult to co-ordinate not only the MAAC member and the member requesting the maintenance, but also required making sure that a co-op motor vehicle was available for the MAAC team member. At some times during the week, both co-op vehicles would have already been booked. The office would then need to get back in contact with the MAAC team member and the member requesting the maintenance to co-ordinate another time when they were both available and the co-op motor vehicle was also available. Quite time consuming.
New Arrangements
Therefore the co-op has decided to designate two mornings per week for MAAC jobs, these mornings being Wednesday and Friday. The co-op has a similar arrangement for Mondays and Thursdays for its office volunteers. MAAC members will be rostered for Wednesday and Friday mornings “on call” for minor maintenance jobs which have been reported to the co-op office. Being “on call” means that they will only come in if a job has been reported – it does not mean you can call on those mornings and expect the MAAC team to come out.
Requests for minor maintenance that are reported on Friday, Monday or Tuesday before 3.00pm will be attended to on Wednesday mornings. Minor maintenance reported on Wednesday or Thursday before 3.00pm will be attended to Friday mornings. If no maintenance has been reported by 3.00pm Tuesday or Thursday, the “on call” MAAC team will be notified and advised that they do not need to come in the following morning.
All members when they are requesting any minor maintenance should inform the office if they will NOT be home on the morning of the next available MAAC morning. Depending on the urgency of the job will it will be held over to the next MAAC morning, until such time as the member is available, or, it may be referred to a contractor.
The most often requested MAAC job is to fix a dripping tap. Whilst a dripping tap is annoying, it doesn’t need to be fixed the same day that you notice it dripping. If you are concerned about wasting water, you can collect the drips in a container and then empty the container into your garden or your kettle. If the tap is dripping such that you need to empty the container every 5 minutes, it is then more than a drip and the co-op will either arrange for a MAAC member to attend as soon as possible (provided someone is available) or request a plumber to attend.
If you need to empty your container two or three times a day and perhaps let it drip overnight, you haven’t wasted an excessive amount of water and the MAAC team can attend to the drip on their next MAAC morning (Wednesday or Friday).
Life Threatening or Safety Issues
Any requests for minor maintenance which could potentially be life threatening or is a safety issue will be dealt with as soon as practically possible. This could mean initially calling a MAAC member to inspect the problem to confirm it is life threatening or a safety issue, or it could be referred directly to a contractor. Sometimes members panic and demand a contractor first up. The co-op generally gets a MAAC member to check the request for maintenance first, as on a number of occasions the MAAC member has been able to resolve the problem without needing to call a contractor in.
This often occurs with electrical problems. A fuse may have blown, or an appliance plugged into a power point has tripped a circuit. The MAAC team can check and often there is no need to call an electrician in, as in many cases it is the member’s appliance causing the problem.
After Hours Maintenance
As much as the co-op tries to use its MAAC team, there will be times where they are not available. This would be when a problem occurs after hours or over the weekend. In those situations members should refer to their after hours maintenance information which they receive when they sign in and this information is also periodically included in the co-op’s newsletter.
In order of priority, members should check if someone else on the property can check and confirm that there is a problem. If it is life threatening or a safety issue, phone the designated after hours contact person. This person will, if required, call a contractor to attend. If the designated after hours contact person is not available, you can then call a contractor to attend. Calling a contractor yourself should be your last resort – not your first!
If any member does not have the after hours maintenance instructions, they can contact the office for a copy to be sent to them.
So now you know why the co-op has had to change its maintenance process.
Urgent maintenance will still be actioned as soon as possible – this has not changed.
What has changed is how the co-op will now undertake non urgent, non life threatening and non safety maintenance jobs.
Non Urgent Jobs
Wednesday Mornings: Maintenance requests for the MAAC team reported after 3.00pm Thursday, all day Friday, all day Monday and up to 3.00pm Tuesday will be attended to Wednesday mornings.
Friday Mornings: Maintenance requests reported for the MAAC team after 3.00pm Tuesday, all day Wednesday and up to 3.00pm Thursday will be attended to Friday mornings.
As Required: Maintenance requests which require a contractor to attend. Contractor will be advised to liaise with the member for an appropriate time to attend.
Urgent / Life Threatening / Safety Issues Jobs
As Soon As Possible: As soon as a maintenance request is reported either a MAAC team member will be contacted to inspect the request or, a contractor will be called to attend.
REMEMBER if it is AFTER HOURS
Check with a NEIGHBOUR first, then contact the designated AFTER HOURS contact, if they are unavilable, then PHONE the after hours CONTRACTOR.