What you can expect from our repair appointments

1. Inspection: Our roofing team will visit your home to carry out an inspection. They will need access to the property so they can see the affected area to work out where a leak is coming from.
2. Roof access: We will also need access to your roof. We will try to do this from a ladder or cherry picker but depending on access or the type of work this is not always possible immediately.
3. Scaffolding: If we need scaffolding, the repair operative will tell you and also let any other properties know that they will be affected. We try to erect the scaffold within five days. The scaffold contractor should tell you and your neighbours the exact date this will happen and arrange access. Once the scaffold is erected, it will be checked to ensure it is safe.
4. Insurance:You should inform your contents insurance provider that you have scaffold up as it may affect your insurance. We fit alarms to our scaffold for your security.
5. Repair: Within five days of the work being approved, we start the repair. We will let you know when we are coming and when we will leave. In some cases when we access the roof, the scope of the work may increase and we may need to make changes to the scaffold. We will let you know.
6. Complete: Once we complete the work, we will check within five days and confirm you're happy with the repair. Though rare, we may need more work or to ask a contractor to come back. If this happens, we will let you know.
7. Scaffold removal: We will remove the scaffolding 10 days after work is complete.

The whole process should take around 20 working days. Weather conditions may cause a delay, but we will let you know if that happens.

Having a roof repair can be stressful and difficult if you need any help managing the impacts in your home call 020 7527 5300 so we can provide you with the necessary help and support.

At any stage you can check on the progress of the work or talk to us about any concerns by contacting us on 080 0694 3344 or 020 7527 5400 or email repairs@islington.gov.uk.

1. Asbestos survey: To find out if there is asbestos, we will request an asbestos survey. We will tell you if the survey shows there's asbestos and if we need to remove it.
2. Regulatory safety: The type of asbestos and where it is can mean it takes longer to remove. When asbestos has been disturbed it is a hazardous material known to cause serious health problems. This means that we have to follow strict regulatory requirements and health and safety protocols.
3. Access to your home: We will need to access your home to plan and work out a plan to deal with the asbestos. Temporary accommodation may be needed for your safety, depending on how much asbestos there is and why we need to remove it.
4. Temporary accommodation: We will work alongside our tenancy team to arrange suitable temporary accommodation. Our contractor will follow strict procedures to set up contamination areas to prevent the spread of asbestos fibres and wear protective clothing to minimise exposure to it. The repairs team will keep you informed about progress and be available for any concerns you have.
5. Length of time: Because of these measures, this can extend our timeline up to 40 days.

We appreciate and understand these kinds of repairs may take longer in some cases and it can be a big inconvenience to you and other residents, but your and their wellbeing and safety is our top priority.

1. Prepare the area: You may need to prepare your home in the area that needs pest control treatment before the team arrives. This can include:
   • clearing clutter
   • removing food sources
   • making sure the area is accessible for treatment.
   If the area affected is not prepared properly, it can cause delays.
2. Contact and timeline: Once the Pest Control team has worked out what is needed, we will contact you to arrange an appointment for the work. These works can take up to 20 days to complete.

A leak isn't always a simple repair. For example, a leak affecting several properties can add to the challenge if we can't get access to all homes.

1. Access to your property: We will need access to your property to check the area that the leak is affecting.
2. Entering leaking or other affected properties: We will make contact with the property affecting yours. If we can talk to the resident and arrange a day and time, we will attend their property and carry out more checks to try and carry out a repair.
3. No access to leaking property: Sometimes we will not be able to make contact with the neighbouring property. Depending on the type of leak, we will decide to either force access or, if less urgent and the leak is containable, we will give you another appointment date. The neighbouring property will be provided with a ‘no access’ card and will leave a ‘what happens next’ card with you.
4. Type of leak: After inspection, these will all cause changes to repair time:
   • severity of the leak
   • location of the leak, for example, if a pipe is nestled into a concrete wall, making it difficult to reach with tools and equipment.
   • anything that affects safety of workers or structure of the property.
   More repairs might be necessary which will add time to when the repair will be completed
5. Updates: The supervisor of the specialist leak team will keep you updated of the progress of an ongoing leak repair.

Damp and mould repairs are difficult to solve and often take longer to complete because of:

• high demand
• limited resources
• access issues
• further investigation
• insurance claims
• legal and regulatory requirements.

Our process follows these steps.

1. Investigation: When you report damp and mould sometimes the extent of the damage needs more investigation. A surveyor will assess the situation and determine the underlying causes of damp and mould.
2. Damp survey for the future: A damp survey report will guide the repairs and prevent future chances of it coming back.
3. Insurance claims and their impact: Where insurance claims are filed, we have to wait until these are processed before we can start work. This is because claims can involve gathering evidence and documenting the damage. The insurance company have their own procedure and requirements that can add more time to repairs.
4. Extra precautions: During the repairs we or our contractors take extra precautions to stop future damp and mould. 
5. Legal requirements: While there might be delays and challenges we will ensure the repairs are carried out in accordance with insurance claims and legal requirements.

Find out more about damp and mould and what you can do to help control and prevent it.

Subsidence can take a very long time to measure, monitor and solve before a repair can even take place.

1. Structural assessment: After you have reported possible subsidence to us, we will make an appointment for a surveyor to inspect your home and conduct a structural assessment within seven working days.
2. Existing work request check: We will check to see if the block has an existing structural work request. If so, we will update the assessment and we will make an appointment with the surveying team.
3. Inspection report: The surveyor will complete an inspection report and take pictures of the identified structural issues. We send this to the loss adjusters if the surveyor believes the structural problem may be related to subsidence.
4. Loss adjusters: The loss adjusters will visit the address to carry out their own inspection and draft a report and we will confirm with you your contact details as this is the information that we will pass to them. We expect the loss adjusters will contact you to schedule an appointment within five working days. If this does not happen, contact us and we will escalate this.
5. Monitoring and repair (takes about a year): The subsidence monitoring and repair process can be very long. The loss adjuster might decide to monitor the issue, usually for a period of 12 months, before they recommend repair work.
6. Gathering data for surveyors (a year to 18 months): The loss adjusters will also manage the investigation and conduct a monitoring process for seasonal movement. This can take 12 to 18 months to gather data and present it to our surveying team.
7. Final decision and planning of works if needed: Once a final decision has been made our surveyors and the loss adjuster will schedule in a joint appointment and draw up the scope of works if needed.