Repairs & Maintenance Partnering, Bromley

The purpose of this project is to develop a long-term strategic partnering arrangement between Broomleigh Housing Association and Geoffrey Osborne Ltd. to deliver a responsive repair and maintenance service to 8,000 social housing properties in the Bromley area including emergency repairs and work to empty properties but excluding gas heating.

• Sept 98 Osborne started working with Broomleigh to deliver the repairs service to approx 3,000 properties using a traditional schedule of rates contract.
• May to Nov 99 a pilot was undertaken to trial the new partnering arrangement. Results are audited and benchmarked against other traditional contracts to compare quality, satisfaction, service and cost. The pilot was successful and the partnering approach was extended.
• April 2000 The partnering was extended to an area of 8,000 properties and for a five-year initial period. Results continue to be good and a significant improvement on previous contracts.
• Aug 2001 The Broomleigh/Osborne partnership is extended to include kitchen renewals. Performance is benchmarked against traditionally tendered contracts and shows significant benefits.
• Sept 03 Osborne are selected as one of Broomleigh's partners for the delivery of the major works programme. The value of planned works will be approx £4 million per annum and will commence on site in Spring 2004.

Repair and maintenance work has traditionally been done according to a schedule of rates. The system promotes overspending because it encourages contractors to look for extras and discourages them from thinking about economy. Also, schedule of rates contracts invariably involve high levels of administration there is greater potential for conflict between contractors' and clients' staff. Broomleigh and Osborne have worked together over the last five years to reverse these factors, cut bureaucracy and focus on customer needs.

The client has benefited from a significant reduction in management overheads, as residents now call the contractor direct to report repairs. The contractor also benefits from the reduction in administration and a long-term partnership with reasonable levels of profit.