Customers to act as inspectors for Decent Homes work

A new inspection system for Decent Homes work has been set up by Sheffield Homes.  The scheme means that customer representatives on the Sheffield Homes board will be offered the opportunity to inspect the work of the contractors themselves and report back to managers and other members of the Board on their findings.

 

Jack Foster, Sheffield Homes customer and board member has just completed the first of the inspections. Carried out over two and a half days, Jack looked at the work of Decent Homes partners; Lovell, Connaught, Mears, Kier and Keepmoat. For each contractor he viewed a home ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ Decent Homes work and was able to ask what customers thought of a variety of issues, including attitude of workmen, quality of the work, information provided, and time taken to complete the work. Interviews with customers took place without Sheffield Homes or partner contractors’ staff present and the customer inspector randomly selected some of the customers questioned.

 

Jack comments ‘It’s crucial that we listen to our customers and get their perspective about work being carried out. As a customer myself, who has had home improvement work carried out I can offer a direct understanding of their take on issues. I found that customers were positive about the work and where there had been minor snags, these had been sorted out promptly.’