Repair Service
The Erimus Housing repair service is provided by the in-house repair and maintenance organisation called Erimus Building Services (EBS).
EBS directly employs a range of operatives from the various building trades, such as plumbers, electricians, plasterers and bricklayers to maintain and repair your home. Gas fitters are also employed to service and repair your heating appliances.
In peak demand, EBS engages with selected sub-contactors to help provide the service.
EBS is also one of three partners carrying out a £103m improvement programme to bring all our properties up to the Government’s Decent Homes Standard.
A guide to repairs
What is a responsive repair?
This is when we react to a request for help from one of our tenants. Examples include repairing a cracked window, unblocking a drain or remedying a plumbing or electrical fault.
How can I report a repair?
We want to ensure that residents can access our service as easily as possible. You can do this in a number of ways:
- Repair line – this is a dedicated phone line which can be used to report repairs, make repair enquiries, and includes the out of hours call-out service. The number is: 08000 461 600 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Housing offices – you can report repairs at any of the local area housing offices, at Homechoice on Corporation Road in Middlesbrough or at the main Erimus Housing headquarters at Centre North East on Albert Road in the town.
- Online – you may choose to report a repair by using our Repairs Form on this website.
- Staff members – you can report a repair to any company representative during a home visit.
- Written requests – you can also make written requests to any housing office or at Erimus Housing's HQ.
How does Erimus Housing respond to these repairs?
We own around 11,000 homes and respond to more than 30,000 requests for assistance each year. We recognise that some repairs are more urgent than others and prioritise requests in the following way:
- Emergency - attended to within two hours and completed within 24 hours
- Urgent - completed within three to seven days
- Routine - completed within 15 working days
How do I report a repair?
You can report a repair by:
- Phoning freephone 08000 461600
- Calling in to your local housing office
- Logging on to our website at www.erimushousing.co.uk
- Emailing us at repairs@erimushousing.co.uk
- Completing a repair request form and returning it using the freepost option
What happens once I report a repair?
You will be asked for the following information:
- Your full name and address
- Your name if you are making the request on behalf of the tenant
- As clear a description as possible of the work required
- Information on access to the property
- Any special circumstances, for example, if you are elderly or disabled
Is there an emergency repairs service out of office hours?
Our repairs service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is full cover during normal office hours with reduced cover available outside these times. Please be aware this reduced cover service is only intended to provide a response where your health and safety is judged to be severely and immediately at risk or serious damage is taking place to the property, e.g. a fast water leak or burst. If you have an emergency repair out of normal office hours, ring Erimus Housing on freephone 08000 461600.
What about allowing access?
Please allow anyone who works for us access to your home to inspect it or to carry out work to yours or an adjoining property. If you have made arrangements to allow access when ordering the repair, please make sure you keep to them so we can carry it out for you. Our members of staff are trained to show you their identification and tell you their name before entering your home. Please do not let anyone into your home without seeing their identification first. If you are unsure of their identity, please call us on freephone 08000 461600 before allowing them into your home.
Do you have a code of conduct?
Yes. Anyone representing Erimus who attends your home to carry out work must ensure it is carried out with the minimum of disruption to you and with respect for you and your home. A copy of the code of conduct is available at all our area housing offices.
Can I make an appointment?
For urgent or routine work, we will arrange a morning or afternoon appointment with you when you report the repair. Once an appointment has been made, please let us know if you are unable to keep it and we will rearrange it for you. Contact us on freephone 08000 461600.
Can I give feedback on the repair?
When the operative arrives at your home, you will be given a short satisfaction survey asking you for views on the repairs service you were given and the standard of work carried out. You can return this to us in the pre-paid envelope provided.
What if I am not satisfied with the work carried out?
If the repair has been completed but you are not satisfied with:
- The workmanship
- The extent of the work Incidental damage which may have been caused
- You do not feel the fault has been remedied
- You disagree that the repair is not Erimus Housing’s responsibility
Please contact us to explain the problem. If the matter is not resolved, you can follow our corporate complaints procedure. You can ask for information on the process at your local housing office or by ringing us.
What about asbestos in the home?
Asbestos was used in building materials until the mid 1980s. As long as it remains undamaged, it is safe. We have policies and procedures for managing asbestos that include surveying buildings to find out where asbestos is present so that we can decide the safest way of dealing with it.
