Formal complaint to RBH over 'substandard' work

Formal complaint to RBH over 'substandard' work

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Mr and Mrs Tennant have been left feeling ‘bullied’ after 'substandard plastering and rewiring work' was carried out at their home in Heywood by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) in October.

The work was ‘completed’ on 28 October; despite there being obvious gaps under light switches, rough and uneven plastering, visible and bare uncased wires and holes in the plasterwork.

Mrs Tennant was appalled at the state of the work, and refused to sign the work off, describing it as ‘shocking’. She told Rochdale Online the officer from RBH ran his hand over the plasterwork, nodding his approval that it was carried out to a satisfactory standard, commenting ‘we need to get this signed off’ rather than resolve the problems.

Page nine of the RBH Tenants’ Information Pack reads: “You will only be expected to sign the handover form when you are satisfied with the completed work.”

After an RBH officer and the plasterer returned on 14 November, Mrs Tennant, was left feeling like she was being bullied into signing the work off without being satisfied with the finish.

She says the plasterer, who was satisfied with the work, made excuses such as “I can’t plaster that straight because the plaster underneath it is not very good”, “I can’t plaster that level because there is a wire in the way” and “I can’t level off that plaster because it feels fine to me.”

She also told Rochdale Online how the CEO of the electrical company carrying out the work turned up unannounced at her home later that day and said: “Have you calmed down yet?” after she had spent the morning in tears after feeling pressured into signing off the work.

Mrs Tennant said: “RBH has had little regard since the completion of the works to resolving the matter. It seems to me they want to fob you off with excuses and leave you to pick up the pieces.

“It's not the first time RBH has delivered a poor standard of work, their track record with us is not good. To make us feel so belittled and worthless is hardly what you would expect from a social housing provider.

“It seems that they have forgotten that we are people, we have families, these are our homes; we are not worthless beings to be spoken to and treated in this way.

“Relationships don’t sour because everything is going well, they sour because clearly one side is defective in the communication to the other party. We feel the officers involved have been far from professional, with incredibly low standards of acceptable work, no concern for tenants and a blatant disregard for our wellbeing.”

A storage container provided by RBH at the beginning of the works to hold the Tennants’ possessions whilst work was ongoing was also removed against the agreement made.

She said: “We feel this is a knee-jerk reaction to the officer failing to research the necessary Highways permit for blocking road access.”

Obstructing the highway without a permit can result in a fine of up to £1,000 under the Highways Act 1980.

In addition to this, the Tennants feel behaviour from the officers has been far from professional. A hard copy of an email was discovered at her home after an electrician left a list he was working from. Mrs Tennant found the list and describes the end of the email as ‘hinting at the context with which the officer views the Tennants’.

She was told by RBH officers the email was the list of concerns she and her husband had emailed days before.

Part of the email goes on to say: ““For me, the majority is fine, looks a little rushed, but given the age of the house, etc.”

Mrs Tennant said: “These comments imply that we should put up with substandard work because we live in social housing. Stately homes are far older than our property, yet they manage to have beautifully smooth walls.”

The Tennants later sought independent reviews, which deemed the work to be ‘of poor quality’ with ‘potentially dangerous covering of the wiring’. As a result, Mrs and Mrs Tennant have requested a HHSRS inspection as they are concerned the quality of the work has compromised electrical safety.

They have formally complained to RBH about the work carried out and the attitudes of the officers involved.

A spokesperson for RBH said: “We have received a complaint from a tenant on Albert Street in Heywood and we are working to resolve the issues raised.

“We arranged to meet with our tenant on Friday 9 December and we hope for a productive meeting which can resolve the concerns.”

The work was initially agreed after an electrical safety test earlier this year in accordance with RBH’s requirements.