In 2008 Pennington Choices were appointed as gas quality assurance advisors to Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT). Since then we have worked with the client to establish a clear methodology to deliver our gas auditing and related consultancy services across a significant number of properties. KHT provide homes for around 25,000 people. Their housing stock includes houses, bungalows, sheltered housing schemes, and low rise and multi-storey accommodation across 14,000 properties in Knowsley, Merseyside.
The Challenge
KHT needed specialist gas installation expertise to support the delivery of their gas servicing, maintenance and new installation programmes scheduled for their extensive housing stock. To ensure KHT remained compliant with gas regulations, and best practice was followed, they needed a suitably qualified and experienced team of gas consultants.
What We Did
We agreed a plan and delivered a programme of sample audit inspections of gas installations to assess the quality of work completed by our client’s in-house contractors. Following each inspection, we generated a scored assessment to measure compliance. Throughout the life of our contract, our scored assessments have been used as part of monthly trend reports to track the progress and level of quality of KHT’s on-going gas works. Using our quality assurance checks, our client can monitor their contactors’ compliance levels against the then Audit Commission’s guidance on managing gas safely and best practice.
Our Achievements
As an experienced gas consultancy and multi-disciplinary training provider, we have worked with KHT’s contractor employees to improve performance and the quality of safety checks undertaken. As a result we have expanded our IT auditing software with the help of KHT. We now undertake a variety of compliance based assessments and have introduced electronic data capture to collect, validate and submit completed audits. This allows for seamless data transfer and the immediate distribution of information.
"The annual gas safety quality assurance service provided by Pennington Choices is of a high and professional standard. The inspections provide informative information on a weekly and monthly basis that allows us as a client to address issues in a timely manner to ensure the safety of our residents."
- Ken Browne, Programme Manager, Knowsley Housing Trust