Bolton at Home, a housing association managing and maintaining more than 18,000 homes across the Greater Manchester area, appointed Pennington Choices to provide 800 urgent tier two damp and mould surveys across a range of their domestic properties. Six of our expert surveyors were allocated to the project and successfully carried out the works to a high standard within a short timeframe of four months.
From the start of the project, Bolton at Home received detailed communication so that everyone was clear on: the contract scope, requirements, key turnaround times, communication strategy, data collection process, reporting process, and how often we would attend formal progress meetings.
To stress test the policies and procedures agreed upon, and check that the client was happy with our survey quality and approach, Pennington Choices conducted a pilot study of 32 properties. During this pilot exercise, any issues were quickly identified and resolved through two progress meetings.
Although happy with our survey template during the pilot exercise, Bolton at Home later asked us to amend the template slightly to better suit their needs. Therefore, the template was swiftly amended to include the schedule of rates and the details of the estimated sizes and quantities of areas that required remedial work. Our adaptation of the template allowed us to collect specific data, providing richer outcomes and enhanced insights, allowing Bolton at Home to receive a bespoke survey template which included pre-loaded schedules of rates for labour and materials.
For the first month of the project, we attended weekly progress meetings to ensure that our service delivery was meeting Bolton at Home’s expectations, attending monthly progress meetings thereafter.
Following survey completion, Bolton at Home received concise, comprehensive PDF reports detailing: the existence of any damp and mould found within the property, possible causes and any environmental conditions that might be detrimental to health, and recommended remedial works.
All reports were quality assured by our dedicated QA team to ensure a consistently high quality of service delivery, and with the use of simPRO (our job management system), all aspects of the project were managed thoroughly, from job order and team dispatch to client communications and invoicing. The collection of data and report writing were further managed by the SafetyCulture app which our surveyors use on their handheld tablet devices.
Pennington Choices successfully delivered a large volume of surveys (800) within a short timeframe (four months) for Bolton at Home. We completed all surveys and reports within the required 10-day turnaround period and achieved a high access rate into properties of 97%.
Throughout the course of the contract, we maintained a strong professional relationship with Bolton at Home, and were able to provide a consistently high-quality service through: our careful management of the pilot project, communicating effectively during regular progress meetings, and by quality assuring 100% of all reports.
"The surveys were conducted in a "just in time" approach, within a short timeframe, giving careful consideration to accommodate appointments to Bolton at Home's residents' needs."
- Senior Project Manager at Bolton at Home