COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, April 08, 2019

HEADED ITEM NO. 11

Accelerated Planned Maintenance Programme

Overview

The Council’s social housing stock comprised 9,395 homes at the end of 2018 with a housing maintenance revenue budget of €16.2 million for 2019. Planned maintenance works to windows and doors have been undertaken on an annual basis as part of the Housing Maintenance programme for a number of years to protect and improve the housing stock assets of the Council. These works primarily involved extensive repairs or renewals to return windows and doors in Council rented dwellings to an appropriate standard, improving home energy efficiency and reducing the need for ongoing minor maintenance works.

To date, the planned annual maintenance works are prioritised and scheduled in annual works programme having regard for the available budget, based on maintenance requests from tenants and subsequent inspection and grading of the windows/doors. Approximately €720k per annum is ring-fenced from the housing maintenance budget for these works with many additional minor maintenance requests also being carried out to windows and doors from the response maintenance budget. Significant additional resources are also provided annually for painting works to windows/doors and communal/external areas of certain multi-family developments and older persons’ housing developments with these works being carried out both by direct labour painting staff and contractors through response maintenance and re-let repairs rather than through a specific dedicated annual programme of works.

It is apparent from maintenance requests, inspections, surveys and stock analysis that, despite the ongoing works, a large number of homes still require windows/doors installation and upgrade works which would take a considerable number of years to complete under the current annual programme. In addition, it is appropriate to now provide a structured painting programme to replace the current he ad hoc approach to painting and also to promptly deliver common and improved standards across our housing stock both to protect the performance and longevity of existing windows/doors as well as enhance the appearance and condition of multi-family and older persons’ developments.

In this context, commitments were made to the Elected Members during the Annual Budget process that proposals for an accelerated programme of works would be prepared in 2019 to accelerate delivery of:

Members also requested certain specific works for Balgaddy estate having regard to the particular conditions of homes and communal areas there.

In addition, it is proposed that the following works will also be delivered under this programme:

Identifying Homes for Inclusion on Windows/Doors, Painting Programmes

Windows/Doors Programmes:

To ascertain the exact number of homes requiring window and door replacement/painting for the accelerated planned maintenance programme, a number of resources and approaches were used:

Following analysis of the data returned through each of the exercises above, a numbers of homes have been identified as requiring the following works:

Electoral Area

Complete Refurbishment

  (No. of Homes)

Replacement Front and/or Back Windows

(No. of Units)

Replacement Front and/or Back Door

(No. of Units)

Painting Windows/ Doors

 (No. Homes)

Tallaght Central

122

60

16

63

Tallaght South

308

146

112

729

Templeogue/Terenure/Rathfarnham

55

12

6

8

Lucan

27

9

3

80

Clondalkin

257

169

88

291

TOTAL

769

396

228

1,171

Painting of Communal and Other Areas in Multi-Household and Older Persons’ Housing Developments:

A number of multi-household developments in the County have been identified as requiring painting upgrades to specific communal areas and communal doors providing an uplift to the living environment for residents. The stock analysis has identified an estimated number of communal doors/areas to be serviced in this programme as follows:

Electoral Area

No. of Communal Areas

Tallaght South

65

Clondalkin

82

TOTAL

147

The proposed painting of Older Persons’ housing developments in the County will involve upgrades to 330 older persons’ homes that are more than 10 years old to improve the appearance and living environment for residents. The specific homes to be painted under this aspect of the programme have been identified as follows:

Electoral Area

No. of Homes

Tallaght Central

72

Tallaght South

34

Templeogue/Terenure/Rathfarnham

19

Lucan

55

Clondalkin

150

TOTAL

330

Costs and Financing

A detailed costing exercise of the various works required has been undertaken based on the identified number of homes requiring works, current market rates (including contingencies and overheads) as well as possible economies of scale and value for money that should be achieved through procurement.

The current estimated total costs for the various areas of this programme are estimated at approximately €10.75m, broken down as follows:

Given that a comprehensive procurement process is about to commence for these works, in-depth calculations of these costs are not being provided in this report.

In line with the commitment to Elected Members to deliver this accelerated works programme, funding for the works will be separate from the Annual Budget and will be from the Council’s own resources, central government remedial/energy efficiency works funding where appropriate and borrowings where necessary.

Rationale for Works

It is anticipated that investment in accelerated delivery of these works will have consequential future reductions in both response maintenance costs and the planned maintenance provision in the Council’s Annual Revenue Budget for housing maintenance.   It will provide a “year zero” for maintenance of this nature at a point in time with high standard, energy efficient and well-presented housing stock, with backlogs of outstanding maintenance requests cleared as well as reducing maintenance requests going forward. This will support the Housing Department’s move to a new integrated housing system in 2020 for enhanced customer engagement and management of housing maintenance and stock.

Carrying out additional painting works to multi-household and older persons’ developments in conjunction with the other planned painting works maximises the efficiencies, economies of scale and value for money arising from engagement of direct labour staff and painting contractors.

In addition the safety works, the painting of multi-family and older persons’ developments and the Balgaddy specific works will improve the standard, condition and appearance of various elements of our housing stock enhancing the living environment as well as adding to the overall asset improvement theme of the planned maintenance programme.

Safety Works:

Having regard for best practice and legislative rental standards, it is proposed to commence new installations or upgrade of existing smoke/heat monitors, carbon monoxide monitors and window restrictors where required in Council rented dwellings.

Previous works undertaken by the Council in 2009 included providing ten year self-contained battery operated smoke/heat monitors in properties and these are now due for renewal. In addition, where Council rented dwellings are vacant for refurbishment and re-letting, required monitors and window restrictors are installed in the property as standard.

Records of these works along with information in relation to new builds and acquisitions to housing stock provides a profile of homes requiring installation/replacement of monitors and/or window restrictors which will inform the safety works programme now being proposed across the Council’s housing stock.

Balgaddy Specific Works:

There are 448 homes in the Balgaddy area, comprising of three-storey apartments and terraced two-storey houses. There have been specific ongoing maintenance and other issues arising in the area and a pilot enhanced maintenance/estate management initiative has commenced in response to the issues raised by local residents and elected representatives. In addition to works to windows/doors and communal areas in Balgaddy under the programmes outlined above, further works have been identified in comprehensive local inspections and surveys as being required to address the following:

These works will be complemented by estate management, community and miscelleanous funded measures including:

Procurement, Delivery and Future Maintenance

To achieve accelerated delivery of the works outlined above, specific procurement processes have been identified and will commence shortly for the establishment of multi-party framework agreements for both the installation of windows/doors and the professional refurbishment of the previously painted internal and external surfaces of Council rented homes.

The framework agreement for the installation of windows/doors will be a two-stage restricted procedure to identify and appoint up to five suitable contractors to each of two areas across the County (subject to that number of operators meeting the minimum criteria and rules) to provide for accelerated commencement and delivery of the contract.  In addition, an open procurement procedure will be used to establish a framework for painting works which will provide a range of suitable contractors to deliver the required programme of works as soon as possible and in tandem with the use of the Council’s direct labour painting team (including recruitment of apprentice painters through the Council’s apprenticeship scheme).

The safety works will involve contracts for the supply of the necessary materials and an analysis of the best method of installation having regard for direct labour resources as well as delivery of similar schemes undertaken by the Council for private homes.

Procurement for Balgaddy specific works will involve both direct labour resources and procurement of additional individual supplies and services as required. 

Contractors will be engaged in line with the Council's Corporate Procurement Plan through procurement processes that include competitive pricing, economic assessments and securing value for money. 

Dedicated resources will be in place to ensure effective staff and contract management supported by a tenant communications plan with the objective of delivering all of the programmes by the end of 2020.  

Summary

Delivery of an efficient and effective maintenance service is critical to the proper management of our social housing stock as well as improving the service to our tenants and this plan supports a strategic move towards more cost effective housing maintenance. As outlined above, this comprehensive works programme minimises future response maintenance activity and costs in certain areas of housing maintenance which in turn will support increasing planned maintenance activities across the rest of the housing maintenance programme in future. The safety works outlined will provide essential upgrades and preventative measures for tenants’ protection and well-being. The plan also takes the opportunity to deliver improvements to living environments for households and older persons in certain housing developments as well as providing a comprehensive response to specific local issues in Balgaddy.  Accordingly, it is considered that the significant investment involved is justified, will deliver considerable immediate and long-lasting benefits to residents of Council rented dwellings, their living environment and to the condition, appearance and management of our housing stock assets.