The new regulation 36A, which came into effect 6th April 2018, allows the annual landlords’ gas safety check expiry date to be retained each year, but the check itself can be carried out up to two months before the due date. This flexibility allows housing associations and local authorities to make significant savings.
What does that mean for you, the landlord?
Most landlords operate a 10 month cycle on gas serving to pre-empt any access issues and ensure they meet their legal responsibilities. This results in a large percentage of housing stock being serviced twice within each 12 month period. In the majority of cases, prompt access is gained, which shortens the inspection period, year on year. When this foreshortening of the cyclical check is multiplied, over the years and then by the number of properties in your portfolio the cost implications are substantial.
So substantial, that by merely switching on the MOT-style servicing within Servicesoft it can more than cover the costs of the software, this is before you even start to look at the many other efficiencies and cost savings that Servicesoft can bring to your organisation.
To find out exactly how much Servicesoft’s MOT-style profiling can save your organisation input your asset figures here.
So, how can we help?
Easy implementation:
Any concerns over expensive updates to IT systems and staff training are eradicated, simply tick the MOT-style servicing box within the software and watch Servicesoft take care of the rest, immediately saving you money.
Real-time compliance and retrospective insight:
Not only can Servicesoft demonstrate your compliance in real-time but it can retrospectively recalculate expiry dates for all properties based on when the rules came into effect. This benefits our clients saving up to one-fifth of the annual serving costs:
The example below shows a housing stock of 7,500 properties (shown in green) on a 10 month servicing cycle. In this example due to excessive expiry dates early in the financial year this results in a further 1,750 services (shown in blue) an additional 23%. Based on a service cost of £60 this equates to an annual saving of £105,000.
Automatic profiling of weekly capacities:
Servicesoft doesn’t stop there, it can automatically set weekly capacities taking into consideration any seasonal adjustments tailored to your organisational needs. Whether you want to perform all services over the summer months to leave winter free for reactive works, or prefer an even approach due to your engineers covering a large area. Servicesoft provides a way of creating the ideal weekly total, with the ability to individually tailor each one to your needs.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
The blues denote services moved to accommodate smoothing without affecting expiry dates.
Logistical savings automated:
This flexibility also enables savings to be gained by effectively grouping gas checks in nearby properties ensuring scheduling is no longer ruled simply by due dates but allows for a tighter geographical route to minimise transport costs and increase the number of engineers’ daily appointments.
Reduce heavy reliance on subcontractors:
Smoothing of your profile and deploying intelligent scheduling results in increased productivity, efficient use of engineers and can lead to savings on subcontractor usage.
Comprehensive audit trail:
Retaining records to show evidence of the consecutive gas safety checks on each property is vital.
Automatically profiling and resolving issues such as Christmas and Easter overcapacity and geographical spread, Servicesoft provides the most cost-effective and resource-efficient way of profiling your gas checks and maintaining an audit trail, within minutes!
What our clients say:
Servicesoft are ahead of the curve. In over 20 years we have been consistently impressed with both the software and the team. When comparing specifications with other software they are second to none!