National Housing Maintenance Forum

2a The use of open book and target costing within advanced partnering

Value Based Solutions has been working successfully with many housing providers to engineer out significant waste and inefficiency through their Value Based Management “lean” approach which incorporates advanced partnering principles.

Successful partnering which incorporates techniques such as Open Book and Target Costing has been shown to deliver significant savings for housing providers who have been able to integrate these approaches into their advanced partnering agreements. They have been able to overcome the confusion, prevalent in the industry, about how and when these tools should be applied, have rebutted recent criticism of the partnering approach and have realised the scale of benefits originally envisaged.

This session, drawing on real examples developed in the automotive industry and then applied in housing will give a practical insight into how Open Book and Target Costing can be applied successfully in your organisation.

If you are serious about realising the true benefits of partnering and associated techniques, come along to this interactive session which will provide an opportunity to view and discuss these techniques.

2b Vetting and Managing subcontractors – avoiding the bear traps

Subcontractors are a common feature of modern maintenance services and supply chains, and play a crucial role in protecting and projecting the image of their housing clients.

This workshop will be an interactive event that considers trends in the use of subcontractors. It will explore the steps that asset management practitioners can take in order to ensure that subcontractors, whether they are employed by contractors or through internal maintenance service providers, are appropriately selected, vetted and managed.

The session will include practical examples of where subcontractors are making a positive contribution and where and how problems arise. Practical advice on selection and performance management will be discussed and delegates attending the workshop will be presented with a subcontractor selection and management checklist which can be used in their own organisations.

2c What residents want – partnerships in maintenance

Repairs and maintenance is consistently the most important issue for residents as evidenced by countless organisational, local and national tenant surveys.  As the Housing Sector gets two new regulators in the Tenant Services Authority and the National Tenants Voice and faces an overhaul of tenant involvement with the move towards Resident Led Self Regulation, how should housing providers engage with residents on the key issue of repairs and maintenance?

This interactive session offers an overview of the key national issues and looks at emerging best practice in resident engagement to suggest practical ways of working with residents on maintenance and service delivery to provide satisfaction and value for money.

2d Periodic inspection reporting

This session is intended to provide information to landlords and housing maintenance staff relating to electrical periodic inspection reporting procedures. It will include information relating to:

• why periodic inspection reporting is important
• actions required following receipt of periodic inspection reports
• periodicity for periodic inspection reporting
• common electrical departures relating to domestic properties

The session will also include the requirements for electrical certification relating to remedial work.

2e Bib & braces to world class services - evolution or do we need a revolution?

In an ever-changing business environment, this session will challenge delegates about how well leaders within the maintenance profession are appropriately skilled and trained to remain the leaders of today and tomorrow.

Wayne will also promote debate about our track record in being able/willing to drive and influenced change, how far we have moved to champion and embrace the needs of both internal and external customers, how we have promoted innovation and true collaborative working.