Honourable and personal residential letting experts

We manage hundreds of properties within a 15 mile radius of St Ives. A key aspect of the service we provide property Owners is ensuring we have a range of competent, qualified, reliable and good value contractors to complete the works Owners need to meet their obligations under the tenancy and maintain the value of the property.

We strive to ensure our systems make life easier for our contractor partners, with clear work instructions, reliable payments and a regular flow of work, all of which reduces contractor costs and allows a focus on delivering a good job. In exchange, we expect reliability, attentiveness and good value work.

We try to ensure we give our contractor partners enough work to ensure we are a valued customer. However at times of peak workload, or or contractor partners being unavailabile, we need to add to our team of reliable partner contractors.

We are currently looking for contractors who can complete the following services:

Handyman

Small repairs, removing items, minor gardening

Decorating

Internal and external, patching repairs to full redecoration

Roofing

Addressing leaks

If you are keen to work with us and are content to follow the standards below, please get in touch for a chat or email us on PM@maxinelester.co.uk.

When requesting work Maxine Lester Lettings and Property Management (MLLPM) are doing so on behalf of the property Owner, meaning contractors are contracting with the Owner through MLLPM. The following are the Rules and Standards we require of our Contractor Partners:

Service Quality and Conduct

You and your staff will complete work professionally and be respectful to the residents and their home.

Properties will be left at least as clean as you found them, and you will remove all your own debris, packaging etc.

All works requested will either be completed by you promptly or you will notify MLLPM of outstanding or consequential works, e.g. decorating where sockets or control panels have been moved.

You are responsible for ensuring you and your staff understand the works required.

You are responsible for ensuring you and your staff comply with all relevant Health and Safety requirements. You must notify MLLPM if you feel any aspect is unsafe or there are injuries on site.

We usually require you to take photographs before and after any work that we can share with the Owner to help them see the value of your work.

Properties can only be accessed with resident permission unless there is an urgent safety or property protection issue. You will be required to contact tenants to arrange access.
Where residents agree you can access using MLLPM keys, these are available at our office. Keys must be returned to the office promptly, certainly within 2 working days of work being completed.

Any keys must not be stored with anything showing the property address.

You will not share contact details of the Owner or Resident, or any other information about them, to anyone other than to manage your business (e.g. accountant).

Service Delivery

MLLPM will email a work order to explain the works required and give any details needed. If any aspect of the works is unclear or open to interpretation then you need to contact MLLPM to clarify what is required.

Only work requested should be completed, unless additional work can be completed at no extra cost, or work is urgently required to protect the safety of people or the building. In every case, you should first aim to get MLPM approval.

The Resident is NOT authorised to request works from you. If they request work, you must advise MLLPM so we can ensure all works to the property are handled properly.

If you become aware of any other maintenance issues whilst on the premises, then please let MLLPM know. Particularly anything which appears to be an ongoing issue which will place the residents or building at risk, or will result in higher cost to repair if it is not addressed quickly, e.g. a leak.

Where damage to the property is necessary to effect a repair or complete an investigation, this must be agreed with MLLPM.

It is important to identify relevant options and risks, e.g. a full fix may be more expensive than a running repair, but the running repair may not carry any warranty. MLLPM can then agree a decision with the Owner.

Warranty

We need evidence of you holding current, valid Public Liability Insurance equivalent to at least £1m covering the services in question.

We need evidence of your relevant memberships, qualifications and accreditations to cover your services, where appropriate.

Any parts or materials you supply which fail will be replaced at no cost to MLLPM or the Owner if they were fitted within the last year. If the manufacturers or suppliers warranty is longer than one years, this time should apply. This excludes agreed consumable items (e.g. light bulbs, batteries).

If any parts are fitted or investigations undertaken which need re-work due to your poor workmanship or advice, you will be expected to meet the full cost of any rectification works.

If any existing items are repaired, or restorative works done such as decorating or cleaning, then you will be expected to meet the full cost of any corrective work to this which becomes apparent when the work is checked or the item used for an appropriate period, usually one month.

Charges

All charges will be at the best market price in order to ensure value for money for the property Owners.

All regular charge rates and fees will need agreeing with MLLPM in advance of works being completed.

Where possible all works over £250 will need quotes in advance to be agreed with the Owner. These should be provided at no cost to MLLPM. Any quotes provided must be for the full cost of getting the work done. Where this is not possible quotes must identify other works required to finish the work.

Where it is more economical to complete the work without a quote this must be agreed with MLLPM where practical.

Periodically MLLPM will test value of works against other providers to ensure value for money.

A marketing fee of at least 10% of the works value before VAT will be charged by MLLPM for all works. This fee reflects the reduced costs to you of marketing, administration and customer liaison from working with MLLPM. This should NOT be added to your charges – Owners should get the same cost for works managed via us as if they worked with you directly.

Administration

Completed works need to be notified to MLLPM on the day the work is completed or within four working hours of completion.

Progress reports on all outstanding work orders which are more than two weeks old will be needed by the end of each week

All quotes and invoices will be provided by email in PDF format, clearly showing the property address.

Invoices for works should be received within two weeks of works being completed. Invoices received later than six weeks after works have been completed will not be accepted or paid.

For major works an interim invoice may be agreed with MLLPM

Invoices are normally paid from the first rent payment received following receipt of the invoice. Payment is normally made within one week of the rent being received.