Winter is in full swing and as the rain is covering the majority of Scotland, many homeowners will be feeling the pressure when emergency repairs start popping up in their tenements.
With rainy weather imminent, many people will be looking for advice on emergency, common repairs.
The common repairs process set out by the TMS (Tenement Management Scheme) is very long and drawn out; requires a majority vote and a 28-day waiting period before a repair can be done. However, if a repair is considered an emergency, it can be repaired immediately. No voting and no waiting period.
Tenement Management Scheme
The Tenement Management Scheme Rule 7.3 defines “emergency work” as the following:
“For the purposes of this rule, “emergency work” means work which, before a scheme decision can be obtained, requires to be carried out to scheme property—
- to prevent damage to any part of the tenement, or
- in the interests of health or safety.”
The Process
Step 1: Complete the repair and pay the trader
As mentioned above, in an emergency, there is no need to get the owners to vote before getting work done. The first step is to contact a trader to do the repair. Please note that you will need to pay this trader and then recover the shares from all of the other owners.
Step 2: Create the repair on a dedicated app and recover your money
Once you’ve been in contact with a trader and the work is set to take place, you can start by creating the repair report on the app here. Once you’ve received the invoice from the trader, upload it to the app for everyone to see. Follow the repair process as usual and once the repair reaches the payment stage, all owners will have been notified to pay their share.
As soon as all shares have been received, the full payment will then be refunded to the owner that made the payment for the repair.
Water or Gas Emergency
If the emergency that you are facing is a water or gas emergency, you can contact Scottish Gas or Scottish Water:
Scottish Water: +44 (008) 0007 7877
Scottish Gas: +44 (008) 0011 1999
