Visits

Our grounds contractors will visit the majority of our sites 26 times in a full year, some areas have 24 visits per year. This means they will carry out two visits per month, with approximately 15 days between each visit.

During the visits, we carry out the works below:

Summer works - April to November

• Grass cutting. We ‘cut and mulch’ to reduce green waste costs. This is an eco-friendly method of mowing where the cut grass is shredded into tiny particles which are then blown back deep into the lawn so you can’t see them. We aim to leave a tidy finish.
• Pruning of hedges and shrubs, so access routes and windows are kept clear
• Weed control
• Litter collection from all areas

We mainly work on shrub beds during winter. During the summer, we only carry out containment pruning on shrubs where it’s required. This means flowering shrubs are allowed to reach their full potential.

Winter works – November to March

• Winter pruning. This includes reducing shrubs and hedges, as well as general tidying of all areas.
• Grass edging, which means we cut the edges of the grass back to create straight edges
• Moss control. We use chemical and mechanical clearance methods to stay on top of moss growth over the winter period.
• Litter clearance from shrub borders, hedges, grass and paved areas
• Leaf clearance from shrub borders, hedges, grass and paved areas

Work not included in your standard grounds maintenance service

• Tree works. If you think that we need to carry out work on a tree/group of trees located on land we own, please fill out this form.
• Any installation works, such as installing seating, bins, plants
• Bulky waste collection. We generally recommend contacting your local council as they may have a collection service, but you can also contact the Environment Agency for advice.

All cleaning activities are carried out every two weeks as standard, at a minimum. There may be some variations to this where there is a static cleaner, or if we’ve agreed other arrangements with you for an additional service charge. Fortnightly cleaning generally consists of the following tasks:

• Vacuuming carpeted floors
• Wiping/polishing of internal glass to stairways and handrails
• Wiping/polishing air vents and any wall mounted furniture such as light switches or alarm points
• Wiping/cleaning communal door frames, doors and furniture
• Cleaning marks off the wall where possible. If marks can’t be removed, this is reported to us.
• Sweeping and mopping hard floors
• Cleaning entrance signs
• Cleaning any glass surfaces in entrance doors and windows
• Clearing advertising flyers from communal entrance areas
• Checking for rubbish in bin areas and placing rubbish in the bin
• Monthly washing of bin store areas
• Cleaning all surfaces and touch points in lifts
• Reporting of bulky waste in hallways and on site

If there is an additional cleaning issue not covered by the above, this will be reported, and then addressed as necessary.

Only external communal windows are included in this service. It includes:

• Entrance points, surrounding frames and glazing on windows and doors
• Corridor windows to stairwell and glazed walkways
• Glass and frames of external windows, as well as window ledges, where accessible

These can’t always be accessed, and bad weather such as ice, snow or strong winds may also restrict our contractors’ access.

Window cleaning for Independent Living homes

We clean all windows in Independent Living, Extra Care and Supported Living homes. We can include any conservatories or glass roof areas by arrangement.

We clean the glass and frames of external windows, and window ledges, where accessible.

These can’t always be accessed, and bad weather such as ice, snow or strong winds may also restrict our contractors’ access.

We care about the standard of the estates where our customers live and it’s our aim that every customer is proud of the place they call home. We work together with customers and partners to achieve our estate standards, which we organise into four key pillars: safe, well maintained, clean and tidy, and sustainable.

Please visit this page early next year when we’ll be sharing with you more information about the standards customers can expect to see in our Orbit communities, so that we can be held to account when it comes to achieving these.

Performance Monitoring and Key Performance Indicators

KPI 1 Quality of workmanship

A site Estate Inspection will take place within 3 working days after a visit, across a minimum of 10% of sites each month by the Contract standards Manager and the contractor themselves will self-audit 10%. Each site will be scored and measured as follows:

• Green – The site has met all aspects of the specification
• Amber – The site has met most aspects of the specification, however areas which have resulted in an amber score will be expected to be resolved on the next scheduled visit
• Red  - The site hasn’t met the specification and a rectification visit will be required within 3 working days that resolves the highlighted issues
• Within the contract no more than 20% of the sample can score amber and no more than 5% can score red.

KPI 2 Schedule Adherence

• The contractor is required to visit sites in line with the agreed quarterly schedule. Is a site is missed or cancelled the contractor is to make Orbit aware at the earliest opportunity and reschedule the visit to take place within 3 working days.

KPI 3 Rectification works 

• The contractor is required to complete rectification works within 3 working days of a site being classed as being red.

KPI 4 Complaints

• There are to be no more than 3 (2% of estates at award) complaints upheld per month. Upheld means where the complaint is investigated and the contactor is proven to be accountable for a service delivery failure.