Contract for Pest Control Services to Kennington Park Estate: Clarification
S20 Notice
Residents received a S20 Notice with reference to procurement of Pest Control services recently. TA Officers found the information contained in the S20 Notice confusingly unclear and lacking in detail, and, therefore, insisted on the opportunity to scrutinise the contract documentation including the contract specification.
Sight of the specification did little to spell out exactly in what way this proposed contract would apply to an area and properties such as Kennington Park Estate, with five storey, walk up blocks and external balconies and stairways.
A Reactive Service
The member of staff from Hyde who provided the contract documentation was questioned and clarified the position as follows:
- Essentially, the service to be available to an estate such as KPE is intended to be a reactive service.
- That is, a call out service to deal with pests causing a problem in communal areas as specific problems arise.
- KPE residents will be charged (collectively, block by block) only for each specific reactive call out.
- TA Officers will see the related invoices for each call out and should be in a position to verify, in liaison with the Property Manager, that the service was delivered and effective
NOT a service involving regular inspection and maintenance
- Although the contract specification includes ‘annual maintenance’ and ‘preventative reporting’, this applies to blocks of flats with internal communal areas requiring regular, preventative pest control services.
- It is reassuring to receive confirmation that KPE will not be subject to an annual maintenance charge
PLEASE NOTE
Residents should understand that although the contract provides a pest control service in relation to infestations within individual flats, (tenants and leaseholders), it is not a free service in this case and the contractor will charge the resident for a service to individual flats. Alternatively, residents are at liberty to call in their own choice of pest control contractor.
However, if an infestation involves more than one individual flat and is, therefore, considered to be a communal problem, the service is likely to be provided without a charge to the individual tenant.
April 2018