Your home: tackling damp and mould

February 5, 2024

DIO has told AFF that tackling damp and mould across the SFA estate continues to be a critical priority for the organisation and its contractors.

DIO acknowledges that repeatedly removing surface mould is not a long-term solution for families. Following the initial process of assessing all homes with a reported damp and mould issue, DIO has worked with its maintenance contractors, Amey and VIVO, to look at the root causes of damp and mould.

A year-long programme of works to address the underlying causes of damp and mould in thousands of homes is now underway. The majority of impacted homes will receive standardised packages of work including increasing insulation, replacing guttering, upgrading extractor fans and resealing windows and doors.

These works will tackle the most severely affected homes first. In some cases, these packages should be sufficient to resolve the issues, but in others more substantial works will be required.

These more substantial works may include replacement doors and windows; improvements to groundwater drainage and repairs to damp-proof courses; roof repairs/replacement and the installation of external wall insulation.

This programme of works began in the summer and has already seen 1,359 homes receive an upgrade. Captain Will Matthews, whose home benefited from these works, posted on X: “Fair play to VIVO, absolutely ‘all over it’ this morning preparing our home for winter. Indoor and outdoor works, loft insulation, new extraction fittings et al. We had some real mould and condensation issues last year, part of the ongoing works for service homes is improving and repairing such issues. Prevention definitely better than cure! Top work folks, appreciated.”

WINTER PLANNING

In preparation for winter, DIO told AFF it has been working collaboratively with its contractors to establish contingency plans to not only cope with severe weather, but to ensure services can recover quickly to minimise any disruption to families. This includes:

Having the right resources in the right place at the right times as winter progresses.
Increasing call handling capacity by 55 per cent, with calls on average being answered within 29 seconds as opposed to around seven minutes last year.
Amey has increased its resource by 40 per cent since last winter.
VIVO has recruited additional out-of-hours staff to ensure urgent repairs are effectively managed over weekends and bank holidays.
VIVO has created a customer experience team to manage contact with families, and ensure communications are in place for follow-on works.
Better availability of parts, including temporary heaters which are distributed across the UK as needed.
Using remote technology to help to guide families to resolve simple issues without the need for an engineer call-out.
Establishing indicators and warnings to enable DIO to remain agile in where resource is allocated as the colder months progress.
Continuously reviewing and testing suppliers to ensure that planning, resource and stock holding is at the right levels.