SLAs - Customer care, supervision and management

The aim of the Barbican Estate Office (BEO) is to maintain the Barbican Estate as a prestigious residential district within the City of London through effective management and efficient service delivery. 

Our Customer Care Charter

Correspondence (including emails)

• Answer letters and emails with a full and satisfactory reply, with suitable urgency and within 10 working days
• Where it may take longer than 10 working days to research and provide a full answer, provide an acknowledgement within 5 working days with the contact name and estimated timescale for a full reply

Telephone calls

• Respond to telephone calls courteously and promptly ie within 5 rings
• Provide a full response where possible or arrange for the appropriate person to contact the caller within 1 working day
• Provide the name of the person answering and, if appropriate, of the person who will respond or should be contacted in future
• Retain ownership (except where this would be inappropriate) and ensure an appropriate response rather than simply transferring the call to another person

Personal Callers

• Provide a welcoming environment for visitors to the BEO
• Provide a helpful and courteous service to all visitors within 5 minutes of arrival or keep them informed at similar intervals if they are likely to wait longer
• Keep all appointments promptly

Estate Inspection

• Daily inspection of communal parts of the Residential Estate by the House Officer
• Report and monitor repairs and other matters identified through inspections to the Call Centre

Complaints

• Comply with the timescales in the Complaints Procedure
• Resolve complaints where possible within 10 working days and otherwise as quickly as possible

Customer service

The BEO recognises that residents are its customers and is committed to delivering a high quality and responsive housing and estate management service.

The BEO will achieve this through: the employment of helpful and competent staff, who are well organised and motivated; robust performance monitoring systems via the House Officers; the provision of appropriate facilities; effective procurement and management of services; efficient administrative and accounting services; and effective planning, scheduling and prioritisation of works.

The Barbican Estate Office will 

1. Ensure a safe and secure environment for residents through the supervision of effective repairs and maintenance services
2. Maintain security and concierge services at a high level through the supervision of the Car Park Attendants/Estate Concierge and Lobby Porters
3. Maintain standards through close liaison and consultation with residents, both formally and informally
4. Provide value for money by close internal scrutiny of costs, whether these represent funds disbursed for goods and services, or internal allocations of cost arising out of time spent as recorded in timesheets
5. Provide clear, timely and accurate information in relation to amounts of time spent on activities charged to the Service Charge Account
6. Provide residents with the information reasonably required to assess the value for money in respect of all costs, whether direct service costs or indirect costs*, which are included in the service charge
7. Provide residents with performance monitoring data as set out in the SLAs

*Indirect costs are incurred through the provision of services and advice to the BEO by other departments of the City Corporation. The BEO has established a number of internal SLAs with other City Corporation departments to ensure that the BEO can fulfil its obligations to residents in an efficient and effective manner.

Customer Care, Supervision and Management services are grouped under five headings