You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
A week in the life of… a damp, mould and condensation officer
Andy Sherritt shares a week in his life as a damp, mould and condensation officer at South Yorkshire Housing Association
Monday
I set off to complete damp, mould and condensation (DMC) home inspections in Chesterfield, Doncaster and Barnsley. During these, I try to find the root cause of the DMC and determine the works needed. DMC can be due to lots of factors, so it can be a real group effort, involving customers, partners and contractors, to find the cause and determine solutions.
In the afternoon, I met with Caroline Glossop, who leads on our DMC data, records and customer communications. We discussed post-inspections and how to find out if everyone is happy with works.
Tuesday
Today I mostly had home visits, including one to a family with two young children. I’ve been working closely with the family and the neighbourhoods team to make some improvements. The family first told us about a DMC issue in their home and their neighbourhood officer flagged some other health and safety concerns.
The family had struggled to keep on top of managing their home and then felt embarrassed to let people in, so the repairs and issues built up. We worked with them to hire a skip and have a sort-out, as well as make sure repairs, DMC and any planned works were being seen to. It’s brilliant to see the family happier, settled and proud of their home.
READ MORE
Wednesday
At a visit in Barnsley, I worked with the customer to complete an inspection. We couldn’t identify an obvious reason for the DMC, so to keep an eye on the situation, I installed a monitor that records moisture levels. This will help to provide information about what the cause might be and checks that equipment, such as extractor fans, are working properly.
We also discussed ways to manage moisture levels in the home and how this keeps them healthy and safe. I always talk to customers about their own health and why it’s so important that they let us know if they’re experiencing DMC issues.
Thursday
I travelled to our Sheffield office for the decent homes taskforce meeting, which is made up of colleagues from across the organisation. We’re working to progress our work on ensuring our customers are living in safe, high-quality homes.
We go through performance data, discuss case management, and finalise an internal campaign about our collective responsibility to identify and report DMC issues.
Friday
Today I completed some post-inspections in Maltby. These were bathroom refits, as water leaks were causing issues in the homes. I made sure the works will be effective in stopping further cases of DMC.
A week in the life series
Our ‘A week in the life’ series features housing professionals talking through what they do in their job on a day-to-day basis.
Find out about the different challenges housing workers in a variety of roles face in a given week.
We aim to feature staff from housing associations, ALMOs, local authorities and more.
Click here to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion
A week in the life of… a landscape activation manager – featuring Jack Gower at Peabody
A week in the life of… a damp, mould and condensation officer – featuring Andy Sherritt at South Yorkshire Housing Association
A week in the life of… Kensington and Chelsea’s Rough Sleeper Dual Diagnosis Service – featuring Gavin Stewart and Charlotte Northall
A week in the life of… a money guidance officer – featuring Debbie Woodcock at Clarion
A week in the life of… a part-time social prescribing link worker – featuring Dawn Perry at WHG
A week in the life of… a transitions and implementation lead – featuring James Brown at Places for People Living Plus
A week in the life of… a tenancy support manager – featuring Jackie Bird at Community Gateway Association
A week in the life of… a head of asset management – featuring Zoe Carmichael at Alpha Living
A week in the life of… an environmental sustainability manager – featuring Alice Lovatt at Sanctuary
A week in the life of… a housing support manager – featuring Sara Dunnet at ForHousing
A week in the life of… a place-shaping manager – featuring Sarah Smith at Vivid Plus
A week in the life of… a part-time work planner – featuring Siwan Hammond at WHG
A week in the life of… a marketing communications customer lead – featuring Leah Thompson at Thrive
A week in the life of… a housing co-ordinator – featuring Sharon Chambers at Sovereign
A week in the life of… a senior community partnerships manager – featuring Brian Hamlin at The Guinness Partnership
A week in the life of… an asset compliance team leader – featuring Emily Elsworth at Longhurst Group
A week in the life of… a business continuity manager – featuring Chloe Fox at Abri
A week in the life of… an employment advisor – featuring Vanessa Loveridge at A2Dominion
A week in the life of… a housing association surveyor – featuring Andy Davies at Thrive Homes
A week in the life of… a youth support worker – featuring Treaser Jassal at Poplar Harca
A week in the life of… a head of community and housing-related support – featuring Daniel Revell-Wiseman at Longhurst
A week in the life of… a building safety manager – featuring Lisa Leather at Trafford Housing Trust
A week in the life of… a forensic mental health service manager – featuring Camille Lapaix at Look Ahead
A week in the life of… a communities apprentice – featuring Alex Perrin at Clarion Futures
A week in the life of… a supported housing officer – featuring Tamara Suppria at Housing Solutions
A week in the life of… a senior occupational therapist – featuring Gemma Carr at Grand Union Housing Group
A week in the life of… a concierge officer – featuring Tyrone Wilson at Citizen
A week in the life of… a policy and practice officer – featuring Hannah Keilloh at the Chartered Institute of Housing
A week in the life of... a delivery manager – featuring Rebecca Bewick at Gentoo
A week in the life of… a fire safety project officer – featuring Victor Liburd at BPHA
A week in the life of… a ‘HomelessWise’ information co-ordinator – featuring Fiona McCarthy at St Mungo’s
A week in the life of… a national property development manager – featuring Heidi Fisher at Housing 21
A week in the life of… an apprentice electrician – featuring Selda Ponari at Bournville Village Trust
Sign up to the Retrofit and Strategic Asset Management Summit
Learn how to develop long-term and joined-up strategies that simultaneously tackle energy efficiency, damp and mould, Decent Homes, building safety and fuel poverty.
Join over 500 sector leaders to ensure your capital investments go further and deliver healthy, warm and safe homes for all tenants and residents.
