CIH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 23 May 2017 Using Evidence to improve Maintenance Decision-Making and Delivery Paul Lowenberg
The Problem How we currently use Data A huge amount of data on R&M, but it s not used for key decision-making (and its quality is questionable) Most KPIs are short term customer or budget driven so strategic asset and resident considerations are missed KPIs and benchmarking are not used by most in the sector as a true learning tool Inadequate evaluation approaches Most maintenance decisions are either reactive or historic too little is evidence driven Enormous variations in cost and performance across the sector, but too little understanding & action results Historic distinction between response maintenance & planned maintenance is hard wired - this is outdated and needs disrupting Few organisations invest in analytics and use staff with these skills to support directors, operational managers and front line staff CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 1
Barriers to effective organisational impact Cultural Evidence doesn t drive decision-making Lack of mutual obligations culture Low status of maintenance in most large, developing housing organisations Structural Unhelpful hard split between response maintenance, planned maintenance and major renewals Who is responsible for data capture, accuracy, audit, analysis, evaluation and use? [Do you have a 2 system conflict?] Is there a 1 organisation culture? [DLOs, twin-hatted issues, effectiveness of the client role?] Financial Lack of strategy and practice around use of maintenance resources to secure target outcomes. Lack of focus on how to secure better value from planned and major works. Failure to address avoidable expenditure Contractual SLA Payment mechanisms that encourage short termism, client / contractor conflict and that lead to conflicts between response and planned maintenance CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 2
How does your HO measure success? It s all about the resident as customer in most HO s Typical suite of KPI s looks something like: Customer satisfaction with last repair and/or with the overall handling of R&M Ave. time to complete repairs 1 st time fix Appointments kept Overdue jobs Defect free repair Is there anything measured financially other than forecast spend against budget? How has the budget been built up? Where is the link here with strategic asset management? CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 3
Proposed Sector Scorecard Does it provide real evidence of Asset efficiency / effectiveness? Under Outcomes delivered Customers satisfied that their rent provides VFM Note states providers may also include other customer satisfaction measures Effective Asset Management Return on Capital employed Operating Surplus / (fixed assets net current assets) x 100 Occupancy General needs units owned + managed less those vacant available for letting / Total units [exclude units that are not available for letting] Ratio of responsive repairs to planned maintenance Routine maintenance (includes voids) / (planned maintenance + major repairs + capitalised major repairs & re-improvements) CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 4
Proposed Sector Scorecard Does it provide real evidence of Asset efficiency / effectiveness? Under Operating Efficiencies Headline social housing cost / unit [split into]: [Social housing costs / closing social housing units] the measure is the overall cost per unit Management Service charges Maintenance [routine maintenance and planned maintenance] Major repairs [major repairs and capitalised major repairs and reimprovements] Other social housing costs Does this proposed package provide a balanced perspective on Asset Management and Maintenance? CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 5
Avoidable Expenditure and VFM Jobs/expenditure on works defined as resident responsibility Vandalism / expenditure due to ASB Voids clearance and damage / unauthorised works replacement Works potentially covered by Warranty (are your warranties clear linked to properties on database and of the right length) High Volume Property repairs (top 5% of repairs by property job orders & value) High cost response repairs jobs & voids Response maintenance or planned Necessary or desirable Contracted on a VFM basis? Avoidable calls Organisations may have as many as 2 calls on average per job completed CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 6
What KPIs might be more powerful particularly tracking trends? Time Series Analysis are the actions you are taking having an impact? Jobs ordered where review with planned maintenance should occur High job numbers and expenditure on structural works, roofing, window failures, scaffolding, high expenditure on services (e.g. lifts, entry phones), high expenditure on window failures what examples do you have? Patterns of condensation and damp Should planned maintenance become more just in-time driven? Planned Maintenance expenditure how are requirements determined? Stock condition survey, response maintenance history, Detailed current surveys, Resident viewpoint, Elemental vs. comprehensive approaches Would a delay or acceleration in spend be VFM (whole life costing) how might life cycles be extended? What would a homeowner or leaseholder do in the situation? Job orders and expenditure on properties in years following major planned maintenance programme What about incentivising planned maintenance accountable organisations to make an impact (and/or including financial impact if they do not) Including longer term warranties? Measuring the use of warranties? CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 7
What KPIs might be more powerful particularly tracking trends? Where a planned programme of pre-inspection is undertaken (e.g. MOT) What measures of VFM should be tracked? Total MOT costs compared to net change in overall repair costs (including planned maintenance) on properties over time? Other value added? Comparisons between properties with high / low cost before and after the MOT Material performance and cost variance with your peers What understanding and action is set and monitored? Taking a holistic integrated view of expenditure including responsive, planned and major works (both revenue and capital) Is the old Audit Commission assumption that a 30 /70 split between response and planned reflects best practice valid? Is this a suitable strategic indicator for the future? CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 8
Conclusions Value for money has become a real focus for most HO s now given the below RPI rent framework and the HCA regulatory approach A holistic property & resident focus is critical staff with property remit must be proactive Invest in staff with analytics as their remit and give them the tools and support to deliver results This requires real innovation & thinking outside the box Systematic use of data for understanding, decision-making, & evaluation a crucial part of future practice. Understanding what Good looks like for your organisation in short and medium term [investment, expenditure, value added] What information do you want from Big Data? In what form? [Variances, KPIs] Leading to what action and evaluation? [operational / strategic] The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent It! New CIH workshop based Rethinking Programme starting in the Autumn Revolutionising use of data and evidence to drive asset management & maintenance Would your organisation benefit from participating? CiH Repairs & Maintenance Conference 2017 Paul Lowenberg Associates 9