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What Do Our Customers Think?

Building Control Statement
What do our Customers Think....
Householder Completion Survey
Agents and Householders Decision Survey
Action we have taken

Our latest annual review document looks back at 2007, it reviews our performance and workload achievements, the feedback we have received as well as a snapshot of some of the improvements you have helped us to make. Lastly, we also take a look foward at the improvements we hope to make to our services during 2008. The complete review document can be viewed here. They show that our high level of customer satisfaction has been either maintained or further improved in all 10 of the survey criteria, from those results we achieved in 2006. The results from this fifth full year of our continuous householder Completion survey, clearly show that the service continues to be highly regarded by householders over all areas of its operation. For 2007, we launched our Plan Checking Survey for all customers who are submitting and dealing with the submission of their Building Regulation application. This is undertaken at the decision stage of the application process.

Building Control Performance Statement

The Council's Building Control Consultancy is devoted to maintaining standards in building, based on a professional and publicly accountable service with an objective, practical and common sense approach to Building Control.

We provide Building Control Consultancy services which are quality assured to ISO:9001, the international quality management standard. As well as being proud holders of the Charter Mark standard for customer service excellence for the second time.

Building Control Consultancy endeavours :

To provide help and advice to applicants and their agents, at the design stage before an application is submitted.

To deal with applications quickly and efficiently, to assist in ensuring that the plans comply with the regulations. We aim to check the plans, and either issue a decision or a helpful list of amendments, within 10 working days of receipt of your application.

To carry out site inspections in line with the builders programme of works, this can normally be the same day if requested before 10.30 a.m.

To provide advice on the Building Regulations as work proceeds.

To issue a Completion Certificate to the person on whose behalf the work has been undertaken, on the satisfactory completion of the work on site.

What Do Our Customers Think.......

What We Did

During 2007, we conducted a number of customer surveys. These included a number of targeted groups such as regular and first time users of the service, both agents and householders. For householders and agents, we have maintained a two stage feedback process by means of specific surveys at both the Decision and Completion stages of the work. The Decision stage survey included those agents who are either first time or regulars users of the service, as well as householders dealing with the submission of their own application. Whilst we also gauged feedback from householder customers at the completion of the work. We both of these, by including a pre-paid survey card, with each Decision Notice (either rejection or approval ) or Completion Certificate we have issued.

We would like to thank all those who returned our questionnaires for your help.

Customer feedback is gained by a number of means, however regular survey responses help us to find out :

What you thought of the service we provide
Were our service standards the right ones ?
What improvements did you wish to see ?

The results of the surveys revealed what ?

Householder Completion Survey

The results were extremely positive, with the previous excellent results in all areas, either being maintained or indeed improved. An extremely high 84.4% (2005 figure 80%, 2006 figure 82.7%) of the respondents valued the overall level of service we provided, as either excellent or very good. Only 1.4% (2006 figure1.5%) expressed any element of dissatisfaction. This maintained the high standards set in both 2005 and 2006.

Technical competence is another particularly important aspect of our service, 81.2% (2005 figure 78%, 2006 figure 83%) of responses particularly valued this, as either very good or indeed excellent.

Our site inspection service was also valued by householders, with 98.2% (2005 figure 98%, 2006 figure 99%) of respondents considering they had received a good response to site visits. Whilst 78.2% ( 2005 figure 72%, 2006 figure 76.9%) of respondents also felt that the number of site inspections were either excellent or very good..

In conclusion, as far as our customers perception of the cost of the service went, 98% ( 2005 figure 95%, 2006 figure 96%) felt that the service continued to offer good value for money. Whilst a high percentage of 79% ( 2005 figure 57%, 2006 figure 64.5%) of those responses, felt indeed that the service they received was either of excellent or very good value for money. Clearly demonstrating customers views are of a high quality and value for money service.

Agents and Householder Decision Survey

We are pleased that similar excellent results across all survey areas were identified from this survey.

Speed of response is particularly of importance when dealing with applications submitted to the authority.Only 3.5% of respondents were not satisfied with the time taken to deal with their application. Whilst with one exception all respondents valued the professionalism and technical competence as well as valuing their judgement.

Matters such as the accessibility and helpfulness of staff were also all equally valued.

Finally, respondent's views were sought on their impression of our telephone service, rating of our overall service and its value for money. We are delighted that on all three aspects, at tleast three quarters of our customers reponses considered that the service was at least good. Figures were 74%, 89% and 76% respectively. Whilst only response indicated that the service received was of a poor standard.

Actions we have taken

The surveys have also helped, during the course of the year, to identify a number of suggestions for further improvements, from our clients. A number of these service improvements have been implemented during 2007. These are outined in our annual review, as well as just a flavour of some of those already planned for 2008.

A detailed review of all the previous survey findings and responses are also downloadable below.

For 2008...............

We will be launching our new Application Tracker on-line system to allow you to monitor the progress of your application from submission to completion as well as search our database of applications in connection with propoerty searches, developing an Electronic Document Management System, and our first Built-In Quality Awards.

We will be working with the members of our Customer Panel, to feed back any issues you would like to raise through our regular Panel meetings. You are encouraged to contact the Panel Members directly. Their contact details are included along with copies of Minutes of Meetings on our Customer Panel web page. You are welcome to join our Customer Panel.