Housing Maintenance

All Housing Maintenance repair requests should be reported via the Helpline telephone, 021 4924000 or by email to servicecentre@corkcity.ie. This number is attended from 09.00 to 17.00 Monday to Friday. However, if calls are queued or if lines are particularly busy, then callers should avail of the automatic messaging service.
Please ensure that you leave the following details when using the messaging service.

• Tenant's name/address
• Brief outline of repair requested and
• a contact telephone number (in case there may be a query regarding the repair request).

Callers leaving voice messages can be assured that all messages so recorded are downloaded each day and the repair requests are logged for attention, provided of course that the repairs requested are Cork City Council's responsibility.
We will prioritise emergency and urgent requests. Other routine requests will be attended to as resources permit.

Tenants are asked to note that there is no counter service for personal callers at any of the Housing Maintenance Depots.  Depot premises are workplaces under current Health and Safety legislation and are not open to the public

Repairs which are the Tenants Responsibility

INTERNAL REPAIRS

The tenant is responsible for the repair and maintenance of:

• Internal door locks, hinges, handles and saddles.
• Internal woodwork, such as floors and skirting boards,
• Filling internal plaster cracks,
• All internal decoration,
• Repair/replacement of cupboards, wardrobes, and kitchen units (including doors/drawers/hinges/handles/locks and catches)
• Chimney sweeping,
• Damage caused by the tenant, members of the household, or visitors,
• Malicious damage no matter who caused it,
• Repair/replacement or fitting of wall and floor tiles,
• Repair/replacement of vent covers.
• Repairs due to condensation damage.

Note: 

Condensation is mainly caused by not opening windows, especially in bathrooms, or by drying clothes in rooms with no windows or vents open. Condensation appears as black mold on walls and the edges of windows. Always make sure that vents are clear to allow air to flow into a room.

DOORS AND WINDOWS

The tenant is responsible for:

• Repair/replacement of window and door handles and locks both internal and external,
• Window stays, catches and restrictors - (maintenance and oiling of same should be carried out annually),
• Draught proofing of doors, porches and windows,
• Securing, making safe and replacement of broken glass,
• Repair/replacement of letter boxes,
• Repair/replacement of malicious damage to doors.

STAIRS, BANISTERS AND STAIRLIFTS

The tenant is responsible for the following:

• maintenance and upkeep of stairs, spindles, banisters including painting of same.
• repair and maintenance of stairlifts installed by the tenant or the tenant’s agent.

EXTERNAL REPAIRS

The tenant is responsible for:

• Maintenance and upkeep of gardens, hedges, and trees within the boundary of the property to ensure they remain in a tidy condition at all times,
• Maintenance of fences, sheds and garden boundary walls.
• Repair/replacement/re-erection of front gates, side gates or doors leading to garden areas,
• Cleaning silt, leaves and other deposits from gutters and down pipes,
• Painting/cleaning and general maintenance of the structure.

ELECTRICAL REPAIRS

The tenant is responsible for:

• Repair of electrical appliances, fires and heaters not installed by Cork City Council,
• Replacement of light bulbs and pilot light bulbs,
• Installation and repair of doorbells.

PLUMBING AND DRAINAGE REPAIRS

The tenant is responsible for:

• Internal and external waste pipe blockages including blockages in toilets and sink wastes,

Note: Cork City Council will only attend to blocked drains where there is a history of a structural fault.

• Repair/replacement of shower doors,
• Annual cleaning of traps and waste pipes,
• Replacement of gully grid covers,
• Repair/replacement of sanitary ware (i.e. sink units, baths, showers, wash hand basins and toilet bowls, cisterns, and bathroom fittings including stoppers/chains for baths/sinks) except where such an item is in need of repair or replacement due to normal wear and tear,
• Repair/replacement of internal waste pipes,
• Venting airlocks in radiators,
• Repair/replacement of toilet cisterns and covers except if they are cracked and leaking due to normal wear and tear,
• Repair/replacement of toilet seats, chains and handles,
• Connecting washing machines or dish washers,
• Where a tenant has installed showers/baths any repair associated with same.

If an emergency should arise outside normal working hours, tenants can call the City Council’s out of hours number 021–4966512.

Examples of an Emergency:

• Imminent threat of the house being flooded by water.
• Total failure of the electricity supply or an electrical fault
• A risk of significant damage to the property

If Cork City Council personnel are called out where there is not an emergency, the tenant will be charged the full cost of the call–out. If the problem does not fall into the above categories, report the problem as soon as possible on the next working day.

If you need the FIRE BRIGADE, GARDAI or an AMBULANCE, DIAL 999 .

If you have a GAS LEAK or SMELL GAS, phone the Gas Networks Ireland 24 hour Emergency Service IMMEDIATELY on Tel: 1800 20 50 50

Cork City Council carries out Boiler Servicing, or Heat Exchange Unit servicing, in all its houses to ensure that the heating systems located in individual properties are operating safely and efficiently.  The cost of servicing is added to your rent.  This will not apply to houses which are part of a community heating / district heating system.

Please related files. 

As a Cork City Council tenant you can apply to have appropriate works carried out to your property. You will have to make an application to the Loans & Grants Section.

Please see related files for further information and application form.

This guidance note is to update applicants on the above scheme who have been formally advised that their application has been forwarded to the Housing Maintenance Section of Cork City Council.

Minor Housing Adaptation works refers to the provision of access ramps, downstairs toilet facilities, stair lifts, accessible showers, adaptations to facilitate wheelchair access, and any other works that are reasonably necessary for the purposes of rendering a house more suitable for the accommodation of a person with a disability. It does not include House Extensions.

All queries relating to House Extensions should be referred to the City Architects Department, Cork City Council, City Hall, Cork 021 492 4335, city_architect@corkcity.ie

All queries relating to new and/or unprocessed applications should be sent to the Housing, Loans and Grants Section, Cork City Council, City Hall, Cork 021-4924169.

Once an application has been approved by Loans and Grants and forwarded to the Housing Maintenance Section, it will take approximately 6-12 months for the work to be completed. When the property has been assigned to a batch, then the council will make contact with each tenant.

All queries about grants which have been approved can be logged with the Housing Maintenance helpline: 021 4924000.

Cork City Council has given permission for SIRO and its agents to use the facade of its social houses to roll out high speed fibre optic broadband network across the city.

SIRO is a joint venture between the ESB and Vodafone. The main contractor is Huawei. SIRO will utilise the existing ESB infrastructure to carry its broadband network.

On older houses this will necessitate running the fibre along the facades of houses.

The attached letter is being issued to all Councillors, EHO’s and to SIRO. SIRO staff and its agents will present the letter to the tenants of houses where they need to utilise the facade.

Letter to Residents - SIRO Broadband Installation.pdf (size 268.8 KB)