Section 20 consultation

Qualifying Long Term Agreement

If we'd like to introduce a new service - or hire new contractors to provide an existing service - we will need to consult you when the cost will be of £100.00 per year for at least one leaseholder.

The name for the contract we will arrange here is called a Qualifying Long Term Agreement.

Where the cost of the contract is lower than that required for a Public Notice, we will issue a Schedule 1 consultation.

Qualifying works

When we wish to carry out particular repairs and we don't already have a contractor we will consult you if the cost is over £250.00 for at least one leaseholder. The name for this kind of contract is Qualifying Works.

If the cost of this contract is lower than that required for a Public Notice, we will issue a Schedule 4 Part 2 consultation.

For both Schedule 1, and 4 part 2, there are up to three stages of consultation - which is why we've put them under the same heading.

Notice of intention

• We'll write to you and let you know that we'd like to enter into a contract for a particular service, or to conduct particular repairs
• We explain why we think this contract is needed.
• You'll be able to respond with your comments, and if you'd like to, you can nominate a contractor
• Next we ask contractors that we know about to submit a quote. We must ask for quotes from any contractor you nominate.
• You'll have 30 days to make your observations on the contractors and make suggestions
• We consider any observations and summarise them in the next letter

Notice of estimate

Once we have responded to all observations and obtained quotes, we will write to you again

• We'll confirm the details of all the contractors who have put in bids - including those made by any contractors leaseholders have nominated.
• We will explain which contractor we feel offers best value for money, but we must also invite you to make comments.
• You have 30 days to make your observations. We must give these observations due regard.
• If we have decided to go with the lowest costing contract, this will be the final Notice we issue.

Notice of award

If we decide to appoint a contractor that did not offer the lowest price, we must write to you with a final Notice to confirm our decision and invite your comments. Usually, we will only appoint a more expensive contractor if we consider that, overall, they offer the best value for money. You will have 28 days to make your observations. We must give due regard to these observations.

If we wish to introduce a new service - or hire new contractors to provide an existing service - we will need to consult you when the cost will be of £100.00 per year for at least one leaseholder. The technical name for the kind of contract we will arrange here is called a Qualifying Long Term Agreement.

Where the cost of the contract is greater than the minimum cost required for a Public Notice, we will issue a Schedule 2 consultation.

When we wish to carry out a set of repairs where we don't already have a contractor on our books we will need to consult you if the cost will be over £250.00 for at least one leaseholder. The name for this kind of contract is Qualifying Works.

If the cost of this contract is greater than the minimum cost required for a Public Notice, we will issue a Schedule 4 Part 1 consultation.

For both Schedule 2 and 4 part 1, there are two stages - which is why we've put them under the same heading.

Notice of Intention:

We will write to you outlining our intent to enter into a contract relating to a particular service or set of repairs. We will explain to you why we feel we need to enter this contractor and invite you to make comments.

You will not be able to nominate a contractor because, due to the value of the contract, we will be legally obliged to publish our invitation to tender through the Government's Find a Tender service (this external link will open in a new tab). You will have 30 days to make your observations about the proposed contract. We must give these observations due regard and summarise them in the next letter.

Notice of Estimate:

Once we have responded to all observations and obtained all the quotations, we will write to you again. In this letter, we will confirm the details of all the prospective contractors who have put in bids.

We will explain which contractor we feel offers best value for money and advise which contractor we are going to appoint. You will have 30 days to make you observations. We must give these observations due regard.

Very often we will have appointed repairs contractors to deliver services as and when they are needed through a Schedule 1 or 2 consultation. When the need comes to carry out particular works at your building, we will issue a Schedule 3 Notice.

This notice will outline the works we are proposing to do and the reason we need to do them. The notice will also confirm the estimated cost. You will not be able to nominate a contractor as we will have already appointed them through a previous Schedule 1 or 2 consultation. You will have 30 days to make you observations. We must give these observations due regard.