Call-out service for heat networks and communal installations
A fault in the heat supply is unfortunately unpredictable. SVS Warmteservice takes over the call-out service for heat suppliers, housing associations, managing agents and installation contractors. Reachable 24 hours a day, with response times fully in line with the Dutch Heat Act and records with which you can account for yourself to the regulator (ACM).
- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- Always reachable, at weekends and on public holidays too
- 8 hours
- An engineer on site for an urgent fault, under the Dutch Heat Act
- Complete records
- Report date, contact date and visit date recorded on every job sheet
The challenges of a call-out service
A call-out service that complies with the Dutch Heat Act requires four things at once: cover outside office hours, someone able to assess the urgency, an engineer who knows the heat interface unit and carries the right parts, and records that hold up afterwards. The difficulty is not any one of those four, but building all four into the process at the same time, including in the weeks when little happens.
SVS Warmteservice has set that up for approximately 7,500 homes: seven engineers on permanent contracts with a flexible pool of three to five, and service vans stocked on every project for the unit types installed there. In addition we have a technical back office that takes down the details of the report, or assesses it online through suitable monitoring systems, before anyone is sent out without knowing what to expect. That is why we are able to agree fixed response times and to meet them as well.
How a report is handled
Every report follows the same route. That is the reason we are able to agree response times.
- ReportOn working days from 07:00 to 17:00 by telephone and e-mail; outside those hours via the emergency number
- SchedulingOur technical fault desk assesses the urgency
- UrgencyEvery report is classified according to the arrangements agreed with the client, and that sets a maximum response time
- EngineerHe knows the unit type and carries all the spare parts, so that the fault is always resolved in a single visit
- Close-outImmediately, through the digital job sheet by e-mail
Response times, in line with the Dutch Heat Act
We classify faults by urgency. The class determines the maximum response time.
- Urgent faultAn engineer on site within 8 hours. Loss of the heat supply during the heating season or a serious leak
- Less urgent faultAn engineer no later than the next working day. A dripping leak, no heating in summer or no hot water
- Non-urgent faultResolved within five working days
- Fault in the district heating substationStarting within two hours, resolving within eight hours where technically possible, a complete report within 24 hours
The Dutch Heat Act sets the threshold for fault compensation at an interruption of eight hours. For us that threshold is not a target but an outer limit.
The records you need
In a dispute or an inspection you have to be able to demonstrate when a fault was reported, when contact was made, when the engineer was on site and what was done. We log that for every report, including the parts used and any follow-up advice.
Those records are yours. If you have your own reporting or record system, we log the report in it so that your staff find the information where they are used to looking. The same data shows which complexes and which unit types cause the most faults, and that is where planned maintenance starts.
What the call-out service is equipped for
The call-out service covers the whole chain, from the substation to the thermostat in the dwelling.
- Heat interface units from every manufacturer. Including where different manufacturers have been used within one complex
- District heating substations
- Radiators, underfloor heating, thermostats and controls in the dwelling
- Heat meters and communication modules
Because we maintain both sides of the demarcation, a fault does not have to be left lying between the party that operates the network and the installer of the in-home system.
Under which agreement
The call-out service forms part of a service agreement. The contract types are set out on the page service contracts. We also resolve a one-off fault without a contract, but then there are no agreed response times and your resident does not (yet) know our fault desk.
We work throughout the Netherlands, with Houten as our base.
Frequently asked questions about the call-out service
Do you take over the reporting process as well?
Yes. Your residents or your own service can report directly to us. We take down the details of the report, assess the urgency, schedule the engineer and maintain contact on behalf of your organisation and under our own name. We call that Back Office as a Service.
What happens outside office hours?
The report then comes in through the emergency number that belongs to the contract. An engineer is on standby. No answering machine and no call centre.
How quickly is an engineer on site?
For an urgent fault within eight hours, for a less urgent fault no later than the next working day and for a non-urgent fault within five working days. For a district heating substation we start work within two hours.
Can you record in our own system?
Yes. Do you have your own reporting or record system? We then log the reports in it and you receive the job sheets separately by e-mail. You have nothing to copy across and your staff keep looking where they are used to looking.
Do you also work on installations that we did not build ourselves?
Yes. We are independent of any make and work on existing installations of every origin. At the start we survey which unit types are present, so that the service van is stocked accordingly.
Outsourcing your call-out service?
Tell us the number of connections, the unit types and the cover you have at present. We will indicate how we would set up the call-out service and within what timescale we can start.
Our other services
Service and maintenance for heat interface unitsCall-out service and maintenance for heat interface units of every make District heating substation maintenanceMaintenance on the substation that connects the building to the network Commissioning of heat interface unitsCommissioning heat interface units, with a report per dwelling Back Office as a ServiceWe take over the customer contact and the administration Radiator and underfloor heating serviceWe resolve the complaints that do not sit with the unit Thermostats and controlsChoosing, setting up and explaining the controls Service & maintenanceContracts, the call-out service 24 hours a day and the Heat Act