A reactive arrangement sets out how you report a failure, how quickly somebody attends, and what happens if it cannot be fixed on the first visit. The useful conversation is about priority categories and realistic attendance windows, not a single headline number.
What an SLA should actually say
A service level agreement that says ‘four hour response’ and nothing else is close to meaningless. Response to what? Attendance, or an acknowledgement? Four hours from the call, or four hours from the start of the next working day? And what happens at hour five?
A useful arrangement sets out:
- Priority categories, defined by business impact rather than by asset type. A failed boiler in a plant room is a different priority in a care home and in a warehouse.
- What response means – acknowledgement, remote diagnosis, or an engineer on site. Ideally all three with separate timings.
- Attendance windows per priority, with working hours and out of hours stated separately.
- What happens on a first-visit-no-fix, which is the situation people actually encounter. Making safe, temporary measures, parts ordering and a committed return.
- Escalation – who you call when the arrangement is not being honoured, and what they can do about it.
- Exclusions, stated honestly. Parts availability, access, and things genuinely outside our control.
- Reporting, so you can see whether the arrangement is being met rather than taking it on trust.
Priority categories that mean something
| Priority | Typical situation | What it drives |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Business stopped, premises unsafe, or a statutory breach in progress – no water in a kitchen, a gas leak, flooding, complete heating failure in a care setting | Immediate attendance including out of hours |
| High | Significant impact but trading continues – one washroom of several out, partial heating failure, cooling failure in warm weather | Same or next working day |
| Medium | Nuisance without material impact – a dripping tap, one cubicle, a noisy fan | Within the agreed working-days window |
| Low / planned | Known defects and improvement works | Bundled into the next planned visit |
Categorising by impact rather than by symptom is what makes the arrangement work. The same dripping tap is a low priority in an office corridor and a critical one in an operating dental surgery, and only you can make that call – which is why the categories get agreed with you rather than handed to you.
What we will and will not commit to
We would rather be trusted than impressive, so this is set out plainly.
What we will commit to
- A named contact who knows your site, not a ticket queue.
- A phone answered by somebody who can make a decision.
- Attendance windows we can actually meet, agreed by priority.
- Making safe as an absolute priority, ahead of repair.
- Honest reporting on whether we met the arrangement.
- Telling you immediately if we cannot attend, so you can call somebody who can.
What we will not claim
- A one-hour national response. We are a Norfolk business covering East Anglia. Travel time to the far side of the region is a physical fact.
- Twenty-four hour cover at every priority. Out of hours attendance is for genuine emergencies, and pretending otherwise would mean breaking the promise within a month.
- Parts we do not stock. We carry common components. A proprietary part for an obscure appliance has a lead time and we will tell you what it is rather than discovering it together.
- Every trade. Where a specialist is genuinely needed we will say so and, where we can, tell you who.
A clear statement of what happens when we cannot fix it on the first visit. That is the scenario you will actually encounter, and it is the one most agreements are silent about. Ours says: make safe, explain, provide a temporary measure where one exists, order parts the same day, and commit to a return date in writing.
Making a call-out productive
What you tell us on the phone determines how useful the first visit is. The things worth having ready:
- What has failed, and what the symptom is – not what you think is wrong, but what is actually happening.
- Any fault code or display message, written down exactly.
- What you have already tried, including resets.
- Make and model if you can reach them, or a photograph of the data plate.
- Access arrangements – who lets us in, what time, whether the plant room is locked and who holds the key.
- Business impact, so the priority is right.
- Whether anything has been isolated, and by whom.
A site with a current asset register answers most of that in seconds, which is another argument for having one – see planned maintenance.
Reactive without a contract
We take reactive work from clients without a standing contract, and we will be straight about the trade-off: contracted clients come first. That is not a commercial tactic, it is arithmetic – if we have committed attendance windows to a client, we have to honour them before taking on someone we have made no promise to.
If your building is somewhere failure genuinely matters, a contract is worth having for that reason alone, quite apart from the maintenance.
Want cover that is realistic? Tell us what actually stops your business and we will build the priorities around that.
Questions we get asked about this
What response times can you offer?
It depends on the priority, the location and whether it is within working hours. We agree those with you against your actual business impact rather than quoting a single headline number that would not survive contact with reality.
Do you offer 24/7 cover?
Out of hours attendance for genuine emergencies, yes. Full round-the-clock cover at every priority level is not something we would promise, because we could not consistently honour it.
What area do you cover for reactive work?
Norfolk in full, and further across East Anglia depending on the work and the arrangement. If you are at the edge of that, ask – we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
What if you cannot fix it on the first visit?
We make it safe, explain what is wrong, provide a temporary measure where one exists, order parts the same day and commit to a return date in writing. That commitment is part of the arrangement rather than a courtesy.
Can we call you without a contract?
Yes, and plenty of clients do. Be aware that contracted clients have committed windows and we honour those first – which is worth knowing if your site is one where failure genuinely matters.
Do you report on SLA performance?
Yes. You should be able to see whether the arrangement is being met rather than relying on impression. An SLA nobody measures is a paragraph in a document.
What happens when you call
Call and describe it
You speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Most jobs can be narrowed down on the phone.
We look at it properly
A real diagnosis before a price, and a straight answer if it is not worth doing.
A written quote
Itemised, so you can see what you are paying for.
The job, and the paperwork
Certificates where the work needs them, and what will need attention next.
Where we do this work
Across Norwich and the whole of Norfolk. If you are on the edge of the county, call and ask — we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
- Norwich
- Wymondham
- Dereham
- Attleborough
- Aylsham
- North Walsham
- Cromer
- Diss
- Loddon
- Long Stratton
- Watton
- King's Lynn
Need this doing?
Call and describe the problem — you will speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Written quotes, no estimates over the phone.