Q. What are the hours for maintenance coverage, is there emergency coverage?
A. Maintenance is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including all holidays. The Authority’s maintenance staff has regular business hours of Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm and this is for routine and emergency calls, dial (518) 447-0047. All other hours are for emergency calls only. You must call (518) 447-0047; the Authority’s phone line will be answered through a switched answering system. Your emergency must be linked to a risk of health, safety or property damage. You must give the dispatcher your phone number and be prepared to receive a call back from one of the Authority’s on-call personnel. Once you receive the call back you will be given instructions to possibly abate the current emergency i.e. shut off a sink valve in the case of a bad leak and you will be issued an expected time for response by the Authority’s on-call personnel.
Q. What is the work authorization number I get when I call in a routine maintenance service call?
A. When you call the Authority’s dispatcher during regular business hours you are issued a 6 digit number that corresponds with your work request. That is your work authorization number and you need to write down and keep it in a place where it can be easily recalled at a later date should you want to call again to verify any part of your request, for instance when could you expect to see the staff at your apartment. When you call to check on your request the first thing the dispatcher will ask you “can I have your authorization number please”. The number you have been issued for the work you would like completed in your apartment is tied to your specific work order, in fact it is your work order number. The number is generated by the Authority’s automated work order system and follows the work request from initialization to completion of all requested work.
Q. When talking about requested maintenance work in my apartment, what do the letters P.T.E. on the printed work order mean?
A. P.T.E. means “Permission To Enter” and that represents the question you will be asked by the Authority’s dispatcher when you call in a request for maintenance service for your apartment. It simply is do you authorize the maintenance staff to enter your apartment for the purposes of completing your work request when you’re not at home.
Q. How long can I expect to wait for a routine work order to be completed in my apartment?
A. The Authority works hard to complete all work requests in the shortest time available. HUD, the governing federal agency in charge to over see the Albany Housing Authority, mandates that a routine work order be completed within 30 days of its initialization. Currently, Albany Housing Authority’s maintenance staff completes routine work requests within 3.55 days or 26.5 days above the HUID mandated average. Emergency work requests are completed the same day they are requested.
Q. Do I need a parking permit sticker for the cars in my household?
A. Yes, each vehicle belonging to your household and parked on Authority property must have a parking permit sticker placed appropriately on the vehicle. You can get parking stickers through your property management office.
Q. During the winter months do I need to move my car so the parking lot can be plowed?
A. The short answer is yes. The parking lots are maintained by your developments maintenance staff. The more help you can be to them by i.e. moving your vehicle during a snow storm the better job they can do with removing the snow. Again, that’s why having the appropriate parking sticker on your car is so important. The plow operator can identify a vehicle that needs to be moved through the parking sticker process.
