8. Utilities and Council Rates

a.       Electricity, Water, Gas and Council Rates

 

Who pays for utilities?

Your Group.

You can deal with the utility companies directly or you can have the VSC do it for you.

 

Dealing direct

Make sure the contract is in name of

·        ‘The Scout Association of Australia, Victorian Branch - <the Group name>’.

- If you ever need help in dealing with an issue, having the correct name will allow Scouts Victoria to help you. If the name is in some other variation – even if it has the word ‘scout’ in it – then legally the contract is not with a Scouts Victoria Group. In this case VSC may not be able to access details of the account and hence may not be able to help solve any problem you may have

- Don’t let mail accumulate in meter boxes or be left unattended near the letterbox of the hall. Invoices lost and not paid receive penalties and you may end up disconnected.

- The best way to avoid the unpaid invoice problem is to ensure that the contract is in the correct name as noted above and then have all invoices and notices emailed to VSC, copy to your group.

 

 

Payment through VSC

VSC pays the invoice for you immediately, then invoices the Group for the amount net of GST. There are several benefits to the Group and to Scouts Victoria by doing this:

·        It avoids the late or non-payment of invoices due to changing personnel and addresses (including email) and failure to clear the PO Box regularly. Your payment will not be delayed or forgotten because the usual person is away, ill, or leaves without doing a handover

·        It improves the Group’s cash flow, as VSC pays the invoice when due, and then charges the group only the amount net of GST. This leaves the group in the same financial position as it would be by paying the invoice in full and then getting the GST back from VSC, but effectively deferring payment by several weeks.

·        It takes the immediate pressure to pay off the Group. You still must pay of course, but VSC can give you time if you ask, without any threat of you losing the service.

·        It allows VSC to collect data and act on abnormal consumption or other irregularities, particularly at properties which are used infrequently. e.g., a leaking water main was identified at a property

·        after the Finance Team queried an unusually high invoice.

·        It allows VSC the opportunity to use the aggregated data to negotiate retail supply at larger scales and therefore usually at reduced cost, the savings going straight through to you.

·        It facilitates analysis of invoices to provide better reporting on consumption and benchmarking (inter-formation and external) to help you reduce consumption and costs.

 

If you would like to utilise this service, please contact the Property Team on 8543 9842 or property@scoutsvictoria.com.au

 

b.      Inactive Groups

When a group, other than a sponsored group using the sponsors facilities, goes into recess the hall is normally transferred to VSC control. This relieves District of the responsibility of managing a vacant hall, including the utility contracts.

 

Faults

 

Water

The most common problems are leaks (taps and joints) and ruptures from mains supply. You can lose hundreds of thousands of litres, and a lot of money, if the rupture is not detected. Proactive things you can do, or look for are:

·        Check all taps, inside and outside the hall, are turned off when you leave the hall after a meeting or activity.

·        Replace the washers in any taps which are dripping and cannot be properly turned off.

·        If a pipe is leaking on your side of the water meter

·        e.g., at a joint or because it has been damaged, turn off the tap at your meter and get your local plumber to repair or replace the damaged section.

·        If your hall is vacant and not needing supply turn off the tap at the water meter.

·        Check your meter to see if it is turning over when nothing is being used.

·        Pipes hissing, wet patches on otherwise dry ground and aggressive mould growth on the building or fittings are all indications of water escaping.

 

If in doubt, call the Property Team on 8543 9842 or email property@scoutsvictoria.com.au

 

If you get an obvious rupture (visibly escaping water) on the street side of the meter, call the supplier’s fault line noted on your invoice and notify the Property Team.

 

Gas

If you smell gas

·        turn everything off at the meter and

·        call the supplier’s fault line immediately.

·         Please also contact the Property Team on 8543 9842 or email property@ scoutsvictoria.com.au

 

Ensure all the gas services and equipment is in good repair and service and inspection records are kept.

 

Electricity

If you lose power:

·        wait for a few minutes to see if it comes back on.

·         If it doesn’t, call your utility’s fault line and ask if there is a known problem in your area.

·         If the problem is outside your hall all you can do is wait for the supplier to restore power - they may be able to give you an estimate of when this will occur.

·         If you decide to lock up and leave the hall before power is restored, make sure that all lights and all appliances - heaters, air conditioners, stove, kettles, fans, etc - are turned off so that when power does come on there is nothing to overheat and cause a fire.

 

If supply to your site hasn’t been interrupted, then the problem is in your building. You may have lost all power - no lights, no appliances working. Or you may have lost power to only some of the building - all or some lights, some appliances for example. Go to your switchboard and do the following:

 

·        Check the main circuit breaker.

o    If it has switched off (tripped)you will not have power anywhere in the building.

o   LEAVE IT OFF and arrange for an electrician to check the building and fix the fault(s) which caused the circuit breaker to trip.

o   DO NOT SWITCH IT ON UNTIL THIS HAS BEEN DONE.

·        If the main circuit breaker has not tripped,

o    then one or more of the other circuit breakers will probably have tripped.

o    LEAVE THEM OFF and arrange for an electrician to check the building and fix the fault(s) which caused the circuit breaker(s) to trip.

o    DO NOT SWITCH THEM ON UNTIL THIS HAS BEEN DONE.

o    You may continue to use lights and appliances which run from circuits where the circuit breakers have not tripped.