A COMPLAINT about poor standards of workmanship, which led to a three-year-old boy getting hurt, has been upheld by Fife Council. 

The local authority said sorry and promised to fix the problems after the installation of a new heating system in a Dunfermline home left the tenant with a list of grievances. 

It included ripped wallpaper in the dining room and son’s bedroom, broken floorboards in the bathroom – “so I can see under my floor” – and a missing bit of skirting from the bottom of the bath. 

The bath panel was “jaggy and has lots of splinters coming from it” and the resident, who was not named, continued: “Some of my wall is actually falling off next to my bath, there’s loose coving in the livingroom and also a hole in the coving due to them moving the fire alarm. 

“They left screws all over the floors, which included my three-year-old son getting hurt, and they have removed the old heating timer and patched up the wall, which is left jaggy and bumpy and not sanded down. So I would like all the problems I am now left with fixed please.”

A report to the City of Dunfermline area committee said the complaint was upheld and an apology offered with a contractor visiting the next day to make good on areas of snagging.

It was one of 317 complaints in the Dunfermline area last year with 299 now considered dealt with and closed – the remainder were still open, withdrawn or pending a decision. 

Most complaints related to housing and the environment services, then building services, transportation, education, the contact centre, and parks and streets. 

Allegations covered everything from dog fouling, poor communications, illegal dumping and staff attitude to bullying in schools, grass cutting and car parking charges. 

Another complaint that was upheld concerned a saga over windows, with an unnamed Dunfermline tenant slamming the situation as “totally unacceptable”. 

They had asked “several times” for a visit from a building inspector due to noise levels and draughts but after two joiners and a glazier failed to fix the problem – one turned up when the tenant was out as no prior notice was given – they went to the local office to request a visit. 

The tenant said: “This was two weeks ago and I’ve not heard a word from anyone. I find this totally unacceptable and would like to know what else I can do because phoning or visiting my local office seems to be a waste of time.”

As well as the apology, a glazier was instructed to assess the job for replacement windows. 

The council aim to deal with ‘simple’ complaints within five days and more complex complaints within 20 working days. 

The local authority responds to more than seven million contacts from customers in Fife every year. 

Councillor Helen Law, convener of the committee, said: “We welcome feedback both positive and negative from our customers because it helps us improve the services we provide.

“I’m pleased to hear that complaints are being dealt with quicker in the Dunfermline area compared with Fife as whole. It’s important we log and track feedback so we can monitor our performance to make sure we continue to build on these encouraging results.”