Customer service standards for water service providers

Customer service standards describe how you as a service provider will deliver water and sewerage services to your customers. The standards address activities such as:

• billing
• continuity of services
• complaint management.

Customer service standards are developed in consultation with your customers and act to protect customers who do not have an individual contract with their service provider.

As a service provider, you are required to develop and publish on your website, customer service standards that set target levels of service for key performance indicators (KPIs). Newly registered service providers must prepare a customer service standard within 6 months of registration.

You must review your customer service standards every 5 years.

What's included

As a service provider, you must set target levels of service for the following:

• total water main breaks
• total sewerage main breaks and chokes
• incidence of unplanned interruptions
• water quality complaints
• total water and sewerage complaints
• average response time for incidents.

These KPIs are each specifically listed in a reporting requirement notice issued to service providers.

Customer service standards must also include details about how you will interact with customers, the process for service connections, billing, metering, accounting, customer consultation, complaints and dispute resolution.

Exemptions

Service providers may be exempt from preparing customer service standards if you meet the following criteria:

• you have contracts with all customers
• you are a service provider that is covered by the South-East Queensland Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009 and have obligations under the South East Queensland customer water and wastewater code (PDF, 727KB).

How do customers get a copy?

Your customers can contact you for a copy of your customer service standards as their local service provider. If your customers have any concerns, they can phone 13 QGOV (13 74 68).