6.1 Gyp Rooms

Cooking is not allowed in study bedrooms because of hazards to personal and group safety, and the risk of damage to furnishings and fittings. Hot drinks and snacks must be prepared in the gyp room located on each staircase. The gyp rooms are intended for the preparation of snacks only, and under no circumstances is any degree of self catering or cooking of full meals permitted. It is the students' responsibility for doing their own washing up and keeping the gyp room tidy.

(See Rules For Use of Gyp Rooms.) The bedders are not required to clear up gyp rooms after you.

6.2 Food Storage

The College operates in line with stringent food safety legislation and guidelines. If you wish to discuss food safety issues, please arrange to see the Domestic Supervisor or the Catering Manager. Please note that, except in very exceptional circumstances, refrigerators and freezers are not permitted in student rooms.

6.3 Bathroom, toilet and shower areas

Communal bathrooms and toilets are cleaned on a daily basis from Mon-Fri. Any problems with facilities (blocked drains, leaking taps etc) should be reported to the Maintenance Department using the online fault reporting facility on the College Intranet.

6.4 En-suite Facilities

Bedding staff must be allowed access to clean en-suite bathrooms at least twice a week.

6.5 Furnishing, Fixtures Fittings and Decoration of Rooms

The occupants of all College rooms and College hostels will be held personally responsible for any damage to the furniture and fabric of their rooms, allowing for fair wear and tear. The hanging of pictures with pins, Blu-Tack or other fixatives to walls and woodwork often results in damage. The use of any form of adhesive, including Sellotape, Blu-Tack or similar substances, on the walls of rooms is forbidden. White-tack may be used but its use may still incur charges where damage is caused. Students who mark walls by using unauthorised adhesives or white tack may incur a substantial charge for redecoration, since the minimum area which can be redecorated is a complete wall. Charges will also be made for removing white-tack or other similar substances from walls.

Inspection and Damages Rooms are inspected during the Easter Term, and whenever the occupancy of a room changes, with a view to repairing damage during the summer vacation. At the start of your occupancy, you will receive an inventory, together with your room key. To avoid any dispute as to liability for loss or damage, the inventory should be completed and returned to the Accommodation Office within seven days. You should bring any defects in the room or its fixtures and fittings to the attention of the Accommodation Office immediately upon taking up residence. In this way, charges for damage for which you have no responsibility can be avoided. All students must remember that many other people will have to live in the room after their occupancy and, while the College has a continuing programme of room redecoration and refurbishment, any extra expense caused by damage can only limit the extent of this programme. Conference visitors use rooms during vacations and damage can affect the saleability of our rooms.

Repairs The College seeks to respond quickly to any problems with equipment or furnishing in rooms. Any fault or damage which occurs after occupancy has commenced must be reported via the College Intranet. Repairs are normally completed during working hours (Mon-Fri 08.30 - 16.30), but emergency cover is available 24 hours a day for major leaks etc. There is a Service Level Agreement in place defining anticipated repair times (see Appendix 5.)

Furniture The range of furniture provided in each room is detailed in Section 1. Students are not permitted to bring additional major items of furniture into College. Students are expected to supply bed linen, blankets and pillows. In the interests of safety, it is essential to observe the conditions about electrical appliances mentioned in Section 4; for those who come from overseas it is stressed that all electrical appliances must be adapted for 220-240 volts AC.

Personal Possessions and Accidental Damage Insurance In consultation with the JCR Executive Committee and in common with many other Cambridge Colleges, Christ’s now provides a basic level of personal possessions insurance for its undergraduates, through NW Brown Insurance Brokers Ltd, at a very competitive premium.   The policy also provides cover for accidental damage to your College room and to College property on loan to you.The policy provides cover for the 29 weeks of the three terms. Cover is alsp provided for any items left in College during vacations.

The cost of this basic cover  will be collected through your Michaelmas Term College bill.  If you wish to increase the level of cover provided you can arrange this directly with NW Brown Insurance Brokers Ltd.  by visiting their website.

6.6 Cleaning

The College domestic staff, known as "bedders", are responsible for cleaning bedrooms and communal service areas in College; they come in regularly each morning for this purpose. All rooms on on the Domus site will be have their bin emptied daily and they will be cleaned thoroughly at least once a week (except on weekends, Bank Holidays, and during periods when the College is closed) according to a defined rota. Undergraduate College Hostels are cleaned by contract cleaners.  These services are all included in the weekly rent.

It is your responsibility to ensure that bedders have regular access to your room and that your room is kept in a reasonably tidy state, to enable them to do their job properly. All en-suite bathrooms will be cleaned at least twice a week. Your room must be left tidy on the allocated day, so that it is possible for your bedder to vacuum the floor and polish the furniture. In addition, you must not damage, or leave in a dirty or untidy state, any other part of the building of which your room is part (e.g. gyp room, hallways, and landings).

The Domestic Supervisor checks that the cleaning and maintenance of rooms are being carried out in accordance with the Housekeeping Service Level Agreement (SLA) The College shall not be held liable if failure to provide any of these services is due to factors reasonably beyond its control (such as mechanical failure, staff shortages/illness, or a lack of materials.)

The College may need to send in people to make repairs etc. to your room, but this will normally only be done at reasonable times, and giving reasonable advance notice, of at least 24 hours, if at all possible. The College reserves the right to enter the accommodation at all reasonable times to inspect, carry out any necessary works, and to show others round the property (e.g. Builders, architects etc.); this may be without notice, or with only minimal notice as appropriate, in any case of emergency.

6.7 Laundry Facilities

Coin-operated washing machines and dryers are available in P staircase and the Lasdun Building for use by College members. Items of clothing should not be left unattended, and the College will not accept any responsibility for loss of personal laundry. Some of the College Hostels are supplied with domestic-style washing machines and dryers. Additionally, Postgraduate residents of those College Hostels which do not have laundry facilities may use the facilities in College. Complaints regarding laundry machines should be reported either on-line or in the Faults Book in the Porters' Lodge.

6.8 Energy Efficiency and Management

Students are asked to be energy-conscious and switch off lights and any appliances, including computers, when leaving their rooms. See also Section 8.

6.9 Post/Mail

Each student, whether resident in College, a hostel or living out, will be allocated a pigeonhole in the Porters' Lodge. The Porters will place all mail which is personally addressed in the pigeonholes. Other general mail will be left in an accessible part of the Lodge for collection. Only the Porters and members of Christ's College may place mail in pigeonholes. Please note that those students living in King Street, Jesus Lane or other Hostels must give the College, not their hostel, as their Term time address. Within reason, letters addressed to the College will be forwarded to a student's last known address; letters addressed to individual houses will not be forwarded.

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