Surgery Directory
Findanagent
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Fire safety
QUESTION I have just bought a flat and there is a notice on the board in the commonentrance hall that forfire escape purposes, the blockhas a‘stayput’policy.Ihave no ideawhat thatmeans; I have askeda fewofmyfellow residents andtheydon’t knowwhat itmeans either.What does itmean?
ANSWERThere is a complicated technical answer to this question but letmetry and put it in ordinary Englishlanguage. In simple terms, if your block of flats is built with concrete floors and a concrete staircase with a proper fire-proof entrydoorintoyourflat,and if a fire started somewhere else in the block, it is assumed that you would probably be safest if youstayed inside your flatuntil thefire services arrive and wait for themto get you safely outofthe
building.Inother words: stay put. On the other hand, if you live in a
Victorianconversionwithwooden floors and a wooden staircase, and afire starts somewhereelseinthe building,thenitisprobablysafest for you to get out of the building as quickly and as safely as you can. In other words: do not wait for the
fire services. Whoever put up the notice in your entrance hall has a responsibility tomake sure that you understandwhatthe policy foryour building is and there ought to be a more complete explanation, either pinned on thenoticeboard or sent to all residents occasionally so that they do have a good understanding ofwhat to do should they become aware of a fire somewhere in the building.
Dealing with uncooperative agents
QUESTIONWeare asmall block and appointed newmanagingagentswhenwewerenot happy with the servicebeingprovidedbythe previous ones.Onthe datefor handover, the oldmanagingagentpassedoverthemoney andafewdocumentsbut theyhave refused to handovermostofthe documentssayingthat they belong tothemand not to us. Weareinvestigatingsomeproblemswith
regard to somemajorworks andweneed allthe files relatingtothe contracts with the supervising surveyor aswell as the builders. Theoldmanagingagents refusetohandthem overandweareincreasinglyconcernedthat the answers towhatweneed to investigate will be foundonthosefilesand might reflect badlyonthe
oldmanagingagents.Can you help us?
Be aware of your block’sfire safetyprocedure
Flat Living Issue 15
ANSWERThe outgoing propertymanagers acted as your agents. The papers and documents belong to you, even if they were documents created by themanaging agents. If the outgo- ingmanagingagentsaremembersofRICSor ARMA,theyare obligedtohaveacomplaints handling procedure; ask for a copy of it and follow thesteps throughtoareference to the Ombudsmanifnecessary.Ifthe outgoing managing agents arenotmembersofRICSor ARMA,thenitispossible that they do nothave acomplaints handling procedure. Iassumethat the documents you are seeking are of substantial importance and that you have already written
a carefully worded letter explainingwhy you need thedocuments andthat, if necessary,you will instruct solicitors andseekcosts. If not, do so and address the letter personally to the first nameddirectoronthe letter headingorthe senior partnerofthe firm. Askfor thelettertobeacknowledgedand
askfor areply within 14 days.Ifthatdoesnot achievesuccess, youwillhavedoneeverything youcan withoutspendingmoney andifyou need to proceed further, it will be necessary to instruct
asolicitor.Pleasemakesurethatyou instruct onewho is familiar with disputes and litigation;their knowledgeand skills arevery different fromaconveyancing solicitorwho acts in buying and selling property. Awell-writtenletterfrom asolicitor will
normallydothe trick. If it doesn’t, then you areprobablycorrect in suspecting that there aredocuments on thefile (ormissingfrom the file)whichwould notreflectfavourablyonthe outgoingmanaging agent. If you do have to start recovery proceedings in theCourts, please do notdosomerelyout of principle: be quitecertain that thecostsofrecovery(in so farasthose costs might not be recovered) need to be proportionate to thevalue ofwhat youare trying to recover. Areyou able to getthe papers youneed outof
the builder or out of the supervising surveyor? Sometimesitismoresensible andpragmatic to swallowhard, put it downas a bad experience whichyou do not wish to repeat, andmove on. That really depends on the scale of the problem.●
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Awellwritten letter froma solicitorwill normallydothe trick
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