NEWS High rises failing fire safety checks total 99


THE TOWERS across England and Wales have failed checks since the Grenfell Tower fire in June last year, according to an investigation. Huffington Post reported


that ‘nearly 100 blocks’ have failed fire safety checks since last June’s fatal fire at Grenfell Tower, with inspections finding some buildings ‘have never had a mandatory fire risk assessment, contain limited escape routes and feature poorly-maintained safety equipment’. The blocks are all four storeys or higher, and have been ‘ordered to make improvements to safety’ as part of investigations. Of the 99 identified, 74 were


in London, after a ‘crackdown’ by London Fire Brigade (LFB) in response to the Grenfell


Tower fire. Huffington Post calculated the numbers from examining ‘rarely-publicised notices’ which relate to residential buildings and which are published by ‘all the fire services’ in England and Wales online, as well as on the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) website. In London, Camden,


Southwark and Westminster had eight failing blocks each, while Tower Hamlets, Brent, and Hammersmith and Fulham had five each. Barnet, Hackney and Lambeth saw four each, while the remainder had between one and three buildings each that had failed. Outside London, West Yorkshire had five buildings that failed checks, with Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire having four each. One Sheffield property had nine separate failures including ‘not preparing a risk assessment report’, with all buildings failing on categories including ‘the design of buildings right the way through to the fire safety of an occupied building’. Fire safety experts stated


that the total of failing buildings ‘is higher than would be typical


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over that period’, and expressed ‘serious concerns about the system of self-regulation, fire service funding and over-lapping laws that cause confusion over responsibility’. The 99 buildings were in


addition to the 300 that failed the government’s fire safety tests, and on confirming the figures, the government said only seven social housing blocks had seen cladding removed. The most common faults found include a failure to make a fire risk assessment ‘and keep it regularly updated’; a ‘lack of clearly indicated emergency routes and exits’; ‘not taking any general fire precautions’; and ‘not providing adequate fire separation between rooms and floors’. This investigation also found


that fire service checks are carried out ‘on less than one in 20 at-risk buildings each year’, which reflects the ‘limited resources fire services say they have at their disposal’. This was cited as a combination of ‘austerity and the slashing of red tape’, which has rendered self regulation as a system ‘pretty much useless’, due to enforcement restrictions. Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington and Chelsea,


APRIL 2018 www.frmjournal.com


where Grenfell Tower is situated, commented on the investigation’s findings: ‘The number of tower blocks which have failed fire safety checks since the Grenfell Tower fire is frightening and unforgivable. I have asked the secretary of state several times in parliament to implement the recommendations of the Lakanal House inquiry in advance of whatever the Hackitt Report recommends. We need action, not reviews, to keep people safe in their beds.’ A Home Office spokesperson


responded that ‘fewer high rises being inspected were deemed unsatisfactory in 2016-17 compared to five years earlier’, adding: ‘Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue service to assess the risks in its area and determine how best to allocate its resources effectively. ‘This includes deciding on


the number of fire safety officers needed to deliver their fire safety enforcement duties under the Fire Safety Order. There were around 54,000 fire safety audits carried out by FRSs in England in 2016/17. Of these around 5.5 percent were in purpose built flats of four storeys or more.’


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