NEWS
Building a safer future seminar – London Hackitt implementation discussed at latest seminar
THIS EVENT took place on 29 April, with chair John Smeaton, chairman of the FPA, pointing out that the combustible materials ban was the ‘only’ action taken in two years since Grenfell. He asked attendees what we need to do ‘to stop the future loss of life’, citing ‘easy wins’ such as banning single staircases and fitting sprinklers, for which the ‘case has been made’. These would ‘undoubtedly be effective’, though Mr Smeaton warned that – in the particular case of cladding removal – the sector ‘should not let these people off the hook’.
FRAs in future
Howard Passey, principal consultant at the FPA, explored changes likely to come for fire risk assessments (FRAs), pointing out that while the sector is doing ‘great’ work, ‘is it really enough?’ The ‘new world order’ on its way in the Hackitt recommendations means ‘things are going to change right across the built environment’, and the sector ‘needs to prepare itself’, with further clarity needed and ‘specific’ requirements outlined for different job roles and professions. FRA assessors need a ‘high level of skill’, the report had recommended, and currently ‘everything is very complex’, so the guidance needs to ‘make sense, but sadly there is no easy way to do this’. Indeed, the sector needs to look
‘far more widely’ at the competence of all involved, while those undertaking FRAs need to ‘think for themselves rather than blindly following guidance’. Raising standards and providing a ‘clear route’ to qualifications, alongside adopting current competency pathways and registers, would help raise standards, alongside imitating the criteria of other areas that ‘have these in place already’. Key factors such as ensuring
regular practice, updates and upgrades, as well as revising competency throughout regulation change, would be sensible to implement. Mr Passey concluded that the sector must ‘be prepared’, as the future is set to be both ‘complex and complicated’, and that we ‘need to start making changes now’,
alluding to those Mr Smeaton had outlined.
Housing company action
Hyde Housing’s chief executive Elaine Bailey spoke on the company’s response to the recommendations. It has 50,000 properties in London and the South East, with 90 tall buildings over 18m in height. Post Grenfell, it created a fire safety team, implemented a governance structure and ringfenced a ‘significant’ budget to improve fire safety standards, with a ‘systematic’ inspection of all buildings of six storeys or above conducted, including 86 existing buildings, five under construction and seven in the pipeline stage. Only one was clad in aluminium
composite material (ACM), though there was flammable cladding of other material types on other buildings, including high pressure laminate, and all those affected received type four intrusive FRAs. ACM was removed from buildings under construction and whole façade systems were studied, while buildings with, or planned to include, single staircases were addressed. Mrs Bailey noted that those under development were ‘the easiest to deal with’, and all planned over 18m will have sprinklers fitted. Existing buildings have waking watches installed, with ‘significant problems’ discovered in evacuation inspections. Fire trained inspectors have worked alongside fire and rescue
12 JUNE 2019
www.frmjournal.com
services (FRSs) as part of a ‘protective liaison’, whilst expert advice has been sought from the sector, with a supply chain network set up within existing frameworks to ensure delivery of necessary works. Tenancy safety audits were undertaken that found alterations had been made everywhere by leaseholders, one 19th floor flat having no internal walls left. Buildings under construction, meanwhile, have seen ‘enhanced’ handover requirements installed, as well as ‘strengthened’ duties and responsibilities handed down alongside development staff training. Harking back to Hackitt,
Mrs Bailey pointed out that the report’s point that building safety was ‘not fit for purpose’ was legitimate, sharing that quality assurance was ‘seriously lacking’ in that sector and safety compromises in construction. There were ‘serious and widespread’ compartmentation issues, alongside ‘substandard’ and flammable cladding, missing firestopping and records, and a failure to understand the issues with tenant lifestyles or internal renovations. This has meant a ‘significant’ amount of remediation work has been undertaken in ten buildings taller than six storeys, after type four FRAs, with landlord safety records established and ‘proactive’ management set up, accompanied by frameworks requiring specific accreditations and certifications.
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