These blocks of flats in Milton Keynes have recently failed a range of fire safety inspections by the council ahead of the new fire safety bill guidance which soon come into force.
In all honestly I would be very surprised if any older style purpose built blocks of flats were to fully pass these types of tests and inspections. As we are seeing across the country, there are huge variations between how these buildings were supposed to be built according to Building Regulations and guides at the time and how they were actually constructed.
Obviously the standards and issues will vary greatly between buildings. However, what we need to do moving forward is strike the right balance between applying retrospective changes which are required for occupants safety but at that same time applying a risk based approach taking everything into account rather than a one size fits all approach.
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Massive fines handed out to the Responsible Person of this care home in Cardiff for multiple breaches of fire safety laws. As a care home owner, you must ensure you have carried out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and have shown due diligence by carrying out the recommendations in the fire risk assessment.
The list of failures here was comprehensive with an inadequate fire risk assessment, no protection to escape routes, blocked exit doors and lack of fire drills.
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This fire on a 14th floor in a block of flats in Coventry is being treated as an arson incident. Fortunately nobody was hurt and the fire crews were able to contain the fire before it got out of control.
The dangers of arson are massive and one criminal act could have cost other occupants their lives. It’s why making sure all buildings are as safe as possible from a fire is so important as you never know what could happen next whether it’s an accidental electrical fire or deliberate act of arson.
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Fire Officers are calling for changes to legislation relating to the installation of sprinklers following this fire to a student accommodation block recently in Liverpool City Centre.
Fire chiefs are backing the request made by the NFCC to lower the height sprinklers are required for to be made mandatory.
The sprinklers were so effective that it made the job for the fire crews a little easier to deal with and showed how crucial the role sprinklers can play in a real life fire situation.
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This is a really interesting article as is discusses how fire risk assessors should be safely communicating with residents during this pandemic and how by doing so it can increase the safety of the building and for the occupants themselves.
Makes sense and where buildings have waking watches in place as they wait cladding to be removed, it is an ideal time to be communicating with residents, finding out who is vulnerable and where the risk in a building really is.
Normally the jurisdiction means we don’t go past the front flat entrance doors but this is an opportunity to speak with those vulnerable residents and where safe to do so check their flats and give fire safety advice as appropriate.
Fires in blocks of flats normally start in the flats themselves and it’s often the case that a little bit of education beforehand could have made all the difference. Let’s use this opportunity and time wisely.
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Fortunately nobody was hurt in this severe flat fire in a high rise block of flats in Kennington.
Great work by the fire brigade and in reality this purpose built block of flats doing what it should do in a fire situation. Staying within the flat itself and not spreading to others parts of the building.
It’s easy to report fire safety failings but it’s more important to look at the positives and what a good job London Fire Brigade (LFB) have done and what a purpose built of flats should do when a fire starts.
#firesafety
#fireriskassessment
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Fortunately this fire in a hotel in Brighton ended up as someone having to receive treatment for smoke inhalation rather than a fatal fire which the brigade believed they were being called to.
That’s always a relief and the fire was extinguished and under control in a short period of time. Let’s hope the responsible person for the hotel had a suitable and fire risk assessment in place and by working through the recommendations the hotel was safe before the fire took place.
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“Stuck between a rock and a hard place” that’s the words of a resident who bought a flat in London with all her savings and is now in a desperate place with her flat valued as worthless.
As we await the arrival of the New Fire Safety Bill it’s a good time to reflect on where we are in this country and to spare a thought for the poor residents who are trapped in this terrible predicament. They bought properties through the correct procedure. Can you even imagine the stress for these people?
As we work hard to rectify fire safety issues which often results in no easy answer for the buildings residents, we need to make sure we are working together and everybody involved is taking their responsibilities. We will await more developments from the Grenfell enquiry.
But whether it’s architects, building control, contractors, fire safety consultants or building management teams, whatever has gone wrong in these buildings needs to be put right. It may be the fault of a whole range of organisations. But one thing is for sure, it was and is no fault of the buildings residents.
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