Prioritising fire safety in council high-rise blocks
We’ve been reprioritising fire safety work in our high-rise blocks of flats following recent joint inspections by East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (ESFRS), including bringing forward work already planned.
The health and safety of our residents and those who visit and work on our council homes is a key housing service priority.
Significant legislative and regulatory changes impacting on the duties of social housing landlords, including the council, have been introduced following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
We are investing in building, fire and health and safety in council homes, in line with these new duties, including a programme of building surveys and enhanced fire surveys on our blocks.
This investment is to make sure we continue to provide safe, good quality council homes in line with the legislative and regulatory changes impacting council homes.
We have been regularly updating residents on the ongoing review of our approach towards health and safety compliance and assurance for council homes, including fire safety in council high rise blocks, in light of new Building Safety Act, Social Housing (Regulation) Act and fire safety regulations.
Our ongoing health and safety review has identified the priority actions needed to be fully compliant with current legislation. We’ve regularly reported our progress and action plan toward reaching compliance to the Housing & New Homes Committee and tenant meetings.
ESFRS are a key stakeholder and regulator, and we work closely with them on all fire safety compliance in our buildings.
No cladding on our high rise blocks is the same material as used on Grenfell Tower. None of our council high-rise blocks have cladding made from Aluminium Composite Material (ACM).
East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service
In order to discharge their regulatory duties following a recent inspection of 5 council high rise blocks, ESFRS have served the council notices specifying the dates for completion of some aspects of fire safety work, ranging from the end of October to September 2024.
The notices refer to work required in Clarendon House in Hove; Somerset Point, Hereford Court and Saxonbury in Queen’s Park; and Nettleton Court in Hollingdean.
We’ve also carried out additional analysis of all high rise blocks in line to inform our fire safety work planning.
We do know there is work to do to rectify areas which currently don’t comply with fire safety regulations. This is an absolute priority for the organisation.
We also acknowledge the need to speed up of some of the areas that require specialist contractors and we are doing all we can to address all outstanding issues on the fastest timescales possible.
Work underway
Since receiving the notices, we’ve been through our planned fire safety work on our 45 high-rise blocks and reprioritised the actions needed.
We have completed a number of the actions specified in the notices and are continuing to work closely with ESFRS to ensure full assurance and compliance with their requirements as soon as possible.
We have installed ‘wayfinding signage’ visible in low light or smoky conditions in all 45 blocks, and written to high rise residents to remind them of important fire safety advice, including how to report a fire, what to do in the event of a fire and the importance of keeping fire doors closed.
We have also installed permanent opening ventilation for the stairwells in Somerset Point and Saxonbury and have begun work on upgrading the communal fire alarm system at Nettleton Court.
We’ve supplied ESFRS with floor plans, building plans and information on design and materials in external walls for all our high rise blocks.
In addition, we’ve completed a programme of checks to ensure that the secure information box in each block contains the required documents and building information.
We are now writing to all residents in the 5 blocks to share the detail of the work required there.
Ongoing fire safety work
Other actions are already well underway.
This includes our programme of replacing Manse Masterdor front entrance doors in our blocks. This will be completed in March next year.
We have agreed to cover the costs of the replacement doors for leaseholders to ensure fire safety throughout the blocks and are looking at our enforcement options if leaseholders refuse to have the doors replaced.
We’ve also begun a programme of monthly checks on essential firefighting equipment and fixing where necessary.
The notices include a few outstanding issues noted in 2021 inspections, which required the appointment of specialist contractors to carry out additional testing.
This included work in relation to infill panels on the balconies of Saxonbury and the suitability of window infill panels at Clarendon House. A contractor has been appointed and has started work on this enhanced risk assessment. We are also undertaking our own revised and enhanced risk assessment on these 2 blocks.
While reviewing our risk prioritisation and action plans for Clarendon House and Saxonbury, we have identified potential remedial actions in relation to small areas of external wall materials as well as infill balcony and window panels, which over time we may fully remove from our external wall structures and balconies.
We will also be reviewing the materials enclosing the stairwell at Hereford Court to ensure compliance.
Other key actions currently underway across the 45 council blocks include:
- Work begins next week on an evaluation of the existing fire alarm systems in our blocks to ensure they meet current standards.
- We’ve appointed a contractor and we are currently mobilising a specialist contractor, to carry out Type 4 enhanced fire risk assessments (FRA).
- Procurement has been completed on a contract to carry out annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of all fire doors in common areas.
We continue to keep our common ways clear by removing items daily, using enforcement where necessary. Our surveyors are now also carrying out monthly block inspections of the communal ways and areas.
Resident safety our priority
Councillor Gill Williams, chair of the Housing & New Homes Committee, said: “Firstly, we’d like to apologise for any worry caused by this news and reassure all our residents that their safety remains our absolute priority.
“There is a lot of work to do to stay on top of requirements coming in for the Building Safety Act and other new regulation, and we are already investing £13 million on building, fire and health and safety in council homes this year.
“However, we do recognise the need to speed up in some of these areas and reprioritising this work has been a key focus of our housing service over the past few weeks. It’s good to see the progress made and plans in place.
“We are writing to all residents in Clarendon House, Hereford Court, Nettleton Court, Somerset Point and Saxonbury and holding local drop-in sessions setting out what we’ve done and the work coming up. If any residents have concerns, please do come to the drop-ins, or contact the housing team or your ward councillors.”
