A BBC investigation has detailed how post-Grenfell cladding inspections have uncovered a series of other fire risks.
Flat owners and tenants have been looking for reassurance that the cladding on their home is safe, ever since the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017.
But inspections carried out as a result of these fears have revealed that the problems are not just cladding-related.
The BBC reports that ‘Many owners are now finding problems with “compartmentation” – the way their individual flat is sealed to stop fire and smoke spreading within a building.
‘Typically, flats should have barriers inside the spaces between any cladding and the outside walls, and fire breaks in the internal walls to ensure flats are protected for as long as possible should a fire break out.’
According to Façade Remedial Consultants, defective fire safety in has been found in 90% of the 2,000 buildings inspected and around 60% of those are not cladding related.
Speaking to SHP about the report, Gill Kernick, Master Consultant at JMJ Associates, who has been a high-profile voice on the subject of the Grenfell Tower fire, said: “Three and a half years after Grenfell, hundreds of thousands are unsafe in their homes and many are being asked to pay extortionate bills for interim safety measures and to remediate their buildings. Until consequences are fairly borne by those responsible for developing, designing, building and maintaining unsafe buildings, there will be little imperative to change.
“A siloed focus on cladding rather than adopting a transparent and holistic-risk assessment and mitigation programme means we do not even know the scale of the problem. This is unforgivable.
“Imagine, for a moment, that your home was clad in material that would burn like Grenfell. Imagine for a moment, putting your children to bed, knowing they are not safe. Imagine facing financial ruin for buying your dream home and now being stuck in a nightmare you can’t get out of. Imagine the impact on your mental health. Imagine not being able to protect your family.
“Speaking and listening to those impacted by this crisis is heart breaking. And their resilience and campaigning for change together with the Grenfell community is inspiring.
“When it comes to leadership of safety, actions speak louder than words.
“On results alone, the government and the building industry cannot say they are committed to change or provided the level of leadership needed.”
‘Waking watch’
In October, London Fire Brigade announced that there are now 430 buildings on what it calls it’s ‘waking watch’, meaning it makes fortnightly checks on buildings that it deems are ‘potentially unsafe’. That number has risen from 286 in March of this year.
The report comes months after the government announced that the new Fire Safety Bill, fire safety consultation and Building Safety Bill would bring “biggest improvements to building safety in nearly 40 years”.
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In the episode below, we hear from Gill Kernick about the pressing need to improve building safety culture post-Grenfell.
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Re Fire Safety
We have had clients try not comply with Fire Safety recommendations on the lifts in their buildings because of cost of the overall modernisation.
When we have pointed out that they should have a fire fighting lift due to height, risk and best practise they just get someone else in who finds a way around it for them.
We should always err on the side of caution and a joined up approach of safety first is something that we should all be involved in and promoting.
It still seems that some people put the pound above the lives that may be affected.
There are legitimate ways of not including for the fire fighting aspect of the lifts but it seems sailing close to the wind on things such as fire safety and poor practise.
We would happily walk away if asked to circumnavigate what we feel should be done.
It’s not a money spinner as far as we are concerned as we would happily base our fees on two standard lifts and prepare a specification for two lifts with one being firefighting.
It’s not all about money but it should be all about safety.
We wish them well but would prefer that they made the most of the safety features available instead of hoping that nothing goes wrong.
If developers and construction firms are building and selling unsafe properties; they should be held accountable. It happens in every other form of consumer protection. White goods for example recalled and a free repair or free replacements offered. Apparently not for faulty and dangerous residential buildings!