Refurb and maintenance

If our water usage patterns don’t change, the UK will have an ongoing water deficit of 4,000 Megalitres per day by 2050.  Reductions in leakage and domestic consumption are the two primary strands of water conservation targeted by Defra and the water companies.
 
Some areas of England are already restricting future development unless ‘water neutrality’ can be demonstrated. This requires both existing and new properties to reduce per capita consumption (PCC) to the extent that overall water usage levels do not increase.

When retro-fitting fire sprinkler systems, the UK Boxings range of pre-finished pipe and fire sprinkler boxing provides a consistent finish to installations by quickly and easily concealing pipework, which saves save time and money on site compared to site fabricated alternatives.

The Pendock Profiles range of specialist pipe boxing and casing solutions is one of the most comprehensive available, and is already a common feature in countless projects across the UK including heating system refurbishment, boiler upgrades and retro-fit fire sprinkler system installation.

For interior pipework, MX and TK pipe boxing can be used in most general applications, such as heating system or waste pipework, while MXF boxing is a dedicated concealment solution for fire sprinkler systems, where its widespread use is helping speed fire safety improvement projects across the UK.

Today’s homes are built to a set of standards, but that wasn’t aways the case with older homes. And as the UK has one of the oldest housing stocks in Europe it means that many houses don’t perform at their best. This could be due to poor insulation leading to drafts. Or it could be that solid walls are cold, leading to damp and black spot mould. Another reason could be a build-up of moisture caused by poor ventilation. Moisture is always present in the air – typically from everyday activities such as cooking and breathing – and without suitable ventilation it is attracted to the colder walls, providing a perfect environment for mould spores to grow.

With the new tenant satisfaction measures (TSM) now in place, maintaining quality standards and completing work within acceptable time frames, has become even more important when planning social housing maintenance, heating improvements and safety upgrades.

Although concealing pipework for sprinklers, heating systems and utilities forms only part of the full scope of RMI activities undertaken by registered providers, the potential for minimising the impact on tenants, while maintaining satisfaction levels, can be helped by using Encasement pre-formed pipe boxing and casings.

To many working in social housing - and those living in these properties - it will be evident that there is a problem with a lot of the current housing stock, which is one of the oldest in Europe. Many of these problems relate to damp, condensation and mould, with The English Housing Survey for Housing Quality and Condition¹ claiming that 3.5 million occupied homes were not suitable and did not meet the Decent Homes Standard in 2020, with 4% having serious damp issues.

When concealing external pipework, building services and other utilities associated with low carbon district heating schemes and air-source or ground-source heat pump systems, Pendock Profiles metal pipe boxing also provides protection against accidental damage while improving a project’s finish.