Fire Safety

Since Grenfell, fire safety in social housing has been in the spotlight. The standard of existing fire safety has been scrutinised and reviewed, with terms such as stay-put policy, EWS1 forms, The Hackitt Report, and ACM cladding all becoming household topics of discussion. Billions of pounds are being spent on Type 4 Fire Risk Assessments (FRA), cladding removal, door replacement programmes and waking watch. Housing groups are now putting more and more pressure on manufacturers and contractors to provide them with the assurance of compliance, with BIM and the Golden Thread becoming the expectation rather than the exception.

Easy to fit decorative boxings from UK Boxings have been used for more than 20 years by UK housing associations, local authorities and social housing contractors to hide pipework for fire sprinklers, heating systems and below boilers to save time and money on-site.

Here, Daren Fraser at Langley Waterproofing Systems Ltd looks at the factors that decision makers of housing associations should consider before selecting a flat roof asset management partner.

This month will see the launch of Smarter Homes, Safer Communities powered by Aico. This virtual conference marks the beginning of Aico’s advance into facilitating and holding events within the housing sector.

Smarter Homes, Safer Communities powered by Aico is a two-part virtual conference covering the current challenges the housing sector is facing, the advancements in technology and the future of the Internet of Things (IoT) in housing.

Last month I wrote a technical review of the latest Fire Safety Bill, where I outlined the specific details of how the Fire Safety Bill legislation will be implemented and enforced.

Similarly, this month we will be focusing on the latest part of the attempts to create a reformed building safety regulatory system, specifically the Government’s Draft Building Safety Bill and what this will mean for the service and maintenance of buildings.

Aico have recently had their award-winning Expert Installer core module CPD certified by the Fire Industry Association (FIA).

Aico, an Ei Company, are the market leader in domestic Fire and Carbon Monoxide protection, pioneering new technologies and offering high quality Fire and Carbon Monoxide alarms and have a strong working relationship with the FIA, whose logo is recognised with in the fire industry.

More than 4.5 kilometres of ‘Versa’ fire sprinkler boxing from Encasement is being used to conceal surface mounted fire sprinkler pipework, which has been retro-fitted at four South Tyneside Council tower blocks in Hebburn and Jarrow to help protect more than 280 residents.

Even though an independent fire inspection and level four fire risk assessment declared the high-rise residential blocks to be safe, the council chose to continue with the £1.4 million automatic sprinkler installation programme as part of its commitment to tenant safety and fire protection.