Cladding removal plans submitted in Reading

by Projects

The application to remove combustible aluminium composite material (ACM) from Hanover House in the city of Reading has been submitted, three years after the cladding was discovered.

In November 2017, firefighters for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) recommended the closure of the car park below the tower after ACM was discovered, with RBFRS stating that it recommended this ‘due to fears a vehicle fire could spread to the flats above’. The car park was discovered to have used ACM identified in the government’s safety tests, though residents of the newly refurbished flats were ‘still in their homes’.

The seven storey building, a former driving test centre, was converted from offices into 14 flats without ‘changes to its external appearance’, receiving a new roof and internal refurbishment. Each of the flats and the communal areas are fitted with sprinklers, and ‘have other safety measures’ according to RBFRS, which was ‘notified’ about the cladding in the car park ‘as a result of guidance’ from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Reading Chronicle has now reported on the plans submitted to remove the cladding from the block, with the statement from Oxford Architects stating: ‘The existing cladding has been confirmed by the Berkshire Fire Service as potentially proposing a fire safety risk to the residents at Hanover House. The current building is therefore not providing a safe environment for its residents.’

The news outlet said that plans to remove the cladding had been approved in October 2018, but permission expired a year later ‘with no work having taken place’, and the latest proposal ‘seeks to both remove and replace’ the ACM with a powder coated metal system that Hanover House Residents Management Company – which manages the block – says ‘meets all necessary fire and safety requirements’.

It added in turn that a Reading estate agent had been fined £30,000 for ‘delaying telling buyers of a flat in the block’ about the cladding, with the building one of four in Reading discovered to have been clad with ACM, including St Lawrence House, a social housing block; Queen’s Court, a student accommodation block; and Crossway Point, another social housing block.

Of those buildings, the cladding at Lawrence House was removed at the end of 2019, while the material on Queen’s Court was removed in March 2020; remedial work at Crossway Point was paused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to be concluded in December.

Labour bid to amend fire safety bill after “shameful” failure to remove cladding

by Passive

Labour will try to amend the government’s fire safety bill this week, after it emerged that over 80% of private sector accommodation with Grenfell-style flammable cladding has not had the dangerous material removed.

The party will try to amend the legislation due before parliament on Monday and force the government to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s phase one report, published in October 2019.

The move comes after the latest government figures released in August showed that Grenfell-style cladding had not been removed from over 80% of private sector buildings and nearly 50% of social sector buildings.

The report on the first stage of the inquiry into the Grenfell fire said the programme to withdraw the aluminium composite material – ‘ACM’ – cladding from buildings “should be pursued as vigorously as possible”.

Commenting on the government’s inaction since the fire killed 72 people in 2017, Labour frontbencher Sarah Jones said: “Over three years after Grenfell, it is shameful how little progress has been made.

“The government has continuously broken their promises, while tens of thousands of people across the country are stuck living in unsafe flats. The victims and survivors of Grenfell are still waiting for justice. This is completely unacceptable.”

While the government has claimed its fire safety bill would take it a “step further” to delivering on the inquiry’s recommendations, it does not include direct provisions for any of the measures called for in the report.

The shadow policing and fire minister added: “Every measure necessary should be put in place to prevent a fire like Grenfell from ever happening again. We urge the government to honour their promises and back the amendment and get the work done.”

The fire safety bill is intended to give greater clarity over the responsibility for fire safety in buildings containing more than one home. It passed its second reading in April and the remaining stages are scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Labour’s amendment would create a legal mandate for owners to share information on the design and materials of buildings with the local fire service and to undertake regular inspections of flat entrance doors and lifts.

The proposed changes to the government’s bill would also see owners of buildings required to make sure that all residents are informed of the premises’ evacuation and fire safety procedures.

Commenting on the removal of Grenfell-style cladding in the phase one report, chair of the inquiry Sir Martin Moore-Bick wrote that is is “essential that it be done as quickly as possible”.

He added: “Concern has been voiced publicly, most recently by the House of Commons communities and local government select committee, about the apparently slow rate of progress in carrying out the work.”

Combustible cladding to be removed from Aylesbury flats

by Projects

The Friars House block in Aylesbury town will see combustible cladding removed ‘after over three years’ since it was first discovered.

The planning application lodged is set to ‘replace the materials on the front’ of the block, which sits above the Friars Square Shopping Centre in the town, and which was ‘found to have’ combustible cladding in 2017 after the Grenfell Tower fire. With it now being ‘over three years since it was revealed the building had potentially dangerous materials on its facade’, the application means that the cladding ‘looks set to be removed’.

The news outlet noted that at the time, a representative of the block’s management company Moreland Estate Management said that it ‘completely understood’ concerns ‘on this matter’, adding that ‘we have worked closely with Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to review the entire fire safety of the property, including the structure, management and facilities provided for the fire safety of the residents. We regularly check all fire systems at all of our properties’.

In turn, it was pointed out that ‘there is no work planned inside’ the building, with the planning application ‘focused on’ replacing the combustible materials on the outside of the building’. The news outlet added that the plans ‘show very similar elevations for the flats once the work is done’, including that ‘colour and appearance won’t change much at all’. Buckinghamshire County Council has a deadline of 21 September to make a decision on the application.

www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/

Government failures over cladding lead to extra hours for firefighters

by Projects

London firefighters are spending over 4,000 hours per month visiting high rise blocks where fire safety failings have resulted in ‘Stay Put’ advice being suspended.

Labour’s London Assembly Fire and Resilience Spokesperson, Andrew Dismore AM, who obtained these figures from a series of written questions to the Mayor, said that the Government’s “dither and delay” over removing dangerous cladding from tower blocks is leading to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) becoming a “free building safety service for tower block owners”.

High rise blocks of flats are designed to stop the spread of fire between apartments, which is the basis of the “Stay Put” advice. In March, the LFB identified that in 120 tower blocks, Stay Put was suspended because each building was still wrapped in Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, like that used on the Grenfell Tower.

In March, another 166 towers had the Stay Put policy revoked due to other factors such as compartmentation failures or the presence of other types of dangerous cladding, such as high-pressure laminates.

As of June, the advice in 274 tower blocks in the capital is now for all households to simultaneously evacuate in the event of a fire instead.

The LFB is currently dispatching a fire engine and a crew of between four and six firefighters to check these buildings twice a month while Stay Put advice is suspended.

The building checks, including the follow-up work for both visits, take two to four hours to complete on average.

This comes despite the Government’s previous pledge to strip ACM from tower blocks by June 2020, in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy three years ago.

The Mayor of London’s Budget guidance for 2020/2021 shows that in the absence of additional Government funding, the LFB will need to make £25 million of savings over the coming years due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Labour’s London Assembly Fire and Resilience Spokesperson, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

“The Government’s dither and delay in stripping dangerous cladding from high rises is contributing to the London Fire Brigade becoming a free building safety service for tower block owners.

“Keeping Londoners safe will always be the top priority, but providing this service takes time that could be used for other important duties such as training exercises and conducting smoke alarm checks.

“If the Government is going to require the Brigade to pick up the slack from its stalling building safety programme, it should allocate the necessary extra funding and resources.

“Firefighters have stepped up during the Covid-19 outbreak, from driving ambulances and fitting masks to delivering supplies in the community. However, the fallout from the pandemic is also due to have a huge impact on the Brigade’s finances.

“The Government must get its act together over cladding remediation and properly invest in our emergency services”

Banned cladding to be removed from high-rise buildings in Sharjah

by Middle East - Projects

The Sharjah Municipality has launched a crackdown on the buildings that continue to keep cladding facades, as part of its efforts to prevent fire accidents in residential units.

The inspection focuses on the review of safety requirements in these buildings to ensure that they maintain the specifications and protection requirements for fire safety.

Thabit Al Tarifi, Director-General of the Sharjah Municipality who heads the inspection campaign, said that it aims to check the buildings with aluminium and other flammable claddings and make the necessary changes according to a plan undertaken by the municipality’s engineering and buildings sector.

“This inspection comes within the framework of the municipality’s keenness to apply the best specifications and standards in all buildings to ensure the highest safety rates and fire prevention,” he added.

He urged managements and owners of the buildings to strengthen the safety standards and adhere to the requirements.

He said that the municipality facilitates procedures for the building owners to help them replace aluminium claddings with non-flammable materials.

Khalifa bin Hadda Al Suwaidi, assistant director-general of the Engineering and Buildings Sector, said according to the municipality regulations, buildings with a height of more than 23 metres or equivalent of seven floors should not have aluminium cladding.

In 2016, following a number of fire accidents in high-rise buildings, the municipality banned the use of aluminium cladding in the facades of the buildings.

The municipality had notified contractors, consultants and owners of buildings to implement a decision which calls for not using aluminium cladding for high-rise buildings.

The civic body has conducted a comprehensive survey of existing buildings with aluminium facades in all commercial, residential and industrial areas in the city.

He stressed that the municipality will continue to raise awareness of the dangers of using aluminium cladding through various means of media and direct communication with owners, contractors and consultants.