York Council progress on fire risk fears

The York Council has published a report updating residents on the progress made in addressing issues revealed by the Grenfell Tower disaster earlier in the year. The Grenfell fire resulted in the deaths of 71 occupants of the high rise housing block.

It is the third in a series of reports. The Council had previously confirmed that there are no comparable high rise housing blocks in the City

In the autumn the Council had been told that 307 fire risk assessments (FRA) were needed in the City. The latest report says that an inspection contract is “currently being finalised with a suitably qualified contractor with a target date (subject to contract) for completion by March 2018”.

A schedule for the outstanding FRA reviews has been produced which prioritises those property types most at risk; i.e. converted houses/flats; sheltered and older persons housing and hostels; and blocks where fire incidents have previously occurred.

A more detailed check of fire spread prevention measures, e.g. between floors or rooms of a building, will be carried out as vacancies occur.

A national review of the effectiveness of building regulations has resulted in an interim report.  The report concentrates on buildings of more than 4 stories in height (of which there are few in York). “Most professional bodies seem to accept that the current regulatory arrangements are not working”.

The national report concludes,

“The work of the review to date has found that the current regulatory system for ensuring fire safety in high-rise and complex buildings is not fit for purpose. This applies throughout the life cycle of a building, both during construction and occupation, and is a problem connected both to the culture of the construction industry and the effectiveness of the regulators”.

The York report will be discussed at a meeting taking place on 8th January 2018

High rise fire risk worries in York

The York Council says that it does not know whether there are any private sector flats in York which may have an increased fire risk of the type that led to the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Although Council owned properties have been inspected and given a clean bill of health, the Council does not hold any information on approximately 40% of similar properties in the private sector.

The anomaly comes because these developments were supervised by private sector “Approved Inspectors” rather than the Councils own building regulation staff.

A report to a meeting taking place next week explains why no central register is available and hints that private inspectors may have slightly different interpretation of building regulations

“In terms of assurances that can be given on whether non-council owned high rise residential buildings in York meet existing and future fire safety building regulation, the picture is unclear as the council is not the only provider of building regulation services. Currently CYC supervises 60% of construction within the authority boundary with 40% being provided by private service providers (Approved Inspectors (AIs)).

 This means that on approximately 40% of developments, CYC will not have access to any constructional information, and therefore can provide no assurances about fire safety regulations in place, if they are not the appointed building regulation service provider.

Approximately 10 -15 different AI companies work within council’s area at any given time, each providing differing interpretations of the building regulations.

The council could consider whether it should contribute to the Hackitt review in light of this issue”.

The issue has been revealed following a request for a report from Environment Chief Cllr Andrew Waller.

The meeting will also be updated on plans to install sprinkler systems in vulnerable public buildings in the City

York Council finally responds to to flat fire fears

Council reassures tenants of its fire safety approach

Fire exit in York flat block

The York Council has finally said that it will respond to some of the concerns raised following our audit of fire safety last weekend.  It has still not confirmed that it has abandoned its plan to move housing management to an “arms length company – of the type that was complicit in the Grenfell Tower disaster.

It has issued the following statement.

 “Following the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower, City of York Council is writing to its tenants and leaseholders living in its blocks of council homes.

The letter explains that the council has no high rise blocks – these are classified as having six or more storeys – and that none of its homes have aluminium composite material (ACM) type cladding which was used at Grenfell Towers. Also, the letter confirms that the council has an ongoing, rolling programme of fire risk assessments in place for all the council’s blocks with communal areas, including sheltered housing, hostels and older person’s accommodation.

The council installs hard-wired smoke detectors in tenants’ homes as part of the rolling Tenants’ Choice modernisation programme, and its gas engineers test detectors when they carry out annual gas service visits.

All sheltered housing schemes, older persons housing and hostels have communal fire alarm systems, and all vulnerable people living in them have personal emergency evacuation plans.

The letter recognises that there is always room for improvement, and that the council is currently developing a new fire safety policy for its housing stock which will reflect the most up-to-date fire safety practice.

As part of this policy work, the council will be reviewing how its existing fire safety procedures are managed across its housing stock. Any areas for development which are found will be dealt with urgently through an improvement plan. This will be overseen by Mary Weastell, the council’s chief executive and will be shared in more detail with all tenants when complete”.
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