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Developers ignoring fire brigade advice on sprinklers
Developers are “consistently ignoring” the London Fire Brigade’s (LFB) advice that sprinklers are crucial in their buildings, the service has said.
In a new report published today, the LFB claims that an audit of 15 purpose-built blocks of flats, where it told developers that sprinklers were crucial, found that only two had systems fitted.
The LFB strongly recommended sprinklers when consulted for more than 3,000 buildings last year, including care homes, schools and blocks of flats.
The brigade is calling for a law change to stop developers ignoring its advice on sprinklers.
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Dany Cotton, commissioner of the LFB, said: “To ignore brigade fire safety advice is reckless and the government needs to act now to stop that happening.
“Developers should be required to include sprinklers in more buildings and especially in purpose-built residential blocks and homes of the vulnerable.
“Our spot check shows that the building industry cannot self-regulate on sprinklers and so the government must step in.
“Although we are telling developers that sprinklers will save lives, in most cases we can’t force developers to fit them and it’s very difficult to follow up on whether our life-saving advice was incorporated into the build.”
The LFB believes sprinklers should be fitted in all purpose-built blocks of flats taller than 18 metres and all buildings where vulnerable people live, including sheltered accommodation and care homes.
It also recommends that they should be retrofitted in existing buildings above 18 metres tall and homes for the vulnerable.
Inside Housing’s Never Again campaign calls on the government to fully fund the retrofitting of sprinklers in tall social housing blocks.
Current residential building regulations in England only demand sprinklers in new buildings taller than 30 metres.
The government is currently consulting on Approved Document B, the section of building regulations dealing with fire safety.
In Wales, sprinklers are mandatory in all new residential buildings, including houses, while Scottish regulations require systems in blocks higher than 18 metres as well as care homes, sheltered housing and schools.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, developers in England must consult fire services while designing new buildings – but do not have to listen to their advice beyond what is required by building regulations.
Never Again campaign
In the days following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, Inside Housing launched the Never Again campaign to call for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
One year on, we have extended the campaign asks in the light of information that has emerged since.
Here are our updated asks:
GOVERNMENT
- Act on the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations to tower blocks of 18m and higher. Commit to producing a timetable for implementation by autumn 2018, setting out how recommendations that don’t require legislative change can be taken forward without delay
- Follow through on commitments to fully ban combustible materials on high-rise buildings
- Unequivocally ban desktop studies
- Review recommendations and advice given to ministers after the Lakanal House fire and implement necessary changes
- Publish details of all tower blocks with dangerous cladding, insulation and/or external panels and commit to a timeline for remedial works. Provide necessary guidance to landlords to ensure that removal work can begin on all affected private and social residential blocks by the end of 2018. Complete quarterly follow-up checks to ensure that remedial work is completed to the required standard. Checks should not cease until all work is completed.
- Stand by the prime minister’s commitment to fully fund the removal of dangerous cladding
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
- Explore options for requiring remedial works on affected private sector residential tower blocks
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Take immediate action to identify privately owned residential tower blocks so that cladding and external panels can be checked
LANDLORDS
- Publish details of the combinations of insulations and cladding materials for all high rise blocks
- Commit to ensuring that removal work begins on all blocks with dangerous materials by the end of 2018 upon receipt of guidance from government
- Publish current fire risk assessments for all high rise blocks (the Information Commissioner has required councils to publish and recommended that housing associations should do the same). Work with peers to share learning from assessments and improve and clarify the risk assessment model.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out. Ensure assessments consider the external features of blocks. Always use an appropriate, qualified expert to conduct assessments.
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in the light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
- Adopt Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommended approach for listening to and addressing tenants’ concerns, with immediate effect
CURRENT SIGNATORIES:
- Chartered Institute of Housing
- G15
- National Federation of ALMOs
- National Housing Federation
- Placeshapers
