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ALMO did not carry out inspections after 2014 report into Broadwater Farm defects

Homes for Haringey did not carry out an intrusive inspection on a high-rise tower, despite a report in 2014 warning doing so could uncover safety issues. 

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Google Street View image of the Broadwater Farm Estate
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ALMO chose not to carry out intrusive inspections on a dangerous high-rise despite 2014 warnings #ukhousing

Residents will be evacuated from Tangmere House on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham due to longstanding issues with the safety of the block’s structure.

But Inside Housing has obtained a document which shows a structural assessment of this block carried out in 2014 reported cracks in walls throughout the building.

An appedix to the report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, written by structural engineers examined the carbonation of the concrete of the building and any degradation of the concrete from ongoing water penetration.

It added: “Latent defects may exist in the structure which can only be discovered by a further more detailed investigation.”


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It added that “intrusive investigations” could uncover more issues.

But further inspections were not carried out until after the Grenfell Tower fire, when the government advised councils to check the safety of large panel system (LPS) buildings.

Such buildings include Ronan Point, which collapsed in 1968 after a gas explosion, and tower blocks on the Ledbury Estate, which were evacuated and stripped of their gas supply last year.

The 2014 report was not specifically related specifically to the Tangmere’s LPS construction, and was instead an investigation of the carbonisation of the concrete, and it is not guaranteed that further investigation would have uncovered the issues which are now known to be present at the building.

Haringey Council’s post-Grenfell tests also revealed that Northolt, a tower on the same estate, would also need to be evacuated, and that gas cookers would need to be removed from nine blocks on the estate.

 

A spokesperson for Haringey Council said: “Following the report of 2014, we commissioned further investigations of buildings across the borough to identify and understand any other priorities for major works. This led to the report of 2015 from which a programme of activity was planned that included works and further investigations where needed.

“The 2014 report identified that the concrete in the structure was in reasonable condition and commensurate with the age of the building. It did not identify that the building was a large panel system building, nor did it recommend a testing regime to check for this.”

A number of large panel blocks up and down the country have been identified as requiring further strengthening or the removal of gas following the checks carried out in the aftermath of Grenfell.

One of the 2015 investigations – previously obtained by Inside Housing – examined Northolt but, as previously reported, “traditional reinforcement could not be readily determined”.

The report from this investigation said examinations were made to two locations of the building but as "battery operated drills had to be used due to the lack of power sources" only one location could be fully drilled at floor nine.

Update: at 2.30pm on 17.8.2018

This story was updated to make it clear that the examinations carried out on Tangmere in 2014 related to carbonisation and water damage of the concrete, not its ’large panel structure’ design.

It is possible therefore that further examination would not have uncovered the issues recently discovered relating to the LPS.

Separately, a line saying investigator’s drill batteries ran out in 2015 has been replaced with a direct quote from the document saying that only one location could be fully drilled as "battery operated drills had to be used due to the lack of power sources". It is not clear that drill batteries fully ran out.

 

Never Again campaign

Never Again campaign

Inside Housing has launched a campaign to improve fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire

Never Again: campaign asks

Inside Housing is calling 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.

LANDLORDS

  • Take immediate action to check cladding and external panels on tower blocks and take prompt, appropriate action to remedy any problems
  • Update risk assessments using an appropriate, qualified expert.
  • Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out
  • Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents

GOVERNMENT

  • Provide urgent advice on the installation and upkeep of external insulation
  • Update and clarify building regulations immediately – with a commitment to update if additional learning emerges at a later date from the Grenfell inquiry
  • Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)

We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.

The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.

 

READ MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN HERE

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