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Fire safety expert ‘disappointed’ by fire safety failures found in tower blocks post-Grenfell
A fire safety expert has branded the number of fire safety issues the fire service found in tower blocks after the Grenfell Tower fire “disappointing”.
Nicholas Coombe, who was speaking to Inside Housing as part of our IH Meets series of interviews in his capacity as vice-chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council’s protection arm, said after the Grenfell Tower fire the London Fire Brigade carried out detailed inspections of tower blocks across London.
The fire service discovered that fire risk assessments were not being reviewed regularly enough, there were issues with compartmentation in blocks, and there was firefighting equipment that was not working.
Mr Coombe said: “It was disappointing – the results of our initial survey after Grenfell, some of the issues we found, considering the work that was done after Lakanal House. But as events happen, people’s minds focus on different things and we’ve had a public sector lack of investment from central government and others. Everyone has had to cut their cloth accordingly.”
Following a fire in Lakanal House – a Southwark Council-owned tower block – which killed six people in 2009, social landlords were called on to check their tower blocks for fire safety issues.
Inside Housing recently reported that the LFB had handed out 51 enforcement notices against the owners of tower blocks since the Grenfell fire.
Mr Coombe also said the building regulations fire safety guidance – known as Approved Document B – should be looked at and regularly reviewed.
He said: “Although Approved Document B is written for professionals and not for Joe Public because it’s a technical document, if two or three professionals can’t agree, then the guidance isn’t clear and that must be sorted out.”
Fire safety breaches by landlords should be tackled by a “more robust” enforcement regime, Mr Coombe said. He added: “If people know there are consequences when they get caught then they will toe the line.”
IH Meets
IH meets is a series of profile interviews, where we meet a different figure within or connected to the housing sector.
Interviews:
August 2018: Gary Porter
June 2018: Peter Denton
March 2018: Rebecca Evans
March 2018: Nick Walkley
March 2018: Sinead Butters
February 2018: Nicholas Coombe
January 2018: Eddie Hughes
November 2017: Melanie Onn
October 2017: Maxine Holdsworth
September 2017: David Orr
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.
