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Government brushed off timber frame fire safety warning from MP in 2016
The government brushed off a warning from one of its MPs about fires in timber-framed buildings in 2016, letters seen by Inside Housing reveal.
Following last week’s devastating fire in a timber-framed care home in Crewe, a letter has emerged from former MP for Canterbury Julian Brazier following a fire in his constituency in 2015.
Sent to James Wharton, the minister responsible for building regulations at the time, the letter warned of “unanimous agreement that the problem is that the guidance to the building regulations have not kept pace with modern methods of construction” among the experts Mr Brazier had consulted.
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The letter, which came after the fire that destroyed part of the Old Tannery complex in Canterbury, called for the use of sprinklers in timber-framed buildings and an “urgent review” of the relevant guidance.
“If it had occurred at night, local firefighters believe they would have been pulling bodies out of the rubble,” Mr Brazier wrote. “We surely cannot allow a fire of this magnitude to happen again.”
However, Mr Wharton’s response ran to a mere two paragraphs and said the use of sprinklers was “a matter that has been looked into in the past and there are already provisions for their use in buildings where their use was justified”.
Building guidance in England requires sprinklers to be fitted in new buildings taller than 30m but makes no provision for retrofit in existing buildings – or in timber buildings below that height. Around 150 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at the timber-framed Beechmere residential complex, managed by Your Housing Group, on Thursday last week.
More than 70 firefighters worked throughout the night to control the fire, which caused the building to partially collapse.
The fire service has since said lives were saved by the incident commander’s decision to abandon the stay put policy and the local MP has issued a fresh call for sprinklers in buildings housing vulnerable residents.
In his 2016 letter, Mr Brazier wrote: “I have been speaking to various experts about this case and they have pointed to the fact that the fire spread rapidly through the timber-framed voids and cavities.
“Can I enquire if there are any plans to consider an urgent review of further utilising fire sprinklers in the guidance to Approved Document B by making reference to the most up-to-date research?”
Inside Housing has previously carried a detailed investigation into the missed fire safety warnings during this time – when the government was committed to minimising public spending and reducing regulations through an attack on so-called ‘red tape’.
It followed another serious fire at a timber-framed development in Wigan on the 14 June 2014 – exactly three years before the Grenfell Tower fire – with the fire damaging more than 40 flats and taking days to extinguish.
Timber-framed construction is widely used in the UK, with the construction method used in 27.6% of new home starts in the UK in 2015, according to the Structural Timber Association, rising to almost a third by 2018.
However, there have long been fire safety concerns about the homes – especially if flames can break into the core of the building.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Sprinklers are one of many fire safety measures that could be adopted and are required in new residential buildings taller than 30 metres.
“Our recent technical review on Approved Document B asked for evidence on the provision of sprinklers and modern methods of construction. We are analysing the responses.”