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Salford Council is reviewing its sign-off process on a building with Grenfell-style cladding after an independent surveyor found problems with the building’s firebreaks.
The cladding on the Fresh Building in Salford is ‘category three’ aluminium composite material and has failed government fire safety tests.
After recently losing a tribunal, leaseholders in the building are now liable to pay roughly £100,000 for a 24-hour fire warden patrol of the building that has been in place since July last year.
Firebreaks are meant to slow or stop the spread of fire but an independent surveyor commissioned by some of the leaseholders found inadequate firebreaks behind all three of the cladding panels he inspected.
Salford Council’s building control department signed off the building in 2007. A spokesperson for the council said it is reviewing the building control process of the Fresh Building, but “so far all evidence shows it has been undertaken properly”.
The spokesperson added that the designer and constructor of a building “carry primary responsibility for complying with building regulations”.
Leaseholders in the Fresh Building have insurance policies with Liberty Specialty Markets and originally had their claims turned down to cover the cost of the cladding work.
Insurers have been reluctant to pay out to leaseholders in other tower blocks, as Inside Housing has previously reported.
In light of the surveyor’s findings, Inside Housing understands Liberty Specialty Markets is now re-considering the leaseholders’ claims and will be carrying out its own inspection of the building.
Liberty Specialty Markets declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
A spokesperson said: “We take our commitment to our customers seriously, including their confidentiality. We do not publicly discuss individual policy or claims issues.”