Agenda item

[Report of the  Interim Director for Housing, Planning and Regeneration. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal.]

To seek approval for the appointment of the successful contractor to undertake the refurbishment of the communal extractor fans, cleaning of ducts and installation of intelligent vents to individual dwellings.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal introduced the report which sought approval for the appointment of the successful contractor to undertake the refurbishment of the communal extractor fans, cleaning of ducts and installation of intelligent vents to individual dwellings to Northolt, Kenley, Stellar house and Kenneth Robbins House. The project formed part of the Council’s overall Council Housing Capital Programme, which in 2018 would see over £45m invested in the borough’s Council housing stock as part of its five year investment programme which exceeds £250m. The project would improve ventilation systems in flats and would reduce damp and condensation related issues, while also improving fire safety. A total of 339 homes would benefit from those works.

In response to questions from Cllr Cawley- Harrison, it was noted that

·         Ensuring the longevity of equipment so that it did not fall into disrepair and required replacement was factored in the long-term business plan which was essentially a finance model for the housing and revenue account. The plan provided for sufficient investment in stock to ensure works were completed in a timely manner. There was also a detailed plan completed 5 years in advance on asset management strategy.

·         Regarding the recovery by the Council of £55,000 from 38 leaseholders, it was noted that no comments or observations had been received. Leaseholders would be billed separately for the work as it was an additional service charge.

Further to considering the exempt information at item 24,

RESOLVED

1. To approve the award of a contract to H2O Nationwide Ltd for the refurbishment and upgrading of the centralised mechanical ventilation services at Stellar House, Kenneth Robbins House and Kenley over a contract period of 23 weeks for a maximum sum of £520,458 (rounded up) subject to reduction, in consultation with the contractor and in accordance with Paragraph 3.2 of this report, to omit the cost of the works to Northolt from the tendered sum before the award letter is issued and the signing of the contract.

2. To delegate the approval of the revised contract value to the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning once the cost of Northolt has been removed from the contract.

3. To approve the total professional fees of £58,114 which represents 11.166% of the contract sum and notes the total project cost of £578,572.

4. To authorise, under the Council’s Contract Standing Orders (CSO) 9.07.3, the issue of a letter of intent for an amount of up to but not exceeding £52,045, being 10% of the contract sum.

Reasons for decision

A competitive tender scheme was carried out for Phase two of ventilation works to high rise blocks in the borough and approval of the outcome of the tender is required to allow the contract to be awarded and the planned refurbishment and upgrading of the centralised mechanical ventilation services work to be ordered.

The new system will protect residents within their properties in the event of a fire, as smoke will be detected as it is drawn into the vicinity of the extract grille by the negative pressure in the bathroom or toilet. The airflow valve will shut down isolating the remainder of the riser within 5 seconds and an audible alarm will be activated.

The current systems do not perform to the requirements of the Building Regulations Part F1. An historic combination of double glazing and draught proofing and the deteriorated condition of the roof fans and ducts has caused a critical reduction of the ventilation rates to dwellings and this could lead to a consequential increase in dampness-related repairs. Restoring the ventilation schemes to beyond their original design performance will greatly reduce these issues and lead to reduced repair costs over the life of the system.

The new system will be a smart, digital solution that has smart air terminals that have Bluetooth technology embedded which enables each terminal to be interrogated, cycle tested and validated as fully functional without access to the property itself and in real time. Further, data from the air terminal can be downloaded via this wireless link to detect instances in which the terminals alarm functions have been activated, the status of the standby battery and whether the device has been disconnected from the mains supply. All of this data is date and time stamped to aid analysis and compliance checking.

Alternative options considered

The alternative option is to repair the existing system which could result in ongoing maintenance issues and not addressing the potential fire risk.