Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning (Deputy Leader) considered the report which sought approval for the provisional award of a contract, subject to Stage 2 s20 consultation, for a programme of surveys to undertake Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEWs) for residential properties and provide reports.

In response to questions from the Cabinet Member, the following information was provided.

-       The Council’s staff were not in a position to complete these works as this was a specialist exercise and the only viable option was procurement of these works.

-       There were eight properties who were awaiting EWS1 reports to allow completion of mortgages which this decision would allow.

-       The Council had not previously worked with the successful contractor, but they had passed the procurement criteria for quality, including case studies and outlining their experienced delivery of this provision for social housing providers.

-       With regards to leaseholder consultation, there will be a second round of consultation under section 20 of the Landlord tenant Act 1985 and this is set out in the report and statutory comments.

-       The contract would be provided over a three-year period, starting with and prioritising high rise buildings.

Further to considering the exempt information and exempt recommendation, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning (Deputy Leader),

RESOLVED

1.     To approve the provisional award of a contract to Contractor A, subject to Stage 2 Leaseholder consultation, for carrying out a programme of surveys for Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEWs) for residential properties and provide reports, including EWS1 and Building Safety Case reports where required, over a period of 3 years from commencement, which subject to award is estimated to be 1^st November 2024, for a maximum value of £1,799,956.00.

2.     To note the details of the procurement and approve the sum in exempt report.

Reasons for decision

3. 

The Building Safety Act 2022 places a statutory duty upon accountable persons to assess the building safety risks for occupied higher-risk buildings Sections 83. Additionally, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022; regulation 5 -Design and materials of external walls, confirms that for high-rise residential buildings risk assessments as required under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 (FSO) must include details of the level of risk posed by the design and the material of the buildings external wall system as well as the mitigating measures in relation to that risk.

The Council must also ensure that its residential buildings should adequately resist the spread of fire across their external wall systems, through specification of suitable remediation works.

The survey and resulting reports will support the Council’s property data and building safety cases and allow our fire risk assessments to comply with the requirements of the Building Safety Act and the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005. Without this, FRA’s may not in future, be considered fit for purpose.

Although Haringey’s residential high-rise buildings do not have rainscreen cladding similarly to that involved in the Grenfell disaster, fire can occur in external walls in flammable insulation materials within the walls and/or through cavities where there are not sufficient barriers inserted to prevent the spread across and upwards behind the wall finishes.

The Council is currently unable to confidently confirm or evidence that all buildings would limit the spread of fire due to a lack of detailed and reliable as-built records and subsequent works records, for many of its buildings. This is not unusual for older buildings within the social housing sector, given the lack of computer records at the time. Staff have undertaken extensive investigations and research to locate relevant documents which have identified and support the need for this additional survey programme.

The only way to establish the external wall make-up and potential fire risk of existing buildings without the above information is to undertake intrusive and extensive surveys of the buildings’ external wall systems from the external finish through to the surface of the internal walls.

This requirement applies to buildings of any height, where a Fire Risk assessment is required. This information will not be available from a stock condition survey, nor will it be immediately evident from a thermal imaging or Building Information Modelling (BIM) survey, as these are non-intrusive and require subsequent desk top analysis, extrapolation, and assumption.

Alternative options considered.

4. 

Do nothing. This would leave the residents subject to living in buildings where there could be fire safety issues that go unrecorded and unremedied if we do not undertake these surveys. In addition, the Council would not be compliant with both the Building Safety Act and the Fire Safety Act.

Undertake the surveys in-house. This option is not viable due to the specialist skills, certifications and insurances required to carry out and report on the findings of these surveys.

Include within the stock condition surveys. This is also not an option due to the advanced nature of that survey programme and the need to undertake intrusive examinations of all aspects of the external façade which is outside to the scope of a Stock Condition Survey.