You can only read the start of this story without subscribing to the Times but it’s what is happening up and down the county with buildings deemed to have unsafe cladding. The cost of the waking watch are phenomenal and owners of the buildings are being asked to pay despite having done nothing wrong when purchasing these properties.
Personally I think there are most cost effective options than waking watches with the Fire Service often requesting these without taking into account all the facts. What we are looking for here are temporary solutions to speed up an evacuation should a fire develop past a single flat or onto the exterior of the building.
You have to consider where the kitchens are in relation to the exterior walls and balconies, the number of floors, number of escape staircases, suppression and smoke vent systems etc.
Like when carrying out a fire risk assessment, it’s easy to write onerous recommendations to cover yourself and then forget all about who has to pay for them. Lets get back to a risk based approach where we work with our clients and can consider lower cost and more common sense options with no sacrifice to safety.
