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Yet another serious fire in the middle of building refurbishment works. So many buildings that have stood the test of time for so many years suddenly seriously or partially damaged by fire during construction. There is starting to be a serious link to fires during or not long after these buildings works. The irony being that these very building works are supposed to ultimately improve the safety of the building. Time for a rethink about responsibilities before, during and after building works? These buildings are often vacant during such works which is good from a life safety perspective but has the disadvantage of a fire potentially being detected and reported too late to save the building. Great work from the firefighters who managed to limit the damage so quickly and professionally.

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As I have said before please do get in touch if you find yourself in this situation, we may be able to help. Every building and the risk it faces are different and often leaseholders/residents are left in a terrible situation where they can’t find answers from anyone. They are paying money for these flats, money which ultimately goes to the very banks that saying they are currently worthless. Surely they deserve answers and assistance at a difficult time.

I imagine this will be the first of many examples of who will pay for the removal of cladding from the exterior walls of high rise blocks of flats. Will it be the Government, Housing Associations or leaseholders themselves..... Think about those buildings that have already had two years plus of paying for ‘Walking Watches’ which already amounts to huge amounts of money and then comes the cost of the actual removal. Watch this space because there must be so many of these buildings and nobody wants to pay......

1 in 10 schools still without an electrical test certificate and 13% without a fire risk assessment. That is a lot of school buildings across the UK that are failing to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

You have to ask how a £23 million new build student accommodation building can have an enforcement notice issued after only a few months. But then again is it really that surprising. As I have said before it’s not always about the amount of money or about the Building Regulations but a whole range of issues. It’s how the work is carried out, the contractors, the persons responsible for checking the work along the way, Building Control, Fire Safety Inspectors, architects, I could go on and on. The point is that you can have the best Fire Safety regulations in the world, spend all the money in the world but still things that can cost next to nothing can have a bigger impact. Collaborative working, communication, leadership and organisation to name a few. I personally believe we are building buildings cheaper with poorer materials and paying more for them. It’s the tip of the iceberg and once again a fire safety issue related in some sense to building works and construction.