Yesterday’s news about the fire at Grenfell Tower in London is devastating and our thoughts and condolences are with all the people affected.
We manage one high rise block in Northampton, St Katherine’s Court in Spring Boroughs.
St Katherine’s Court is currently having external cladding fitted to it. Before sourcing this cladding it was reviewed in line with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s fire and building regulations. The cladding conforms to British Standards, as well as current fire and building regulations.
The cladding was independently fire tested prior to installation and is fire resistant up to 2,000 degrees. We also carried out a joint inspection with the fire service at St Katherine’s Court and they were satisfied with access arrangements during the refurbishment.
We want to reassure all of our tenants that the following fire safety measures are in place:
· We carry out regular fire safety checks in all blocks.
· We have professionally undertaken fire risk assessments on a 12 month basis with action plans to remedy any issues. These are up to date for all our relevant buildings.
· We have undertaken a comprehensive programme to install fire doors in all tenanted flats.
· Smoke alarms are installed in every flat.
· A zero tolerance policy has been enforced to ensure that fire and trip hazards are removed from communal areas.
We work closely with the local fire service and the current advice is that in the event of a fire tenants should stay put in their flats. This is the safest way to manage an evacuation as the fire service will isolate the fire before they rescue residents.
We will of course look to learn lessons from the tragic incident at Grenfell Tower once the specific details are known.
If you have any questions or concerns, please get in contact. You can email comms@northamptonpartnershiphomes.org.uk or telephone 01604 838136.