Type 4 Fire Risk Assessments - Devonshire Tower & Eglington Tower

Descriptions

The appointed contractor shall be required to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the fire resisting elements and compartmentation lines of specified multi-occupied residential buildings.

Each intrusive survey and fire risk assessment of the fire resisting elements and compartmentation lines shall consider a number of factors, including the following:

• The type of evacuation strategy adopted in the building, i.e. simultaneous, staged, phased or 'stay put'.

• The height of the building.

• The vulnerability of occupants.

• Fire protection measures within the building (e.g. compartmentation, automatic fire suppression, automatic fire detection).

• Apparent quality of construction, or presence of building defects.

• The combustibility of the building structure and the use of modern methods of construction, such as timber framing.

• The number and location of escape routes.

• The complexity of the building.

Intrusive surveys and sampling will be required to provide suitable and sufficient information on:

• The construction and condition of the fire resisting elements and compartmentation lines within the buildings.

• The construction and condition of any interactions or connections of two or more fire resisting elements within the buildings, including inspection of service penetrations both above-ceiling, below-floor, or within risers.

• The construction and condition of any current fire stopping within the buildings.

• The construction and condition of any risers within the building, including those internally within flats.

• The construction and condition of any cavity barrier located around window openings (located under window sills).

• The construction and condition of any hidden voids, ceiling/floor voids, or inaccessible areas.

The appointed contractor shall undertake a visual survey of each building in scope on appointment. The appointed contractor will undertake intrusive surveys within the common parts of each building and within the residential flats.

The appointed contractor shall develop a suitable sampling strategy for each building which considers:

• The extent of intrusive surveys recommended within the common parts of the buildings.

• The extent and number of intrusive surveys recommended within the residential flats of each buildings.

• Any requirements for specialist access equipment to fulfil the requirements of this scope.

• Any requirements to seek independent, third-party test data on any materials used in the construction of the buildings

• Areas where the integrity of fire resisting elements and compartmentation lines is critical but cannot be confirmed visually. This includes assessing:

• Construction that separates individual flats from the escape route.

• Compartmentation between individual flats.

• Separation between common areas and other parts of the building.

• The specific risks of the building, including:

• The quality of existing information, such as building plans.

• Signs of potential defects found during the previous type one fire risk assessment.

• The age and construction type of the building.

The appointed contractor will provide the Group with details of all the areas that are required for access within two weeks of appointment. The appointed contractor shall immediately notify the Group's Client Representative of any significant defects or concerns it identifies during any intrusive surveys and sampling. Communication with the Client Representative will be via telephone and email and all significant defects or concerns must be reported within 48 hours.

Intrusive Works

The appointed contractor shall be required to undertake intrusive works, for example removing boxing, access hatches and other materials, in specified areas of each building in accordance with the sampling strategy.

The appointed contractor shall be subject to the Group's permit to work process when undertaking intrusive surveys and sampling. The Group will provide information on this to the appointed contractor before they start work.

Reinstatement Works

The appointed contractor shall be required to undertake reinstatement works following the intrusive works, for example by reinstating the boxing, access hatches and other materials that have been removed or sealing any penetrations made to the fabric of the building.

The appointed contractor shall ensure that all reinstatement works provide a like-for-like finish, including any making good decoration such as reinstating render and paintwork.

The works required are construction work as defined by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015).

The Group will act as client and will appoint a competent principal designer to assist the Group in planning and co-ordinating the pre-construction phase, including preparing the pre-construction information.

The appointed contractor will be expected to fulfil the duties of a principal contractor under CDM 2015. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Co-operating and co-ordinating with the Group, the principal designer and any other parties involved in the work.

• Preparing a written construction phase plan before the work begins.

• Planning, managing, monitoring and co-ordinating the entire construction phase, including the management of any asbestos that is likely to be disturbed during the work.

• Ensuring that anyone they appoint has the skills, knowledge, experience and, where relevant, the organisational capability to carry out their work safely and without risk to health.

• Ensuring all workers and visitors have site-specific inductions.

The appointed contractor shall prepare a written report detailing the findings of each fire risk assessment of the fire resisting elements and compartmentation lines.

The appointed contractor shall determine the exact format and content of their report, however each report shall include at least the following information:

• An executive summary highlighting the key findings and recommendations.

• An outline of their methodology for undertaking the assessment, including the rationale for the sampling strategy used including which flats were selected and what areas were opened up.

• A clear outline of the significant findings of the assessment, written in plain English with appropriate definitions for any technical terminology.

• A cross-sectional drawing, issued as a .dwg file, of the construction of the fire resisting elements and compartmentation lines.

• An assessment of the fire risk associated with the construction, using a clearly defined methodology for assessing the likelihood and consequence(s) of fire.

• A list of recommendations for remedial actions that the Group should consider taking to mitigate any risk associated with the construction of each buildings. The recommended remedial actions shall be ranked using a clearly defined priority scale.

• Relevant photographs and other supporting evidence, this shall include floor plans showing the location of all areas sampled and location of any significant findings.

• A statement of any assumptions and limitations that the Group must consider when interpreting the findings of the report.

The appointed contractor shall provide a copy of their proposed report template to the Group before commencing works so that any changes can be agreed and incorporated into their populated reports.

The Group shall provide the appointed contractor with all applicable information that it has available on each buildings and shall include at least the following:

• General information about the buildings, including:

• the buildings name and address

• a brief description of buildings

• the height of buildings

• the number of storeys

• the number of flats

• the approximate number of tenants

• the evacuation strategy for the buildings

• a summary of customers who may be at greater risk from fire

• the date of the last fire risk assessment

• the buildings risk rating based on the current fire risk assessment

• access to the digital twin of each building where available.

• A summary of the fire protection measures in the buildings, including:

• a description of the facilities for firefighting, including firefighting access for the fire and rescue service

• a description of the means of escape from the buildings

• a description of the active fire protection measures in the buildings

• a description of the passive fire protection measures in the buildings

• a description of any significant known fire safety hazards in the buildings that are not adequately controlled.

• Any supporting documents and information that are available, including:

• the most recent fire risk assessment

• the fire risk appraisal of the external walls where available

• the retrospective fire strategy where available

• layout drawings

• technical information on the construction materials used within the buildings including the external walls.

• Any asbestos information for the building which the Group holds.

The appointed contractor shall ensure that anyone undertaking a fire risk assessment of the fire resisting elements are competent to do so.

The appointed contractor shall provide the following details, including appropriate supporting evidence, to the Group of each individual who will be undertaking work for the Group:

• Details of relevant qualifications for the Fire Risk Assessor, including a minimum of a level four qualification in fire safety.

• Fire Risk Assessor to be Tier 3 registered on the Nationally Accredited Fire Risk Assessors Register (NAFRAR)

• Details of relevant professional memberships, including the level of membership held and registration numbers.

• A summary of relevant skills, knowledge and experience, specifically in assessing the fire risk of fire resisting elements of multi-occupied residential buildings, including high-rise residential buildings.

• Third party certification to the BAFE SP205 Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment Scheme is desirable.