Princess Court Cornbrook Park Road Old Trafford Manchester M15 4FE Prepared by: Peter Golding Tech IOSH and Mark Alderson BSc Hons IEng MIFireE (IFE 0002248) Safety Management (UK) Ltd Holme Suite Clawthorpe Business Park Burton in Kendal LA6 1NU T: 01524 784356 E: info@safety-managementuk.com
Fire Risk Assessment Summary Fire Risk Assessment Type (FRA) FRA 3 Date FRA was completed: 6 th September 2017 Date of FRA Summary Action Update: On completion of the remedial work and prior to the re-introduction of the Stay Put Policy. Court Name: Address: Princess Court Princess Court Cornbrook Park Road Old Trafford Manchester M15 4FE Priority A* - Top Priority None Priority A - High Priority This building is fitted with a cladding material that has failed BRE testing and a program is in place to remove the cladding and replace with an approved system. Time scales for removal can be confirmed with Trafford Housing. To mitigate the risk associated with the combustible cladding national guidance issued by the DCLG is being followed and regular consultation is being undertaken with the local fire authority. Trafford Housing are consulting with the local Fire Authority and implementing DCLG guidance issued following the Grenfell fire. The electrical cupboards should be checked and a course of work instigated if the fire stopping is not to the required standard. The fire door sets should be checked to ensure that the intumescent around the door sets is to the required standard. There is a metal type loft hatch to the roof space, I could not confirm the fire resistance rating of the hatch. This should be checked to ensure 60 minutes fire resistance is achieved. The riser cupboards on each level require checking for their fire resistance. The bin and recycling chutes on each floor have metal type loading doors, the standard of separation could not be determined and a Type 4 inspection is required. There are services and ducting that pass-through compartment walls and floors. They should all be checked to ensure that the fire stopping used is to the 60 min standard. Type 4 invasive inspections should be undertaken with areas identified within this report. A full specification for the Type 4 inspections needs to be drawn up. Access was gained to two flats. They both had a hard-wired smoke detector in the entrance corridor and a fire door as their front door. The gas-powered boiler for the whole building was located on the roof. The pipework from the flat boiler required fire stopping, this was found inside the cupboards in the lounge. Further type 4 inspections are required to other flats. At the time of this assessment the fire evacuation strategy had been changed from a stay put, to an evacuation. It is recommended that Trafford Housing work towards confirming the long-term fire evacuation strategy. The works that were being carried out at the time of this assessment were improving the fire protection. Further Type 4 inspections are required. The program for removal and replacement of the cladding with an approved system is available from Trafford Housing. 3 months
Priority B - Medium Priority There is an issue with the signage, as at the time of the assessment the fire evacuation strategy had changed from a stay put policy to an evacuation policy. With this in mind because of the change in strategy, should this be a full-time change then all of the store rooms, ancillary rooms and intake rooms would require signage on the outside, (fire door keep locked). The premises have a simple layout with a single staircase and residents are familiar with the escape route from the building. Clear fire action notices are displayed at ground floor to indicate action to be take in the event of a fire. A full evacuation strategy is currently in place. The medium-term plan is to return to a stay put policy. In this building there is no central fire alarm panel. For a building with a stay put policy this is acceptable, as each of the flat units has a working hard-wired smoke detector to warn the individual units of a fire. Then the compartmentation of the building will assist in the prevention of a fire spreading. For an evacuation policy, a full fire alarm system to BS5839 would be required. The fire alarm is being extended to cover the communal areas and confirmation of the type, operation and management of the system requires confirming. The flats inspected had hard-wired smoke detectors in the flat entrance hall. After talking to the flat occupier and the caretaker, they confirmed that the detectors are stand alone. It only warns the occupants of the flat of a fire. The rest of the occupants in the building would be unaware of a fire. For a building with a stay put policy, this is acceptable. For a building moving to an evacuation policy this would not be acceptable. There is firefighting equipment in the caretaker s room. The firefighting equipment provided appears to be adequate for the risks. At the time of the assessment the extinguishers that were found had last been serviced in October 2016. There was no CO2 extinguisher in the lift motor room. An extinguisher should be supplied for this area. 6 months Priority C - Low Priority The building has a lightning protection system and the Trust should ensure that it is inspected and tested annually as per BS6651 and BS-EN 62305. 9 / 12 months Observations This block of flats was in a good condition. I would suggest that the management of Trafford Housing work towards deciding on the long-term fire evacuation strategy. Further level 4 investigations are required and what is going to be done about the cladding to the building. KEY Priority A* Items that should take priority in an action plan (Serious breach of legislation, having the potential for serious injury to occupants. Should be implemented as soon as possible, including, where relevant, interim measures necessary to ensure the safety of occupants until permanent measures can be implemented.) Priority A Items that should be urgent in an action plan (Matters that breach legislation but are not considered to constitute a serious threat to life safety. Should be implemented as soon as is reasonably practicable.) Priority B Items that should be resolved as an ongoing priority within a fixed timescale (Items could be regarded as suitable for immediate implementation, simply because there is no reason to delay doing so, regardless of whether there is a major benefit to the safety of occupants.) Priority C Items that should be resolved as good practice (Should be implemented as and when the opportunity arises.)
Types of Fire Risk Assessments Type 1 - Fire Risk Assessment Non-destructive assessment of the common parts of a building. Completion of a fire risk assessment template Consideration of the external materials of the building Consideration of compartmentation between common areas and the flats Inspection of a sample of service risers on all floors Inspection above a sample of readily accessible demountable false ceilings if present Inspection of a sample of flat front doors Comprehensive assessment report to include the significant findings, issues identified and actions required Entry into the flats beyond the front door is not included in a type 1 assessment Type 2- Fire Risk Assessment Destructive inspection of the common parts of a building. All of the items in a type 1 assessment Inspection of areas of construction in the common parts by use of a camera and borescope as appropriate Inspection of areas of construction in the common parts opened up as necessary Entry into the flats beyond the front door is not included in a type 2 assessment Type 3 - Fire Risk Assessment Non-destructive inspection of the common parts of a building and the flats. All of the items in a type 1 & 2 assessment Plus the following in a sample of flats: Consideration of compartmentation between flats Consideration of the fire resistance of doors between rooms Consideration of the means of escape from the flat Consideration of the means of fire detection in the flat Testing of the smoke alarm (where present) in the flat Type 4 - Fire Risk Assessment Destructive inspection of the common parts of a building and the flats. All of the items in types 1, 2 and 3 assessments and: Inspection of areas of construction in the flats by use of a camera and borescope as appropriate Inspection of areas of construction in the flats opened up as necessary N.B. THT has also engaged specialist contractor to undertake type 4 FRA s in Q3.