The government should fund the installation of fire sprinklers in council-owned residential towers, said a House of Commons housing committee.
The recommendation was made by an inter-party group of MPs who investigated the safety of the towers. after the Grenfell Tower fire last year
Now Birmingham City Council, which plans to equip its 213 blocks of sprinklers by the end of 2020, wrote to the Secretary of State for Housing, James Brokenshire, to ask for help.
The committee made a series of recommendations on high-altitude safety, including the prohibition of combustible materials from all buildings and the termination of conflicts of interest, such as builders appointing their own safety inspectors
The committee stated, "Where possible in terms of structure, the sprinklers should be reinstalled into existing high-rise residential buildings to provide better security to residents. should provide funding to install sprinklers in residential buildings owned by boards and housing badociations over 18 meters and provide guidance to private sector building owners.
West Midlands Fire Department during a training exercise (Image: Birmingham Mail)
Last summer, as a result of the fire of Grenfell, the Birmingham City Council is committed to equipping the fire department. a priority. If the government refuses to pay, it will have to cancel other renovations or borrow money to cover the cost of £ 31 million.
He has already initiated a three year program of facilities beginning with the most risky properties.
MP Jack Dromey (Lab, Erdington) calls on the government to pay
He said: "A year later, despite all the warm words of the ministers, they did not honor their promise to help Birmingham City Council carry out the necessary work advised by the West Midlands Fire Department to renovate the sprinklers at the 213 towers of Birmingham. The delay in the safety of the blocks of the Birmingham tower puts lives in danger.
"What is most false, it is the way this delay affects the tenants of the boards. The most recent towers, mostly private, already have sprinklers under current regulations. However, the 213 towers of Birmingham are older, built without sprinklers and owned by the state. These are the blocks that desperately need re-equipment sprinklers to secure them.
Jack Dromey MP (Image: Birmingham Mail)
"The government should not consider social tenants as second-clbad citizens."
The committee also concluded that a ban on flammable coatings for new high-rise buildings that the government plans to take following the tragedy of Grenfell Tower does not go far enough: Combustible materials must be banned urgently in all existing towers and other buildings at high risk, such as residential homes, hospitals, student housing and hotels, MPs reported
<img data-src = "https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk/news/ midlands-news / article13226171.ece / ALTERNATES / s615b / JS122936980.jpg "alt =" Tower blocks from the Druids Heath estate in Birmingham. Read more
Ministers were also urged to introduce immediate reforms to the complex rules of building security "before other lives are lost."
The industry is "torn by conflict of interest" such that the builder's choose their own inspectors, manufacturers who choose product testers and rescue authorities who inspect the work of their own commercial weapons, said a deputy from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: "There is nothing more important than keeping people safe in their own homes and we are in agreement fundamental reform of the regulatory system is needed.
Read More
Birmingham Council Housing
"That's why we act quickly, including consultation on the prohibition of the use of fuels materials for residential high-rise buildings, and draft amendments to the law for significant and sustainable reform of the building regulatory system, with sancti s hard for those who do not respect and restructure the fire safety regulations to ensure clarity [19659002] "In addition, we are providing £ 400 million to finance the removal of hazardous coatings on residential buildings high-rise social enterprises belonging to local communities. governments and housing badociations and announced a set of measures to accelerate the action of the private sector. "
[ad_2]
Source link
