Are our Tower Blocks safe?

[kal el]

I had my tenants meeting last Tuesday. I asked the council rep when these safety checks were done and by whom. I was told that they are done by professional fire safety people, we had the fire service on the blocks testing the risers but nothing else. I also asked the rep why we don't have a proper pact test ie. testing all appliances rather than just the plug sockets and lights. I was told that it would take too long to test everything. after arguing for 5 minutes I was told to shut up and move on to the next issue. we have had our kitchens and bathrooms refurbished and a new electrical system put in. Due to the new system people are finding that they have faulty cookers, fridges. if the council had done proper pact tests we would have known about all these faulty appliances.

[Guest makapaka]

I had my tenants meeting last Tuesday. I asked the council rep when these safety checks were done and by whom. I was told that they are done by professional fire safety people, we had the fire service on the blocks testing the risers but nothing else. I also asked the rep why we don't have a proper pact test ie. testing all appliances rather than just the plug sockets and lights. I was told that it would take too long to test everything. after arguing for 5 minutes I was told to shut up and move on to the next issue. we have had our kitchens and bathrooms refurbished and a new electrical system put in. Due to the new system people are finding that they have faulty cookers, fridges. if the council had done proper pact tests we would have known about all these faulty appliances.

 

Would it be the council's responsibility to PAT test tenant's own applicances though?

[Cyclone]

I don't see why it would be, like any landlord the council aren't responsible for what the tenants do/bring into the property/etc...

[Itrytoplease]

67 high rise have been trsted to date, and 67 FAILED - 100% fail rate, and the council say ours are all OK ? we'll see.

[Guest sibon]

67 high rise have been trsted to date, and 67 FAILED - 100% fail rate, and the council say ours are all OK ? we'll see.

 

That is probably because councils are sending their most worrying samples first.

 

What bothers me more is that we were told by Sajid Javid that the labs could test 100 samples a day, yet we've only managed 67 in roughly a week. Something doesn't add up.

[barleycorn]

That is probably because councils are sending their most worrying samples first.

 

What bothers me more is that we were told by Sajid Javid that the labs could test 100 samples a day, yet we've only managed 67 in roughly a week. Something doesn't add up.

You're assuming there would be only one sample per tower block... As a minimum I would expect a sample size of sqrt(N) + 1, so for a building with 1000 panels that would be 33 samples.

Edited June 26, 2017 by barleycorn

[Cyclone]

That is probably because councils are sending their most worrying samples first.

 

What bothers me more is that we were told by Sajid Javid that the labs could test 100 samples a day, yet we've only managed 67 in roughly a week. Something doesn't add up.

 

How can they identify "worrying" without performing a test?

If they already KNOW that something is wrong then why has it taken Grenfell before something is being done?

[barleycorn]

How can they identify "worrying" without performing a test?

If they already KNOW that something is wrong then why has it taken Grenfell before something is being done?

I would be more worried about a 100 storey clad high rise than a two storey clad block of flats.

[Guest sibon]

I would be more worried about a 100 storey clad high rise than a two storey clad block of flats.

 

You might also hope that by now, they have a quick way of identifying possible dangerous panels.

[John]

Hanover tower block in Exeter Drive, Broomhall, failed the inspection

 

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/breaking-cladding-on-sheffield-tower-block-to-be-removed-after-failing-fire-safety-test-1-8616683