Fire Safety Update 21 July 2017

Dear Resident

Fire safety update – 21 July 2017

As part of our ongoing updates on fire safety, I am writing to inform you on our progress.

As you know, London Fire Brigade have inspected the blocks and confirmed that they are happy that the fire safety provisions are adequate.

However, following this confirmation, we said that we would continue to take further action to make your buildings even safer. Whilst our contractor Wates are still on-site ensuring that all doors are fitted with a self-closer, we have also now instructed an independent specialist to carry out further checks on flat entrance doors over the next few weeks. Once this review has taken place we will inform you if any further action needs to be taken.

On Monday 24 July the specialist contractor will be visiting Gaydon House. He will then visit the five other towers on 3rd and 4th August and 9th, 10th and 11th August. We will be contacting tenants and leaseholders separately to book appointments for the visits. Leaseholders will not be charged for this inspection.

In our last update we wrote about the ongoing checks to the outer cladding and that the independent review provided further confirmation that our records are correct and that the cladding system was certified by building control in line with building regulations.

We believe it is important that we continue to carry out further checks to confirm the outer cladding was installed as designed and as per our records. You will therefore see scaffolding being erected at Gaydon House as part of this process; we will keep you updated on this work as it continues.

We mentioned last week that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) were looking at how we might carry out so called ‘end to end’ testing on the whole cladding system which includes the insulation and fitting, something they have announced will be conducted throughout the country. This comprehensive testing will now take place over the next few weeks and will look at all the different configurations of cladding and insulation that is used. This testing will be videoed and we will share the results with you when they are available.

In addition, we have also investigated replacing the outer cladding and if it can be supported by the current cladding framework. We have found that it may be able to support a higher specification cladding without making structural changes. This will be good news as it will reduce the impact on residents if work were to take place following the results of the testing.

We have now received two of the six reports back from the London Fire Brigade for Oversley and Gaydon House. We said that we would share the reports and the actions that have been carried out. We will update you further next week.

We are also continuing to remove balcony decking in empty properties. We will soon be able to show you the new replacement flooring system when the work has been completed in a couple of show flats or in the Warwick Community Hall. We will let you know when they are open for viewings.

We are continuing to offer drop in sessions across the six blocks at Little Venice to answer any questions or concerns you may have about your building. You can also talk to members of our staff and view information relating to fire safety in the Warwick Community Hall on Friday 28 July between 9am and 11am.

Next week, these drop-in sessions will be held at the following locations:

To ensure your safety and that of others in your building, we ask you to continue to be mindful and do everything you can to prevent fire risks in your home. Further advice on this can be found at www.london-fire.gov.uk/SafetyAtHome.asp

If you have any questions, we are happy to help. For more information, you can visit our website at email or speak to our dedicated team at the Little Venice estate office. The team will be available Monday to Friday from 9am - 5pm with late opening until 6.30pm on Wednesdays during July.

Once again we would like to thank you for your support and we will continue to keep you informed with regular updates as matters progress.

Yours faithfully

Jonathan Cowie

Chief Executive, CityWest Homes