Contractor Kier Stoke is revisiting fire doors at 12 high-rise blocks of council flats in Stoke after a report found that 66 doors do not meet fire safety regulations.
The report, conducted in March by independent inspectors for the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, found various faults with doors; many do not open or close properly and do meet the required fire resistance standard of 30 minutes. The report was commissioned after residents expressed concern about the doors, all of which were installed within the last 18 months.
Kier Stoke, part of Kier Group, will rectify the situation by conducting its own survey of the fire doors, but the council is concerned the report’s findings could indicate a more widespread problem with fire safety in council properties.
“The report only reflects a sample of all the doors possibly affected,” council leader Mohammed Pervez told IFSEC Global. “The city council asked for them to be inspected, and now Kier Stoke must inspect the rest, as there could be many more with problems.”
The council is adamant that the responsibility for resolving the problem lies with Kier Stoke, and it says it is making the report available to reassure residents that the problems have been identified. Councillor Jan Bridges said in a press release:
We took unilateral action in 2010 to upgrade fire safety in our flats, well above the standards expected by national regulations… The doors’ installation is not up to scratch and we are continuing to push Kier Stoke to resolve this as quickly as possible.
A spokesperson from Kier Stoke told us:
Kier Stoke has committed to put things right at no extra cost to the council and is working with its subcontractors to investigate what has gone wrong.
We will be conducting a survey of each fire door to ensure it is installed to the required specification.
Bridges said in the release:
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is absolutely committed to continuously improving the quality of the 19,000 homes we provide at affordable rent to local people, and we are working with the private sector to help and support them in raising their standards too.
We are busy driving ahead with a wide range of housing improvement projects, including the millions [of pounds] we are spending on comprehensive insulation and external refurbishment of our flats… It is really frustrating that the door contract is out of step.
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