Barbican Association Newsletter - Aug 2018

Click to read the newsletter

Service Cupboard Asbestos Inspections

Your service cupboard has been inspected and (possibly) painted because the linings are made of asbestos. This time the section which is the "milk and eggs" section (third from the bottom) has been inspected and touched up.  If I had a sticker I'd include a photo, but I don't have a sticker.

Have a look at your cupboard. If you see a red sticker in your cupboard then work has been done. If you think more work is needed let the BEO know at barbicanrepairs@cityoflondon.gov.uk .

Service Cupboard Inspections

In late June the BEO sent out a notice that our service cupboards were to be inspected.  The notice says that there is an annual inspection of the asbestos linings of the cupboards.  I don't recall receiving a notice like this before, but there you go.  Here is the notice:

Click to read the whole notice

The inspections duly happened, but unfortunately a number of corridor facing doors were not properly secured after the inspection.  Several on the 2nd and 5th floors were left open.  The BEO are now aware of this.

Annual Balcony Fire Safety Inspections

The primary use of almost all balconies on the estate is as a fire exit. We get to use them as "our" balconies whenever there is no fire, which thankfully is most of the time.

Every year the BEO staff walk every balcony in the Barbican to ensure that they are clear. Anything which may block a fire exit route will be 'stickered', and any stickered items must be removed to restore the fire exit route.

Here a notice from the BEO about the stickering for this year:
____

Balcony Fire Inspections are now all complete. Whilst this has seemed heavy-handed to some, we haven’t carried out this exercise lightly – the balconies are your fire escape route. Unfortunately we’ve had to remove a number of items from the balconies across the estate as they were still present past the date of removal.

Items we’ve taken include:-

• 3 bicycles
• 6 sets of tables and chairs (that weren’t folded down)
• 2 large 200 litre storage boxes
• I very large gas barbecue
• 50 meters of astroturf
• 20 meters of decking
• Many very large terracotta pots
• And various other items

If you would like to retrieve your items, the stores will be manned Friday 20 July between 2 - 4pm, (there will be a second date for collection later in the month)

For Mountjoy House, Defoe House, Thomas More House and Seddon House please go to Thomas More Car Park Box.

For Bryer Court, Bunyan Court, John Trundle Court, Ben Jonson, Breton and Frobisher and Shakespeare Tower please go to Breton Car Park Box.

For Speed House, Andrewes House, Willoughby House and Gilbert House please go to Andrewes Car Park Box.

IF YOU ARE COLLECTING ITEMS, PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THEM TO THE BALCONIES.  THEY WERE REMOVED FOR A REASON.  THE BALCONIES ARE PRIMARILY FIRE ESCAPES.

Fire Risk Assessment

The new fire risk assessment documents are now available on the City of London web site.  Here is the report for Ben Jonson House:

Click to read the full report

VFM Service down on 18th July

From the BEO:

___

Power Outage to VFM internet Service

Please be aware that there will be a planned power outage to VFM’s internet service on the 18 July to allow for the installation of a Uninterrupted Power Supply to their system. This battery backed system will prevent losses to the network in future power outages.

... and here is the notice from VFM which I received by email on 2018-07-16:


Dear Customer,

We would like to inform you of necessary improvement works to the Vision Fibre Media network within the Barbican Estate taking place on 18/07/18.

We are introducing technology to our network to ensure better resilience of your services in the event of a power cut within the Estate.

This does mean that there will be a small outage to your broadband and telephony services whilst we carry out the works. Our engineers will be working between 22:00 on 18/07/18 until 04:00 on 19/07/18 with the downtime lasting for no longer than 15 minutes during this window.

Our 24/7 Customer Care team are available for you to speak to should you have any further queries and can be contacted using the details below:

Telephone: 02071128615
Email: support@visionfibremedia.com

Kind Regards
Support
Tel : +44 (0)20 7112 8615

The BEO House Officer Team

From the BEO:
___

Introducing the House Officer Team.

The House Officer team are your first point of contact for any queries or concerns. Here to ensure that the services provided by the Barbican Estate meet and exceed your expectations.

Sheila, Luke, Becky and Helen have all been on the estate for quite some time now. 54 years between us…. Stephanie is our newbie House Officer, (new to the role and new to the City of London) bringing fresh eyes and perspective to the post.

Becky is now part time and has responsibility for our many commercial properties. We’re lucky to have a couple of additions this year in Nabeela and Mick. Nabeela as our Communications Officer who among many other things, has taken this bulletin from strength to strength; and Mick who has come back to us, to help introduce the new Landlord’s Approval process.

Helen Davinson
Resident Services Manager
020 7029 3963
Helen.davinson@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Sheila Delaney
020 7029 3911
Sheila.delaney@cityoflondon.gov.uk
House Officer for:

• Shakespeare Tower
• Ben Jonson House
• Breton House
• Bryer Court
• John Trundle Court
• Bunyan Court
• Frobisher Crescent

Luke Barton
020 7029 3945
Luke.barton@cityoflondon.gov.uk
House Officer for:

• Cromwell Tower
• Speed House
• Willoughby House
• Gilbert house
• Andrewes House>
• Brandon Mews

Stephanie Lester
020 7029 3962
Stephanie.lester@cityoflondon.gov.uk
House Officer for:

• Lauderdale Tower
• Defoe House>
• Mountjoy House
• Seddon house
• Thomas More House
• Lambert Jones Mews
• The Postern

Rebecca Bello
House Officer – commercial properties
Rebecca.bello@cityoflondon.gov.uk


Nabeela Ahmad
Communications Officer
Nabeela.ahmad@cityoflondon.gov.uk


Mick McGee
Senior Surveyor
Michael.mcgee@cityoflondon.gov.uk