Fire Safety in Ben Jonson House

A member of the house group committee has been pressing the BEO and the City on the matter of fire safety.  Here is a response from Paul Murtagh who is the Assistant Director for Barbican Estate & Property Services.

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Thank you for your email and my apologies for the delay in responding but, as has been explained, I have been away on leave for a few days.

May I firstly say that I certainly recall having a lengthy conversation with you at the 'drop-in' session arranged for Barbican residents following on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy. I am not aware of the 'repeated requests' that you refer to in your email that I have not responded to.

I am aware that you have regularly contacted the London Fire Brigade (LFB) and the City Corporation's (the Corporation) Fire Safety Advisor with your concerns and you have been told on each occasion that they are both satisfied with the provisions for ventilation and the passage of smoke in your block. I am advised that there is no change in their position on this matter.

I am concerned that, read in isolation, your email suggests that the Corporation is not taking its responsibilities relating to fire safety seriously and, as you are fully aware, this is not the case. We have robust processes and procedures in place to ensure, as far as possible, that the residents in our blocks on the Barbican Estate remain safe in their homes. These procedures include:

• Carrying out regular reviews of the Fire Risk Assessments (FRA's) to ensure that they remain valid, compliant and fit-for-purpose;
• Carrying out inspections of fire doors, emergency lighting and alarms and other related fire safety measures;
• Carrying out regular estate inspections to ensure that any potential fire and other safety hazards are identified and removed;
• Providing suitable and regular fire safety and fire risk assessment training for our Barbican Estate Officers, cleaners and concierge staff;
• Educating our residents and raising awareness of fire safety issues such as evacuation procedures, understanding escape routes and keeping fire escape routes on balconies and walkways clear;
• Publishing and issuing information relating to fire safety through newsletters and the web site.

As soon as we became aware of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, a number of immediate measures were taken including:

• Checks on fire escapes, emergency lighting, alarms and other fire safety measures carried out by BEO staff;
• A review of the current FRA's to review and reassess the low and medium risks identified;
• A review of the technical data on all blocks of flats with six or more floors in response to requests for information from the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG). This focused on a number of issues including the construction of the blocks and the nature and composition of any external cladding;
• Issuing a statement to all residents reminding them of fire safety advice and reassuring them that none of our residential blocks was of a similar construction to Grenfell Tower;
• Producing a new fire safety leaflet that was issued to all Barbican residents which, included information on escape routes, our review of enforcement action and what to do in the event of fire etc;
• Fire safety updates were distributed to residents via our regular bulletins including the development of a 'Frequently Asked Questions' bulletin and a dedicated Fire Safety website page.

Following a review of the fire safety processes and procedures in place at the time of Grenfell, a number of decisions were taken including:

• Commissioning specialist independent future FRA's on all our residential blocks of flats on an annual basis. Previously, in line with best practice and guidance, our policy was to commission independent FRA's every three years, with our own trained staff reviewing them annually. Frankham Risk Management Services Limited was commissioned to undertake completely new FRA's on all our residential blocks;
• Arranging a series of 'Drop-In' sessions for our residents to discuss with the Corporation's Senior Managers issues around fire safety, the Corporation's processes and procedures and its plans for improvements in fire safety in the coming months;
• The majority of entrance doors to individual properties in our blocks are original and, as such, will generally provide notional fire resistance of 15-20 minutes. Whilst there is no legal requirement to replace these doors to provide greater fire resistance, we have done so on our social housing estates as they became due for replacement. However, the decision has been taken to embark on an enhanced front door replacement programme to bring all front entrance doors to individual flats up to 60-minute fire resistance wherever possible. It is intended that our tower blocks will be given priority;
• Barbican Estate staff to respond directly to any requests for advice and guidance in relation to fire safety;
• A much firmer line is being taken with residents who are not complying with guidance on keeping walkways and fire escapes clear. 

With particular reference to the issues you raised in your email, although FRA's in all our blocks, including yours, were done in October/November 2016, we took the decision to have a much more comprehensive Type 3 FRA done on all our blocks and these were completed very recently. The FRA for Ben Jonson House does not support the issues that you have raised relating to fire safety in your block.

Whilst I expect that you will not be satisfied with my response, the Corporation takes its responsibility for the health and safety of its residents very seriously as you can see from the actions we have taken above.

Regards

Paul Murtagh BSc (Hons) MRICS
Assistant Director, Barbican Estate & Property Services
Community & Children's Services
Barbican Estate Office
3 Lauderdale Place
Barbican
London EC2Y 8EN
Tel: 020 7332 3015
Mob: 07718 969180