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Trafford Housing Trust – Fire Door Decisions, Manufacturer - ‘Supply’ or ‘Supply and Install’ Contract & Schedule of Docs & Coms Request?

Neil A. Carter made this Freedom of Information request to Trafford Housing Trust
This authority is not subject to FOI law, so is not legally obliged to respond (details).
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Dear Trafford Housing Trust,

Given the significant amount of good housekeeping information on fire doors widely available to anyone with a mind to look into this serious topic of fire doors like I would have thought a housing association that was looking at replacing all the front doors on their flats to fire doors would need to educate themselves sufficiently to do so competently, and especially how they are supposed to be fitted correctly, and the reasons why this critical installation and provenance information should be made easily accessible to who is fitting and inspecting them.

Why did your company choose a supplier that does not seem to keep to within these known industry guidelines, and was the final decision made down to just costs and that they were cheaper than the rest because they don’t keep to industry certification guidelines and within the UKAS guidelines, and lives may have been put at unnecessary risk as a direct result of this decision given the lack of all the necessary information shown on these front/fire doors?

Please confirm the name of the company that made these front/fire doors and inform me if this contract was a ‘supply only’ or a ‘supply and install’ and if any onsite inspection was undertaken, when and by whom, and a schedule of documentation and communication with details of their respective topics discussed?

Yours faithfully,

Neil A. Carter

The Customer Hub, Trafford Housing Trust

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Vicky Parr, Trafford Housing Trust

Dear Mr Carter

 

Re: Freedom of Information Request dated 4^th December 2017

 

I’m writing to respond to the 10 emails which you sent on 4^th December,
making Freedom of Information requests. I emailed you on 5^th December
confirming that I had received your requests and that, whilst Trafford
Housing Trust does not legally have to respond to any Freedom of
Information requests, I would look into what we could share with you.

 

Having consulted with my colleagues – Iain Wallace, Director of
Properties, and Mike Corfield, Assistant Director – Customers, I am now
able to respond to you more fully.

 

Firstly I would like to explain that we have limited resources to
investigate and respond to Freedom of Information requests. You sent 10
emails and requested a large amount of information, so I wanted to let you
know that I will only be able to give you some of what you have asked for.

 

To enable me to look at your request, I have summarised the issues you
raised and created one response, which I am sending to all 10 of the email
addresses you made requests from.

 

From reading your emails, it’s clear to me that you’re very concerned
about fire safety and in particular the fire door on your property. I’ve
therefore focused this letter on responding to the key concerns you have
about this:

 

o Who is the decision maker when it comes to deciding which fire doors
to install in Stretford House?

 

When THT undertakes works of this type, a competent consultant is selected
to assess the requirements and make a recommendation on the right
solution, or door in this scenario. The consultant is independent of THT,
and will have suitable qualifications including knowledge of fire safety
matters. The Director of Property Services will then appoint a contractor
to supply and fit doors in accordance with the recommendation given by the
consultant.

 

o Who is responsible for the safety of our high rise buildings? Building
manager and responsible person.

 

All stakeholders play a part in ensuring the safety of a building. In the
scenario of the door, The Director of Property Services is the responsible
person.

 

o How are we assured that the fire doors installed at Stretford House
are fit for purpose and installed correctly?

 

As mentioned above, when THT undertake a program of works, a competent
consultant is commissioned to assess the requirements and make a
recommendation on the appropriate solution. The consultant will ensure the
door complies with all of the appropriate regulations. As well as this,
THT carries out different inspections which might suggest what type of
door is suitable, for example stock condition surveys will review our
properties to understand what state they are in and any works which are
required to ensure they remain compliant with current legislation.

 

As you are aware, we also carry out Fire Risk Assessments and as part of
these the Assessor will look at the suitability of a door, and make
recommendations for improvement should doors not meet the required
standard.

 

Following the installation of the doors, a number of them will be
inspected by a competent person to ensure that they are fitted correctly
and the contractor has done their job.

 

o What confirmation do we have from the fire service about their
capacity to respond to a fire at Stretford House?

 

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have provided verbal assurances
that they have the necessary resources to respond to a fire at Stretford
House.

 

o You expressed concerns about the service shafts and quality of windows
at Stretford House which you worry would exacerbate a fire.

 

THT will appoint a competent consultant to assess the windows.

 

The service shafts, otherwise known as risers, have been inspected by an
appropriately accredited contractor, with all known defects being
corrected as soon as the inspection had taken place.

 

o How many tower blocks do we have?

 

THT has eight tower blocks.

 

Your request questioned the rationale for installing a 30 minute fire door
rather than 60 minute fire door at your property, and I understand that
this is the subject of a complaint which is being investigated currently.
I therefore won’t seek to answer that question here as it will be covered
as part of your complaint. Your complaint needs to be resolved and I
understand that we will be scheduling a final meeting with our Chief
Customer Experience Officer and members of the Board who will hear your
complaint and make a final decision on the matters you raised.

 

You made a number of requests for documentation and historic information
about all of THT’s tower blocks and the works which have been done to
them. I’m sorry I’m not able to provide this information to you as I don’t
have the resources to search our records and extract copies of the things
you’ve asked for.

 

I hope that this letter, whilst not providing everything you asked for,
has helped to reassure you that we take fire safety seriously and make
sure that we have the right advice from competent experts when making
decisions about fire doors.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Vicky Parr

 

Vicky Parr | Governance & Compliance Manager | Governance & Business
Assurance | Company Secretariat |  5th floor, Barkers Lane, Sale Point |
Trafford Housing Trust

 

DDi: 0161 968 0596 | [mobile number] | Main: 0300 777 7777 | Fax: 0300
777 7778

 

e: [email address] | w:
www.traffordhousingtrust.co.uk

 

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