Building Safety Cases
East Village Management Ltd (EVML) has not yet been asked to apply for a Building Assessment Certificate (BAC) by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) so we have yet to submit an associated Building Safety Case Report.
This report will demonstrate how fire and structural safety risks are being managed. This document is under constant review from the Building Safety Regulator. The report summarises the steps the Principal Accountable Person (in this case, EVML) has taken to identify, assess, remove, reduce and manage building safety risks.
Means of Escape
Flats exit into protected lobbies leading into a single protected staircase as a means of escape with final exit at ground level. Fire exit on 1st floor via a shared external courtyard with steps down to Elis Way. Escape from the covered car park is available via secondary exit routes.
AOV System
The Automatic Opening Ventilation (AOV) system consists of smoke shaft louvres and windows in the internal corridors and a roof vent hatch at the head of the staircase, operated by smoke detectors. Activation of the AOV on corridors and the AOV at the head of the smoke shaft will open simultaneously, all remaining AOVs will remain closed unless overridden by the Fire Service during firefighting activities. There is an independent mechanical smoke ventilation system within the basement car park.
Risks
External Walls
A full Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Walls (FRAEW) is available, and the summary for your building is below. If you’d like to see it in full or prefer a printed copy, please let us know.
The London Borough of Newham wrote to EVML in October 2024 saying it had identified some areas of concern about the building. We are continuing to review the information it provided about the external walls. It said the timber cladding was a hazard as well as the type of insulation used. Our FRAEW stated that any risk is reduced because the building has sprinklers. Newham also raised some concerns about internal fire compartmentation, and we will be addressing all of these.
Internal Work
Compartmentation (walls and lift shafts)
We’ve been assessing the internal walls, and the initial findings show the walls may not offer enough fire protection. This affects the corridors, lift shafts and some apartment walls. We’re well underway in planning the solution which will prevent smoke or fire spreading. Depending on the advice of our fire engineers, we’re planning to submit an application to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), to approve the remediation plan. We’ll then appoint a contractor to complete this work.
Fire doors
Following a thorough investigation, we’ve found that most of the internal fire doors within your building do not meet fire safety standards. We’ll replace all affected doors and door frames as part of the internal work we’re carrying out. We’ll contact you in advance if your front door needs replacing.
Automatic Opening Ventilation (AOV)
The AOV is designed to extract smoke from buildings in the event of a fire, to ensure escape routes remain smoke-free. Some parts of the system are aging and need replacing. We’ll repair issues as soon as they arise.
Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW)
Understanding the summary FRAEW:
PAS 9980 includes five risk level outcomes as summarised below:
- Low: The rate and extent of fire spread via the external wall construction is within normal expectation and risk is sufficiently low that no remediation is required.
- Medium (Tolerable): Risk is heightened but is nevertheless considered to be tolerable. There is potential to accept the heightened risk (subject to periodic review) provided any risk-proportionate actions are undertaken. In some cases no action is advised.
- Medium (Uncertain): Risk might be heightened, but it is not possible to determine that the risk is so high as to require risk reduction or sufficiently low that it can be tolerated.
- Medium (Upper): Risk is heightened to an extent beyond that which can be tolerated and risk reduction is required.
- High: Risk is significantly heightened, and risk reduction (remediation or mitigation) is required.
