Trident Apartments
Property Management | Sale, Greater Manchester
Property Management | Sale, Greater Manchester
With new legislation brought in after the Grenfell Tower disaster, The Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety Act 2021, ushered in a host of new responsibilities for those deemed to be responsible persons of high-rise residential buildings.
This included the provision of Premises Information Boxes (PIBs) and Emergency Response Packs (ERPs) for existing blocks of flats whose top storey floor height is 18m or more, or over six storeys (ground plus five upper storeys), whichever is the lower; existing blocks of flats whose top storey floor height is below 18m or under six storeys which have additional complexity i.e. layout, access, floor numbering, flat numbering, firefighting facilities, fire engineering etc; student accommodation designed like a block of flats, e.g. those adopting a stay put approach whose top storey floor height is 11m or more; new build blocks of flats whose top storey floor height is 11m or more.
EDGE Property Management acted swiftly to comply with the legislation and commissioned NTB Survey to undertake a full measured survey to identify pertinent information that the Fire Brigade could use along with the building footprint, floor plans and sections.
All the information was then to be provided both electronically and in weatherproof binders that could be stored external to the building for ease of access and inspection by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Using a Leica scanner, the external footprint was surveyed and then a traverse run through the building, through the stairwells and along the corridors to ensure that all rooms within the complex were detailed. This included not only the flats but the dry risers and service rooms.
Once the scan was registered via Leica software, drafting was done in BricsCAD. Care was taken to simplify the data set so that pertinent information was easily readable in an emergency.
Given the number of flats, due consideration of residents was needed to ensure no interruption to their homes. By deploying laser scanning technology this allowed us to survey the building at speed without impacting those living there.
Given the level of detail that is captured, and the complexity of the fire alarm and smoke ventilation systems across all levels, simplifying this into a quickly readable plan challenged our draughtsmen to the max. We overcame this by creating symbols for equipment and writing clear text so that Dry Risers and Panels were obvious to those dealing with any emergency.
We Delivered:
We delivered electronic copies of the fire plans, containing a location plan, building overview, sectional plan showing locations of flats across all levels, sections through the stairwells showing each floor height in metres relative to the ground floor, and then individual drawings of each floor. The plans being compliant with the guidance as set out in the document “Code of Practice for the Provision of Premises Information Boxes in Residential Buildings".
We also provided 3 copies of the fire plans in weatherproof binders, so that a copy could be retained in the dry riser on site, a copy kept at EDGE headquarters and a copy issued to the Fire Brigade.
The plans where hand delivered to the team at EDGE Property Management, who were impressed with the final deliverables.
Given the consequences to the Responsible Person should these plans not meet the requisite standards, EDGE were thrilled with their delivery.
This also meant that should a disaster strike the building, the residents have a clear understanding of what they should do in the event of a fire and the fire and rescue service now have a plan that will aid them in any rescues and bringing any fire under control.