Building safety for higher risk buildings
We have a legal obligation to manage the risk of fire in any property covered under the Fire Safety Order including properties with communal areas such as high-rise buildings, Independent Living Schemes, and low-rise buildings.
We take safety in our tower blocks very seriously. To reduce the risk of fire in your home, the walls, doors, and floors are all designed to stop fire and smoke spreading.
Get involved in building safety where you live
If you live in one of our high rise residential buildings – Albion, Buckley, or Britannia Houses, we have a Resident Engagement Strategy that sets out how we’ll work with tenants on issues of building safety for new and existing buildings. Watch our short film to hear more about how we're working closely together with tenants and residents on building safety issues.
If you’d like more information email engagement-buildingsafety@berneslaihomes.co.uk
Here are some of the ways we’re keeping your home safe:
- Our buildings with communal areas have an up to date fire risk assessment that an independent, qualified assessor completes. We'll carry out further fire safety works to address any findings or recommendations.
- We have a testing and maintenance programme for all fire safety measures at your building.
- Our buildings have compartmentation such as fire doors and fire stopping materials (in areas like our dry risers and service shafts) - these are additional barriers to the building structure that prevent the spread of fire.
- We complete regular inspections at our properties, including monthly walk around checks at our high rise buildings. These help to identify any repairs required and remove items that are blocking any means of escape, especially fire evacuation routes.
- We carry out fire door inspections every year on your flat door and every three months on the corridor fire doors.
- We’ve fitted sprinklers in our high rise blocks and independent living schemes.
What should I do if there’s a fire in my building?
If you discover a fire in your flat:
- Leave your flat and allow the door to close behind you
- If it's safe, call 999 and report the fire, giving the address and your flat number
- Leave the building by the nearest emergency exit route
- Don't return your flat until you have been told it's safe by the fire service
If you're inside your flat and you suspect a fire is somewhere in the building, a stay-put procedure applies:
- If you're in your flat, stay put until the fire service tells you to leave or until your home is affected by heat or smoke
- Shut all doors and windows
- Call 999 to report the fire
If you suspect a fire and you’re not in your flat but are elsewhere in the building such as the corridor or staircase you should:
- Leave the building by the nearest fire exit route
- If it's safe, call 999 and report the fire, giving the address and the location where you believe the fire has started
- Don’t return to your flat until you have been told it is safe to do so by the fire service
If you’re told to evacuate, you should:
- Leave the building by the nearest emergency exit route using the stairs
- Don’t use the lift or run
- Let the fire service know immediately if someone has not been able to leave your flat
Fire risk assessments
As your landlord, we complete an annual fire risk assessments at our three tower blocks. These reports highlight recommendations and actions that we need to take to reduce potential fire risks. We're committed to keeping you and your neighbours safe, and we're progressing the recommendations in each fire risk assessment.
You can request a copy of the fire risk assessment for your building from the fire safety team.
For more information, please call 01226 787878 and ask to speak with the Berneslai Homes Fire Safety Officer or email firesafety@berneslaihomes.co.uk
It's okay to complain
Your feedback is really important to us and helps us improve what we do. We’re committed to providing a good service. Whether it’s good or bad, we want to hear what you have to say. It’s okay to complain. If you’ve raised concerns about an issue with our service and it hasn’t been dealt with quickly and effectively, please let us know that you remain dissatisfied.
You can make a complaint by:
- Completing our online form
- Emailing us at customerservices@berneslaihomes.co.uk
- Phoning us on 01226 787878
- Contacting us on social media
- Talking to a Berneslai Homes staff member
How we deal with complaints about higher risk buildings
Following the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022, if you’re a resident in a high rise building, you can complain to us about the building risks for example:
- our communications to residents
- responses to raised concerns
- how we manage building safety risks
You can also raise concerns about building safety risks, which are structural safety issues and spread of fire issues. For example:
- flammable cladding on the outside of a building
- fire doors or smoke extraction which are not working or missing that may increase the risk of fire spread
- failure of the building’s structure, such as parts of the building collapsing, cracks, or parts of the building falling off
Complaints will be dealt with in line with this procedure and referred to the Fire and Asbestos Compliance Manager who will raise it with the accountable persons and principal person in the Building Safety Project Board. If you’re not satisfied with our procedure you can refer a complaint to the Building Safety Regulator. We can also do this on your behalf.
To make a complaint, please see above.
