Fire stopping in Wokingham
A newer block can still have missing seals. Here is what to do about it.
Get a priceA building with a fresh coat of paint can still have open holes behind it.
It happens like this. The drawings show a cavity barrier behind the cladding. The pipe fitter comes and goes, and the collars are to be fitted by "the next trade". The next trade finishes on a different week, and nobody walks the shafts before handover.
If you manage a newer block near Wokingham and a survey has told you some seals are missing, this is the order we would take it in.
Read the report line by line
Take the list and walk it. Pick five items and find them in the building. If the report says "no collar on 100mm waste pipe, third floor riser", go and look at that pipe.
Check the date. A report from three years ago does not know about the cable the broadband company pulled through last spring, and every new cable means a new hole.
Who might be liable
Who pays is not ours to say. Ask a solicitor. Developer, builder and warranty provider might each owe something. We can supply the written price and a photo of each seal that a claim would need.
What the work looks like
On a newer block the walls are often tidy, and the gaps are at the edges. The tops of walls where they meet the slab. The place where a cavity barrier was meant to run behind the cladding. The pipe with no collar under it.
Cavity barriers and mastic do a lot of the work in this kind of building. Where the openings are bigger, penetration sealing takes over.
A rough check
Before you ring anyone, walk the common parts with a torch. Look at where pipes meet walls and at the top of the corridor walls. Take a photo of anything that looks open.
Send those and we can say whether it is a small job or a large one.
Local details
Wokingham is in Wokingham Borough, and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service covers the area. We come from Luton, and we plan blocks as a run of days on site.
Our contractors are BM TRADA / FIRAS-certificated.
Questions we get asked
Do you check what the developer left?
We can survey it. See compartmentation surveys.
Can you work on a block with residents in?
Yes. We plan access and tell you what to pass on.
Tell us what is going through it and what the wall is made of. We will come back with a price.
Get a price