Hello,
I’m Nick Cox, and I’m the Building Safety Manager at Newport City Homes.
I’m here to make sure our buildings are as safe as possible for our customers, and that we stay up to date with the rules and regulations around fire safety.
Last year, we were awarded funding from the Welsh Government to make improvements to our high-rise buildings. We had 12 months to complete these works, which applied to our three sites at Greenwood in St Julian’s, Hillview in the Gaer, and Milton Court in Ringland.
With this important work completed on time, it was great to be able to hold an event at Milton Court and demonstrate how the new systems work for our customers.
What improvements did we make?
Milton Court really does stand out - and I don’t just mean because it’s the tallest building in Ringland!
It’s a high-rise building and a community for people aged over 55 - both of which have their own unique needs.
Our work primarily focused on reconfiguring the fire alarm system, to support the ‘stay put’ policy at the building - meaning that if an alarm does go off, most people should stay in their flat until told to leave.
We have now upgraded smoke detection in the flats and fitted strobes and sounders to balconies, so the fire service can pinpoint exactly where the problem is in the event of an emergency.
The new system also means we can set the evacuation alerts to specific floors. This type of system is new, and there are only a handful in Wales, so we’re proud to be a part of this pioneering technology.
We also carried out work on the doors and walls called ‘compartmentation’. This stops the spread of fire and smoke in an emergency by keeping it confined to one place.
The bin chutes have been blocked off to reduce any risk of fire there, and the refuse room on the ground floor has been renovated so it’s easier for people to use. We’ve also moved the recycling facilities to just outside the building and into purpose-built fire (and rain!) resistant storage areas.
Finally, we’ve added a special valve to the water system so, in an emergency, all the water in the building will be diverted to the sprinklers. A backup generator has also been installed for the water pumps if there was ever a problem with power failure.
What’s next?
Last week, we announced that we’ve received an additional £4m grant from the Welsh Government to continue our fire safety work. We now plan is to replace every fire door set in our high-rise buildings – that’s more than 750 across three buildings!
This means that, as well as the doors themselves, the frames and surrounding structures will also be updated in line with the latest fire safety standards and technology.
We will also be updating our signage, adding emergency lights to the top floor of each tower block, and taking out the timber ceilings from the ground floor at Milton Court.
My long-term plan is to do everything possible to make each of our high-rise buildings as safe as they can be for our customers, colleagues, visitors, and the fire service.
This work has been well received by our customers, and it was good to talk to many of them at our fire-safety event. It’s important to me, and everyone at Newport City Homes, that our customers can live peacefully and happily in their homes, secure in the knowledge the systems we have in place will keep them safe.