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A big fire in a tower block in Latimer Road just been reported on 5live.Eyewitness says there are people trapped on the upper floors. I hope everyone gets out safely.
"Camden saying Rydon installed a lower spec cladding than they originally said and was approved. Classy company."
Where did you get this info from Clive?
A lot of the teams involved in these jobs will have moved on, with a little bonus no doubt
They'll be done for fraud but believe me manslaughter charges will be close behind
I knew something didn't stack up on this. I'll not say anymore due to legal issues but as stated before I've worked with people who went to one of the contractors involved.
This is a MASSIVE issue. The evac in Camden is a drop in the ocean. You wait till they start checking schools, hospitals, council offices and then retail units, businesses and eventually imposing increased regs on private households
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
The whole Warwick Road development is meant to have cost 2bn, but that's the entire thing, which is bloody enormous.
Would be guessing at what was spent, but as was mentioned elsewhere, "affordable" now means 80% of market value, so for 68 1 and 2 beds you'd be looking at a fag packet figure of £50m.
[Post edited 21 Jun 2017 16:33]
Two years ago there was a documentary on tv about this new phenomenon of 'affordable housing'. There was a new development in Hackney where an 'affordable housing' one bedroom flat only cost £1,025,000 !!!!!!!
Affordable for whom ???? When did the name 'council house' get ditched ?? For that is what is meant by 'affordable housing'. I bought two flats in Hackney with the loose change found down the back of my sofa.
For those who haven't opened this, the three low rise blocks next to Grenfell run off the main block's boiler and gas, which has obviously all gone, so they've been without hot water or gas to cook with since the disaster and the council are refusing to move them.
My work mate doesn't even live on Lancaster West Estate but in Bramley House, the other side of the Hammersmith and City Line tracks, and his gas and water are disconnected. His family are staying in a hotel and have been for 9 days.
'Two board members of the housing charity Shelter, including its chairman Sir Derek Myers, have resigned amid reports of internal disquiet over the organisation’s allegedly muted response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
Myers is a former chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea council, which owns Grenfell Tower, while trustee Tony Rice is chairman of Xerxes Equity, the sole shareholder in Omnis Exteriors — the company that sold the cladding used in the tower.'
I went down to Grenfell yesterday. Really sad sight. Lots of people looking up at it with tears in their eyes. Had an interesting chat with one of the many coppers manning the exclusion zone. He told me they'd been told the building was moving and had tilted 15mm on its foundations. They are geared up for an emergency evacuation of the surrounding blocks if it gets any worse. Also said they'd been lucky with the weather, and that if the wind gets up, there'll be loads more debris coming down. This falling debris makes it unsafe to work around the outside perimeter of the tower - there are people working inside the building, but not outside. He said there are still bodies on the ground around the perimeter, and they can't retrieve them yet because it's too dangerous.
'Two board members of the housing charity Shelter, including its chairman Sir Derek Myers, have resigned amid reports of internal disquiet over the organisation’s allegedly muted response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
Myers is a former chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea council, which owns Grenfell Tower, while trustee Tony Rice is chairman of Xerxes Equity, the sole shareholder in Omnis Exteriors — the company that sold the cladding used in the tower.'
Nice Tactical, hold these negligent penny-pinching manslaughtering effing counts to account ~ truth to power ~ Ken Tory heads must roll...and soon! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It's a start....but why, pray tell, is the hideous orc Leader Of The Council Nicky Paget-Jones - as effective as a chocolate fire-guard - still very firmly and tenaciously clinging on in situ - for nobodies good or sake - on disaster day + 8? #InTheNameOfGodGo! #GoNow! #GoQuickly!
Kensington and Chelsea chief steps down after pressure from Sajid Javid Resignation of chief executive Nicholas Holgate was ‘required’ by communities secretary after fierce criticism of council THEGUARDIAN.COM
'I'm 18 with a bullet.Got my finger on the trigger,I'm gonna pull it.."
Love,Peace and Fook Chelski!
More like 20StoneOfHoop now.
Let's face it I'm not getting any thinner.
Pass the cake and pies please.
There were some more details about Rydon in yesterday's FT:
'North Kensington is not the only part of London where Rydon’s work has been criticised.
It has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Sutton Housing Partnership, an organisation owned by Sutton council, over repairs to council housing.
Sutton Housing Partnership had hired Rydon in a contract due to last from 2013 until 2018, but sought to terminate the deal in 2014 because it was unhappy with the company’s performance.
Sutton accused Rydon of failing to meet minimum performance targets on the quality and timeliness of repairs and resident satisfaction, according to court documents.
This led to contested proceedings in front of an adjudicator, as well as in the court of appeal in April. Lawyers for Sutton Housing Partnership declined to comment.
Rydon has also faced criticism in the London borough of Islington, where it has a contract to repair council housing.
A surveyor’s report commissioned by Islington council in 2015 in response to complaints by residents found "very poor" work on roofs and brickwork.'
There were some more details about Rydon in yesterday's FT:
'North Kensington is not the only part of London where Rydon’s work has been criticised.
It has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Sutton Housing Partnership, an organisation owned by Sutton council, over repairs to council housing.
Sutton Housing Partnership had hired Rydon in a contract due to last from 2013 until 2018, but sought to terminate the deal in 2014 because it was unhappy with the company’s performance.
Sutton accused Rydon of failing to meet minimum performance targets on the quality and timeliness of repairs and resident satisfaction, according to court documents.
This led to contested proceedings in front of an adjudicator, as well as in the court of appeal in April. Lawyers for Sutton Housing Partnership declined to comment.
Rydon has also faced criticism in the London borough of Islington, where it has a contract to repair council housing.
A surveyor’s report commissioned by Islington council in 2015 in response to complaints by residents found "very poor" work on roofs and brickwork.'
I worked for many years supplying timber and building materials to the trade. It's not at all unusual for councils to knock a job for either the work or the materials not being up to standard. The inspectors are usually very knowledgeable and well qualified and sometimes a little over fussy. How this stuff was passed by RBKC I do not know.
At the last count, 34 samples of cladding from 17 different tower blocks have been tested and every single one has failed safety tests. This is calamitous. All these were presumably signed off by the various councils involved. God knows where it will all end.
Bottom line here is that for 40 years there has been very little spent on new council homes and a massive growth in homes/investment properties for the elite.
That has been lead by governments, they build this fire over many years.
[Post edited 22 Jun 2017 11:32]
Yeah, but the overwhelming majority of UK residents are home owners or don't reside in local authority housing. What's political about that?
Yeah, but the overwhelming majority of UK residents are home owners or don't reside in local authority housing. What's political about that?
Well you could start by watching the speech by Tony Benn then look up all the legislation that has stopped councils spending on building council homes and having to sell land.
Then the move by the tories to force housing associations to sell their properties.
Can I ask what your attitude / suggested approach is for "private" house owners who are in exactly the same boat?
In many of my boring posts I have laboured the point that PIR (and it's more flammable cousin PUR) insulation is EVERYWHERE. There will be countless leaseholders under RTB in these blocks who presumably the councils have a duty of care to but think for a minute about purchasers in totally private blocks. What happens with these people? Even more so, what happens when insurance companies start putting exclusions clauses in due to this national scandal? My own house that I'm sitting in my garden looking at is riddled with PIR products. It's in the roof of the loft extension, it's in the walls I moved, its in the floor and roof of the kitchen extension and it even lines the underside of my bath FFS. Just what is supposed to happen in this situation for a large number of that 68%?????
The green lobby got their way and the data sheet of these products doesn't cause you too much alarm at first but then you see just what gases it gives off etc. But apparently it stops your heating being on for an extra 45 minutes a day.
I've been saying for years there will be a modern day equivalent to the asbestos scandal but I always thought it would be MDF. God knows what happens next with this one
[Post edited 25 Jun 2017 11:04]
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
Pandora box on private homes and building, can't see there being any help from the government or local authorities on that, lawyers are going to get rich sorting that out.
Insurance companies pulling the plug on builders and house insurance just to start.
Pandora box on private homes and building, can't see there being any help from the government or local authorities on that, lawyers are going to get rich sorting that out.
Insurance companies pulling the plug on builders and house insurance just to start.
[Post edited 25 Jun 2017 10:47]
Hotels, offices, leisure centres, retail parks, etc, etc, etc.... it goes on and just as huge in the "private" sector.
The usage all stems from upgrades to the building regs and product suppliers embracing the tougher stance in the name of the environment to sell more and more of their materials. Follow the trail and you end up back at the door of government policy. They will however argue that they merely set the performance levels and do not specify what materials to use or how to install them.
As I'm known for boring repetition I'll say again - the cladding should be wrapped in aluminium which makes it a whole different material. It could be wrapped in better performance products such as zinc or intumescent film but these are expensive.
A Pandora's box indeed my friend and a clarion call to the godforesaken industry I work in
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
Walk down any street in any residential part of London (or anywhere else I suppose) and you'll find loads of extensions being built. They're all packed with Celotex and ever cheaper alternatives. You'd be surprised how cheap some of these can be. God only knows what they're made of. Rockwool is the only non-flammable insulation but it's more expensive.
Hotels, offices, leisure centres, retail parks, etc, etc, etc.... it goes on and just as huge in the "private" sector.
The usage all stems from upgrades to the building regs and product suppliers embracing the tougher stance in the name of the environment to sell more and more of their materials. Follow the trail and you end up back at the door of government policy. They will however argue that they merely set the performance levels and do not specify what materials to use or how to install them.
As I'm known for boring repetition I'll say again - the cladding should be wrapped in aluminium which makes it a whole different material. It could be wrapped in better performance products such as zinc or intumescent film but these are expensive.
A Pandora's box indeed my friend and a clarion call to the godforesaken industry I work in
Need to bring back clerks of works with absolute authority over everyone, to many pass the buck in the current system.
Hotels, offices, leisure centres, retail parks, etc, etc, etc.... it goes on and just as huge in the "private" sector.
The usage all stems from upgrades to the building regs and product suppliers embracing the tougher stance in the name of the environment to sell more and more of their materials. Follow the trail and you end up back at the door of government policy. They will however argue that they merely set the performance levels and do not specify what materials to use or how to install them.
As I'm known for boring repetition I'll say again - the cladding should be wrapped in aluminium which makes it a whole different material. It could be wrapped in better performance products such as zinc or intumescent film but these are expensive.
A Pandora's box indeed my friend and a clarion call to the godforesaken industry I work in
Lblock, ive always fitted hardboard insulation with a 50mm air gap as per instructions. Is the air gap the cause for fire to spread? Obviously was on Grenfell. Just wondered if that would be the case in other properties. Ive just finished 2 loft conversions, and its literally packed to the rafters with the stuff.
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