Assessing for risk in high-rise residential buildings is multi-faceted.
Insurers use the term Potential Maximum Loss (PML), which they assess will be the maximum amount an insurer could lose on an insurance policy. So, the more a project mitigates the risk factors, the less the insurer could lose on a policy.
Premier Guarantee focus on attaining the standards identified in their technical manual including the structural risk and the external envelope so, for us, PML would likely come from catastrophic cladding failure, for example. From our perspective a façade failure is rare. One exception (not involving Premier Guarantee) to this was at the former London Stock Exchange in London, some 10 years ago. A nickel sulphide inclusion failure in glass panes resulted in millions of pounds lost for the insurer and key stakeholders.
It stands to reason, therefore, that the more we reduce risks through the management of quality checks on products and structures, the less risk there is to assess.
Key areas of risk
Reviewing risk on new products going to the market and triaging new designs at the tender stage is central to Premier Guarantee’s role. Supported by a
full review of the risks associated with the design to identify key inspections to be undertaken throughout the build process.
Recurring risks can occur where there are failures in the external envelope, possible relating to fire safety or water ingress. Balconies play a key part in reducing risk and Approved Document B Regulation 7 has placed more focus on balconies as specified attachments to the external envelope. There are many areas, including the detailing of junctions, openings, parapets and anything else that penetrates the envelope that need to be looked at in detail to reduce risk of failure. Roofs are also an area of risk, whether they are accessible or not.
Reducing risk
Historically, the selection of which warranty provider occurs quite late in the overall programme and we are occasionally instructed when the project is onsite and already started. When we’ve not been part of early engagement, we can be presented with complete costed and procured designs, greatly increasing the impact of any changes required to meet our standards. If we are able to engage as early as stage two or three, we can still have some influence, with significantly reduced impact as tenders have often not yet been released. It also reduces potential delays later in the programme or on site as we have pre-agreed components, products and overall design proposals.
As a project draws to completion, it’s imperative that the warranty provider has the details requested to assess the design risk. Failing to keep on top of these during the construction stage causes pressure at the time they are keen to sell the units. Holding a series of meetings throughout the contract period to highlight issues that may prevent warranty speeds up the process towards the end and ensures transparency across the client team.
Creating a positive culture
Better quality builds need to start with a change in mindset for all stakeholders. Quality needs to be seen as the primary factor rather than a cost. When protecting a brand is important to a developer, they are keen to improve on quality and lessen the possibility of a defect in design, which might lead to negative publicity.
“…the more a project mitigates the risk factors, the less the insurer could lose on a policy.”
That culture change is implemented via control measures, which can often be driven by the quality of the developer. Part of the Premier Guarantee’s process lays out the key stage inspections for clients. This focuses the mind throughout the project by introducing the concept as early as possible.
Promoting clarity of risk management and quality control can also be achieved through schemes that encourage good working practices. Premier Guarantee has an award scheme that focuses on health and safety, standards, site management, workmanship and cooperation. These types of schemes encourage the client to engage in the quality process, where they learn how beneficial it is to timescales and programme.
Every build needs to have well-designed products with proven quality-controlled documents. By doing so, you reduce time wastage, error and risk, and speed up sign off. Without them, we have to visit sites more often, slowing down programme and introducing possible failures that could have been prevented if companies had topquality products, good QA processes and sound working practices.
“Every build needs to have well-designed products with proven quality controlled documents…”
“Better quality builds need to start with a change in mindset for all stakeholders.”
CONTRIBUTORS
David Jones
FCIOB, FASI, MRICS, MIConstM
Director of Education and Training at Institute of Construction Management
David is a Chartered Surveyor and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building. He has worked for 50 years in the construction industry. He has worked on such notable designs as the concrete ski hill in Finland for the Winter Olympics, the triple water towers in Kuwait City, 55 Lombard Street and Thames House. He was appointed to ICM executive board in 2018 and in 2019 started to construct CDM for a BIM gateway.
James Allen
MIConstM
Glass Safety and Security Risk Consultant at AITCo Consulting
James is the Glass Safety and Security Risk Consultant for AITCo Consulting. He has 20 years’ experience in risk assessment and safety and is an expert in glass regulations and the physical hazard glass can cause.
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Phil Chitty
Environment, Health and Safety Manager at Sapphire Balconies
Phil has been in health and safety for nearly twenty years and has experience in advisory and managerial roles in residential construction and highways. His role at Sapphire includes responsibilities for the environment, development of lifting equipment and lifting operations.
Nichola Venables
Founder and CEO, New Build Database
Nicky’s background is in risk management and she created New Build Database after significant snagging and fire safety issues with the development she had moved to. New Build Database is a public safety venture, which started to target snagging issues and has now grown to include cladding issues as well as leasehold and customer service issues. The objective is to build better collaboration and therefore reduce the pain for residents and the construction industry/supply chain too.
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Luke Bedford
Head of Sales at MyDek
Luke oversees the development of the refurbishment division team, and is driving innovation and customer care to deliver safety for the apartment community. He has a “begin with the end in mind” mentality, and is obsessed with solutions to save time for the installers, give peace of mind to the building owners and minimise disruption for residents.
Brad Staines
Owner and Managing Director at Aquamark Cleaning Limited
Brad has been in the industry for 22 years and started his own company in 2013. Aquamark’s main business is residential apartment blocks and they work with companies both at the construction phase and at the facilities management phase. Aquamark specialises in access strategy and testing to complement the window and glass-cleaning services.
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Samia Badani
Founder & CEO, SPACE Health & Well-being Hub
Samia has worked in the voluntary sector as a public and social policy consultant for many years, working with decision makers to engage with citizens. She represents EU nationals in the UK and British nationals in the EU working on community participation. After the Grenfell tower disaster, she took an interest in social housing and its residents and worked in the recovery process by establishing a community hub in the area.
Kevan Brelsford
M.Eng(Hons) MIFireE
Fire Safety Specialist
Kevan currently works as a Fire Protection Specialist. He has over 25 years of service with several Fire and Rescue Services as a Fire Engineering Officer. For the last three years, Kevan has been involved in large-scale engineering projects. He is a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers and about to finish his masters.
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Howard Passey
Principal Consultant and Director of Operations, Fire Protection Association
Howard has worked for the Fire Protection Association since 1992 and prior to that, he worked in construction. His current role is helping clients with complex and varied projects including fire safety audits, fire strategy development and reviews, inspections and risk assessments.
Bernhard Elber
Development Director at Berkeley Group PLC.
Bernhard has a background in architecture and was a chartered architect for 14 years before joining Berkley in 2014. As Development Director, he is responsible for delivering highly optimised, safe, enjoyable schemes of quality.
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Paul Unsworth
CMIOSH MIIRSM GIFireE AIEMA DipSM Cert Ed
Operations Manager at Safety Fire Rescue
Paul is a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner and has an extensive background in fire safety, including for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. He is an experienced safety risk manager and fire and rescue service and safety consultant.
Dr Mostafa Jafarian
PhD, MSc, DIC, BSc, AIFireE
Principal Certification Engineer for Façades and Structure at Warringtonfire
Dr. Mostafa Jafarian is a Principal Certification Engineer of Façade and Structures at Warringtonfire, specialising in structural fire protection and façade behaviour under fire.
Mostafa is a Principal Certification Engineer, providing clients with advice about product performance under fire conditions, and methods of improvement. He is a member British Standards Institution (BSI) committee amongst other industry bodies.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Tim Hill
Research and Development Manager at Innovast
Tim Hill, Research and Development Manager, Innovast. Tim has worked at Sapphire in various capacities, including project management. He now runs the Research and Development working on new innovations for balconies in Innovast, the ATW Group’s innovation centre.
Russ Timpson
CEng BEng(hons) FIFireE MBCI
Managing Director, Tall Building Fire Safety Network
Russ Timpson began his fire career with Kent Fire Brigade, then took up the position of Head of Safety for Virgin Atlantic Airways, moving to BAA in 1999, where he contributed to several major airport construction projects, including the skyway at Gatwick Airport and T5 at Heathrow Airport. Russ was awarded the HSE’s award for European Safety and Health at Work achievement 1998 and European Strategic Risk Management Award 2004, International Fire professional of the Year 2015.
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Stefania Borraccino
Marketing Manager at Skize
Stefania is the Marketing Manager at Skize, focussing on products and ideas to improve the lives of people in high-rise buildings. Skize recently created an online community to improve lifestyle as an apartment dweller and balcony user.
Philip Dundas
Founder and Creative Director at Balcon.me
Philip is a landscape gardener and balcony designer. He formed BalconMe in 2018 to take his landscaping expertise to design landscapes for balconies.