CSS act as expert witness for fire risk legal ruling
7 July 2009
Carillion Specialist Services (CSS), part of the TPS Consultancy team, have recently acted as expert witness in a case which potentially affects tens of thousands of flats in university towns and cities around the UK.
District Judge Shamim A Qureshi’s ruling at Birmingham Magistrates Court that the design of student accommodation by Victoria Hall Ltd, represented by Solicitors Denison Till, means they are `private dwellings’ rather than halls of residence has averted a change in fire safety strategy for thousands of similar flats nationwide.
Victoria Hall Ltd called technical advice from CSS in its appeal against enforcement notices from West Midlands Fire Service regarding its student accommodation in Selly Oak, Birmingham which has a design replicated at other UK sites.
The enforcement notices, requesting that smoke detectors were placed in all the private bedrooms and that additional seals were added to doors, followed a fire started by toaster at the Birmingham flats in January 2008.
The Fire Service said the flats, occupied by four or five students each with their own private room, were halls of residence and subject to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO), while CSS argued that the flats were domestic premises and the fire service had no authority to impose additional fire safety measures on them.
The expert witness evidence from CSS said that the bedroom doors comply with current Building Regulation standards and the combined heat and smoke detection configuration exceeds requirements.
Victoria Hall Ltd has 12 student accommodation sites throughout the UK and Europe, built the first self-contained student flats of this design in Manchester in 1996 and the design has been widely adopted by other developers because of its effective use of space.
Victoria Hall Ltd’s Sheffield-based national operations manager, John Ripley, said, “This significant judgment directly affects our other student accommodation in Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and elsewhere and thousands of other student flats throughout the UK.
Victoria Hall Ltd were very pleased to be able to call upon Carillion Specialist Services as expert witnesses during this hearing. Their professional approach and thorough understanding of Fire Safety legislation and technical standards proved invaluable to the success of the case.
We tried to resolve the issue amicably with the Fire Service as we did in a comparable purpose built student accommodation building where a similar issue arose and, following representation from Carillion Specialist Services, the fire service withdrew.
Unfortunately that was not the position in the Selly Oak case. Naturally we understand their concerns but this accommodation already exceeds the fire safety specification for this type of residence.”
Carillion Specialist Services Associate Director Darren Walker who was directly involved with the case, said, “In this case, the fire service’s enforcement notice did not take account of the high level of fire compartmentation provided in the design of these flats.
As homes are exempt from the RRO, this judgment is extremely important. Opinions vary substantially within fire services and fire consultants, and this judgment therefore provides vital clarification for all involved in applying the RRO to student flats.”
Links
 CSS Property Legislation
Victoria Hall Ltd
Denison Till Ltd
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