The council at the centre of the Grenfell Tower tragedy has announced new contracts worth £750m for fire safety work.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) revealed the specialist contractors that will work on its property portfolio of multi-dwelling buildings and individual houses.
Contracts were divided into three lots including planned maintenance, refurbishment and improvement works, according to an online notice yesterday (19 November) from RBKC.
The framework agreements cover a period of four years with an option to extend for up to two further years.
Work includes fire stopping, compartmentation and fire doors. There will also be work to overhaul active fire protection systems including wet, dry and lateral rising mains.
As part of the works, the contractors will install fire alarms and sprinkler systems.
Further contracts cover flame-retardant coating systems, fire extinguishers provision and evacuation alert systems to be used by London Fire Brigade.
The council has operated social housing in the borough since 2018 when it took over responsibility from the tenant management organisation that had been in charge. This followed the June 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in which 72 people died.
The council’s statement said: “RBKC considers that the circumstances, environment and challenges which RBKC and the construction market face justifies an extended framework agreement.”
The previous contracts ended on 1 November.
Lot 1 covering fire stopping, compartmentation and fire doors was awarded to Gemini AMPM Ltd, based in Hailsham, East Sussex, and Bell Group Ltd of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.
Also in that lot are Hollington & Sons of Swanley, Kent; OpenView Security Solutions Ltd of Romford, Essex; RAAM Construction Ltd of Enfield, London; and Swanley-based Trail Group Ltd.
The specialist contractors in Lot 2, covering active fire protection systems are Triangle Fire Systems Ltd of Hastings, East Sussex, and Harmony Fire Ltd based in Yeovil, Somerset.
Lot 3 covering escape, fire detection and smoke ventilation systems was also shared between multiple firms.
They were ABCA Systems Ltd of Tyne & Wear; BCS (Electrical & Building) Services Ltd of Rotherhithe, London; Electroplan Contracting Ltd from Romford, Essex; RGE Services Ltd based in Chigwell, Essex; and Harmony Fire Ltd of Yeovil, Somerset.
Bid criteria included quality of delivery at 30 per cent, health and safety at 15 per cent and social value of six per cent.
A criticism by Grenfell Tower residents, pre-dating the fire, was that they were not consulted properly when the flawed refurbishment was carried out, starting in 2015. Resident engagement in the new contracts was weighted at 15 per cent.
