MGA warns of ‘huge’ safety problems for tall buildings after Dagenham blaze

Collegiate Underwriting’s Ben Randall has warned that there are ”huge outstanding fire safety problems facing tall residential buildings” after a blaze broke out at a block of flats in Dagenham.

Some 40 fire engines and around 225 firefighters tackled the fire in Freshwater Road during the early hours of Monday (26 August 2024).

The whole of the building was affected, including scaffolding surrounding the property and the roof.  

Following this, Randall, who is the underwriting manager at Collegiate, said that not all the fire safety problems in existing buildings have yet been identified due to a shortage of fire risk surveyors.

“This terrible fire is another reminder of the huge outstanding fire safety problems facing tall residential buildings,” he told Insurance Times.

”Guided by updated building regulations that set out what is required, the construction industry is working hard to rectify the existing building issues, but this is going to take many more years to complete.

“Due to a shortage of skilled fire risk surveyors, not all the fire safety problems in existing buildings have yet been identified or remediation strategies designed.”

Grenfell

Back in July 2021, the government published its Building Safety Bill with the aim of creating lasting change and a clear pathway for the future on how residential buildings should be constructed and maintained.

It came following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 72 people.

This two-tier regulatory system includes the implementation of specific gateway points, to make sure that safety risks are considered from the earliest stages of the planning process through to the building’s completion.

However, Randall explained that after the Grenfell Tower fire, there was a “tendency to think the problems that were highlighted have all been resolved, but this is far from the case”.

“A large proportion of the affected buildings are yet to be remediated, leaving thousands of people facing these risks every day,” he said.

“It would be easy to assume that, since Grenfell and the bill that followed, all the existing fire safety defects have been identified and professional indemnity insurers notified of the failings.

“This has not been our experience. We are still seeing a steady influx of new notifications regarding building fire safety defects.”