[Directors of WV Living will outline the type of construction methods being used by the Company, which are applicable to the subject of Fire Safety].
Minutes:
The Service Director for Housing and Director of WV Living explained that WV Living was a Council owned commercial housing company which had been set up to make a profit and bring forward new and different types of homes. The Shareholder Board was made up of Members who represented the Council as sole shareholder. It operated on commercial terms and had been established in 2016. It set out a three-year starting business plan to build one thousand homes. Most of those homes were planned to be for sale. It was a way of bringing forward homes not only to provide more for the City, but also to stimulate the housing market and show how commercial development could actually bring forward new housing products of a high quality design. The housing developments could provide new residential opportunities in areas that hadn’t seen new houses for some time.
The Service Director for Housing and Director of WV Living explained that WV Living was also creating jobs, apprenticeships and establishing new partnerships. WV Living had their own website, if Members wanted to pursue further background information on the company. The website had two videos, which were worth viewing to learn more about the ongoing work of the company. The programme was currently on track and they were now working on a new commercial plan – 2019-2026, which would mark ten years of the company. The Chair commented that in his Ward of Wednesfield South, one quarter of the new homes being built by WV Living would be classed as affordable homes.
The Service Manager for Housing Development and WV Living remarked that the first phase of the WV Living programme was around 400 units, which included the site in Wednesfield. All of the WV Living developments had to be designed to meet highways and planning requirements. This included provision for adequate access to emergency vehicles. There was also a detailed design stage. At this stage there was a Fire Strategy which was put in place to ensure the construction met all building regulations and Approved Document Part B, which was for fire safety specifically. The Principal Designer, a legally required position, had responsibility to design in, health and safety into construction. All of the WV Living Projects had a Principal Designer Role allocated to them.
The Service Manager for Housing Development and WV Living stated that the detailed design included a form of construction and compartmentalisation, as well as ensuring that the design was compliant or beyond with building regulations and NHBC (National House Building Council) standards. Formal approval of the design plans was required by building regulations and NHBC before construction could commence. Throughout the build programme inspections took place by building regulations and NHBC before the formal sign off at the end of the construction.
The Service Manager for Housing Development and WV Living remarked that they used a Clerk of Works, who was a Council employee who worked for WV Living, through a Service Level Agreement. The Clerk of Works was on site regularly, averaging 2-3 days a week, checking the detail of the construction as they were built. In addition they had a Service Level Agreement with the Council’s Health and Safety Team, who visited the constructions sites on a regular basis. They provided a monthly report to the WV Living Board meeting. Board Members were invited to undertake site visits with the Health and Safety Team.
The Service Manager for Housing Development and WV Living stated that the external walls were cavity masonry with concrete block inner leaf and brick and block outer leaf. Where there was decorative cladding, it was fixed fibre cement. Any cavities were filled with blown blast rockwool insulation. Separating party walls between buildings such as terraced or semi-detached housing, were cavity masonry wall construction, with cavities filled with blown rockwool insulation. Additional rockwool fire barriers were in cavities on party wall junctions and roof junctions. Where there were partitions separating floors between apartments, it was 150ml thick concrete planks with 75ml concrete screwed. A mains powered smoke detector was provided in the main living rooms and a mains powered heat detector in the kitchen area of all WV Living dwellings. There was also a mains powered carbon monoxide detector in the kitchen. In the flats there was a mains powered smoke detector in the ground floor entrance lobby and also on the first floor. There was no gas supply going into the flats as a further precaution. On the first floor of the flats, habitable rooms had a means of escape regress from the windows. The Management of the Blocks once they had been constructed would be by Wolverhampton Homes. WV Living had entered into a Service Level Agreement with Wolverhampton Homes, but there were deliberations about them taking on the lease in the future.
The Chair asked if consideration had been given to installing sprinklers in all WV Living Developments, as it was his view that the dwellings should be as safe as reasonably possible. Sprinkler installation on average only added 1% more to the cost of development. Whilst he understood current legislation did not require them, he would always push for the extra safety that sprinklers brought. Other Panel Members supported the Chair’s view. In response, the Service Manager for Housing Development responded that they had thought about installing sprinklers for the WV Living flats. The Chair’s proposal for sprinklers for all WV Living developments would have to be considered at Board level. The Service Director for Housing and Director of WV Living said she acknowledged the Chair’s comments and would take the proposal for sprinklers back to the WV Living Board.