Building Safety Record: Grace House

Grace House is 14 storeys high. It is designed to protect flats and the staircases from the spread of fire from other parts of the building.

The building has a reinforced steel and concrete frame with brick, block and concrete infill. The external wall has had a satisfactory fire safety review.

The materials used on the external wall are:

• Brick slips
• Concrete panels
• Metal cladding
• And non-combustible insulation.

No remediation works are required for the external wall.

Fire Safety at your building

Your block is designed to stop a fire from spreading out of the flat or area where it starts. There are good quality fire doors, and flats are separated into individual ‘compartments’.

There is a ‘stay put’ strategy within your building. This means if there is a fire in another part of the block, you can stay within your home for as long as you feel safe.

Unless you see smoke or fire, or you are told by the fire service to leave the building, then you are safer in your home. The fire alarm system will only sound in the parts of the building that need to be evacuated.

If there is a fire inside your home itself - Get out, stay out and call 999.

Don’t try to tackle the fire yourself, and never go back into a burning building.

If you are in the communal areas of the building and you hear the alarm sound, then please leave the building as quickly as possible.

Of course, you are free to leave at any time if you feel it is safer to or have a personal preference to do so. You do not have to stay in your home.

If you cannot get out of the building on your own, we can help you make a plan for how you can get out of your flat to a place of safety if you need to in an emergency.

This plan is called a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (or PEEP).

We also let the Fire and Rescue Services know which residents have a PEEP so they know who might need help in an emergency situation.

Fire Doors

Fire doors in the corridors and to your flats are designed to keep you safe and protect you from spread of fire.

Fire doors should have a self-closing device and fully fit into the frame when closed. If there are smoke seals present they should run the whole length of the door. There should be no holes drilled, no nails or any signs of damage to all doors.

It’s really important that the doors are kept in good condition. Please do not keep doors propped open.

We will inspect your door every year and the communal doors every three months.
Please let us in to make that check when we contact you, if you possibly can.

Fire Risk Assessment

A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is reviewed every year at Grace House.

The FRA was last done in December 2023 and a new assessment will be carried out in December 2024. Since the assessment was done a fire safety project has been completed.

Details of the key findings from the fire risk assessment are set out below, together with a comment about progress:

Keeping yourself and your neighbours safe

• Be careful in your own flat with regards to safety
• Check that your smoke detectors are working and report them if they aren’t. Your smoke alarm could save your life in a fire, so please don’t tamper with it. You should never disconnect or take the batteries out of your smoke alarm
• Keep escape routes inside your flat clear
• Items left outside your flat may trip people up. Don’t leave anything outside your door and don’t charge mobility scooters outside your flat
• Do not leave flat and other fire doors propped open
• And use the bin chutes to safely dispose of rubbish – speak to your housing team if you have large items to dispose of.

Your local Fire and Rescue Service offers free Home Fire Safety Assessments, where they will visit your home and provide fire safety advice and equipment, depending on risk.

To find out more, get personalised fire safety advice and check if you are eligible, please visit: www.london-fire.gov.uk.

Key Contacts

If you have any concerns at all about fire safety, please contact: gracehouse@ccht.org.uk or your housing team here at Grace House.

You can also call our Service Hub on 0207 922 5300 and let the wider Aster team know buildingsafety@aster.co.uk.

If you see any damage to any of the fire safety features in the building please let us know so we can arrange for repairs to be undertaken.