After the tragic events of Grenfell Tower, London; a review of cladding materials currently installed on buildings was initiated. Waverly House was found to have a non-compliant cladding panel installed and as a matter of urgency, TSL was mobilised almost immediately to remove the panels and temporarily cover the building with compliant finishes, until a more permanent solution could be proposed and agreed.
During the removal of the non-compliant cladding panels it was noted that the support structure was in need of re-fixing and replacement in limited areas, this was due to the concrete structure below becoming unstable in places. The concrete reinforcement bars had begun corroding in places causing larger parts of the concrete to fail and breakaway.
TSL had previously undertaken an asset condition survey for the clients property portfolio which demonstrated the conditions and life spans for the roofs on all of their properties. Waverly House’s roof was coming to the end of its serviceable life with it due to be replaced the following year, the decision was made by the client to undertake these works concurrently with the external façade works, leaving TSL to come up with solutions for a full envelope solution.
TSL’s proposals for a compliant ‘A1’ fire rated panel were accepted by local authority planning so the support structure remedial works began while the panels were manufactured. The failing and corroding concrete reinforcement was broken back, treated and recovered with new concrete sections with the whole facade coated in a liquid protection membrane the achieved a 10-year guarantee. The roofs were stripped back to existing substrate which was repaired where necessary and the new system was installed with the new thermal upgrade to meet current regulations.
TSL acted as the principal contractor throughout the works, with high communication to all relevant parties, including building control, structural engineers, client representatives and consultants just to name a few.
The regional manager (Mike Jenkins) for the client had this to say on TSL performance “We’ve worked with TSL on multiple smaller projects as we often use them for our emergency call-outs and love their commitment to service, however can’t applaud them enough for delivering the full envelope safely and on time with such a restricted programme!”
