High-rise tower block inspections in Sheffield completed by fire service in Government-backed project

A team of inspectors made up of staff from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s safety department, assessed 298 buildings in the county, with 288 of them being in Sheffield.

Simon Dunker, Area Manager at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said: “When the team set out on this project, we all knew that the timescales were very ambitious, and a lot of hard work and dedication would be needed to meet them.”

The inspections, which started in November 2020, are part of the Government-backed ‘Building Risk Review,’ with the goal of speeding up the pace of high-rise inspection activity across the UK to make buildings safer after the Grenfell tower disaster in London, where flames swept through the block

The first phase of the project focused on Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, for which fire services collaborated with building owners to identify buildings with such cladding and reported those findings back to the Government.

In its second phase, residential buildings over 18 metres high or having six or more storeys were inspected.

Mr Dunker said: “What they have done is remarkable and they should all be really proud – for our service to have inspected all our high-rise residential buildings in just over a year is fantastic.

“And this isn’t just good news for us, either. It’s good news for residents right across the county who can sleep a little bit easier, now, knowing that these checks have been done.”