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Tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, and even more recently the Whitechapel tower block blaze in East London, have highlighted the need for comprehensive reviews of existing building safety standards. This includes evaluations of whether regulations are adequate to protect the people living inside high-risk buildings such as high-rise flats.

Fire doors are an essential aspect of fire safety for any property. They’re designed to stop the spread of fire and smoke in a building for long periods. This ensures escape routes are protected so people can evacuate a building safely and provides more time for firefighters to extinguish a fire.

Windows and doors play a big part in the look of a building, and due to their continuous use, they need to be fit for purpose. It is therefore essential to consider the quality of material used to produce these windows and doors because this will impact how long they can last and reduce the amount of upkeep required.

Since the start of the pandemic, material prices in construction have risen sharply, and now, factors such as the war in Ukraine and inflation have only exasperated things.  

Timber, steel, concrete, and tiles for roofing have seen the biggest increases. However, other materials have seen significant increases, too, such as plastics, quarry, and other metals such as aluminium, lead, cast iron, and copper.

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) is increasingly recognised as a key solution to solving the UK’s housing crisis. In recent years it has carved a place in government policy, with Homes England placing it at the forefront of future housing development.

SWPA encourage all public sector organisation running tenders with social value outcomes to understand the groups in their areas and to try to align the outcome with the community. This will ensure that any funding or volunteer help goes directly to the community and will have a much greater impact. 

There has been extensive talk from central and local governments about decarbonising our housing stock and meeting our climate targets, resulting in government initiatives and funded schemes for technologies such as heat pumps, or boiler replacements, or once upon a time, feed in tariffs for microgeneration. Whilst these are all nice-to-haves none of them address the core issues we have with our housing stock and these issues will be exacerbated as global summer temperatures rise.

A fire door is an internal door built to slow down the spread of fire or smoke throughout a building, allowing more time for evacuation should a fire incident occur on a premises.

Due to their importance in protecting lives, it’s crucial they’re suitably fitted and regularly inspected. This article will explain how a fire door should be fitted to ensure maximum safety, from the types of materials used to staying on top of maintenance.

Tendering for public sector contracts is a competitive business, particularly for smaller organisations. The good news is that local authorities must consider their wider community goals, aims and objectives that benefit their area when awarding a contract. This includes supporting the local economy. 

MTX delivered Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s new Oxford Critical Care unit (OCC) at the city’s John Radcliffe Hospital using MMC.

The building was originally envisaged as three storeys, but the Trust quickly realised that it needed to be taller, and we worked closely with them to ensure the building met their new requirements.