Progress

Good progress has continued throughout the past month, with significant advancements made across several elevations of the building.

The removal of the existing brickwork has now been completed to the Car Park and Royce Road elevations and has commenced on the City Road elevation.

Works have also progressed well with the removal of the existing combustible materials. All combustible timber and OSB sheathing boards have now been removed from the Royce Road and Car Park elevations, together with sections of the City Road elevation. These areas have also seen good progress with the installation of the new external wall system progressing well. Non-combustible cementitious sheathing boards, insulation, window support brackets, intumescent sealant and sealing membranes have all been installed.

In addition, the combustible timber cladding has been fully removed from the Royce Road elevation and partially removed from the Car Park elevation.

The next stage of the works will see the installation of the interface sealing membranes around the windows continue. This is a big step as, once completed, these membranes will provide a fully weatherproof and airtight seal to the window openings.

Key Milestones

Several important milestones have been achieved during the past month.

The temporary welfare unit has now been removed from the car park, creating additional space within the site compound.

Following the completion of the brickwork demolition above the entrance, the building’s main entrance has now been fully reopened for residents and visitors.

To improve efficiency and maintain progress across the project, a second goods hoist has also been installed on the City Road elevation. This additional access equipment will help increase productivity during both the demolition and installation phases of the works.

Upcoming Works

Over the coming month, the installation of breather membranes and fire barriers will continue across the Royce Road, Car Park and sections of the City Road elevations.

Subject to programme progress and weather conditions, we are also anticipating that reconstruction of the external brickwork will commence within the next month, marking another significant milestone in the remediation programme.

Potential Disruption

As the brickwork demolition progresses, it is necessary to trim back the external edge of existing plywood window reveals to allow the installation of the new sheathing boards. As previously communicated, this process can result in minor cosmetic cracking or superficial damage to the internal plaster finishes around some window openings.

Please be assured that any damage resulting from these works will be fully repaired once the external remediation around each window has been completed. Repairs are intentionally carried out at the end of the process to ensure no further movement occurs that could result in additional cracking.

To support this process, we require access to every apartment to complete internal dilapidation surveys. These surveys allow us to accurately record the existing condition of each property before works progress and ensure that any making-good works can be completed efficiently at the appropriate stage.

We would like to thank all residents who have already provided access to their homes. At present, access is still required to 16 apartments. Appointments can be arranged through Block Living, or members of the HRS Cladding site team may call at your apartment to request access where convenient.

If you have not yet arranged your survey, we kindly ask that you do so as soon as possible. Timely access will help us ensure works can be completed with as little disruption as possible.

We appreciate that these essential fire safety improvement works can occasionally cause disruption and inconvenience and we thank you for your continued patience, understanding and cooperation as we work towards delivering a safer, fully remediated building for all residents.

Kind regards,

The HRS Cladding Team

info@hrscladding.com

0151 230 3196