Ascot Court
Building Safety Case Information
Your building has been designated safe.
We’ve summarised all the key safety information for you to make it as easy as possible for you to access and understand, but if you’d like to know about any of this in more detail, please just get in touch. You can email us on firesafety@salixhomes.co.uk to request more information.
• Building Information
• Evacuation Strategy
• Safety Checks and Schedule
• Fire Risk Assessment
• Structural Assessments
• EWS1 Reports and External Walls
• Investment Work
• Customer Engagement Strategy
Building Information
Name: Ascot Court
Address: Bury New Road, Salford, Manchester, M7 2DB
Height: 33 metres
Number of floors: 11
Number of apartments: 40
Number of staircases: 2
Year built: 1964
Construction material:
– Concrete cast in-situ construction
– The render is Silkolitt Silicone
– The insulation is Expanded Polystyrene
These materials have been checked for compliance with current safety standards.
Principal Accountable Person: As part of the new Building Safety laws, every high-rise building must have a Principle Accountable Person. This is the person or body responsible for managing the fire and structural safety risks of a high-rise building. It could be an individual or an organisation.
In our case, Salix Homes is the Principle Accountable Person. Our Chief Executive Officer oversees Salix Homes’ safety responsibilities.
Evacuation Strategy
– A ‘Stay Safe’ strategy is in place at your block, and across all our high rise buildings.
– This means that if there is a fire in or near your flat, you should leave the flat and the building.
– If there is a fire somewhere else in the building, you can remain in your flat and do not need to leave the building.
You can watch this video from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, which helps explain:
The evacuation strategy for all our high rise buildings is ‘Stay Safe’. You may also hear this called a ‘Stay Put’ policy.
This is because the fire safety measures at your building are designed to ensure the fire does not spread from a different part of the building. When firefighters tackle a fire anywhere in the building, it is likely that some smoke will spread into the corridors and sometimes into the staircase – if you choose to leave the building you may expose yourself to smoke in these areas before it is cleared.
If at any stage your flat is affected by heat or smoke, or you feel unsafe, then you should get out if you can. And remember, you should always evacuate if asked to do so by firefighters.
If you have any mobility issues, medical conditions or disabilities that may prevent you evacuating your home without assistance, it’s important that you tell us, so we can put the right support in place for you.
Safety Checks and Schedule
Regular safety checks and surveys are carried out in your building to ensure all the fire safety measures and systems we have in place are in working order, in case of a fire or emergency in your block.
Some of these checks are carried out by our team of Property Safety Officers, while some are carried out by other independent building and fire safety experts.
You can find out more about the checks we carry out and when they were last done by selecting the options below:
All our tower blocks and communal buildings have fire doors, this includes the front door to your home, and they are designed to help stop the spread of fire.
• Communal Fire Doors
These are the doors in the corridors, stairwells and communal areas.
Who checks: Property Safety Officers
How often: Every three months
• Individual Front Doors
These are the flat entrance doors to your home.
As part of your tenancy audit, our Housing Officers carry out these inspections, however customers can also complete their own door checks.
If you do complete your own door check, we will ask you to complete a short survey about your front door – these checks will take no longer than 10 minutes and require no technical knowledge or tools.
You can access the door check survey here.
Who checks: Housing Officers or customers
How often: Annually
All our high rise buildings are fitted with a state-of-the-art communal fire alarm system. When the fire alarm activates, it will send an urgent alert directly to the fire service, and to Salix Homes, who will immediately send fire crews to the building.
While alarms and systems are checked regularly, these can be ‘silent tests’. This means, while it’s being tested, the alarm will not necessarily make a sound you can hear.
Who checks: Property Safety Officers
How often: Weekly
In the event of a fire, the lifts will not be in operation for customers, and you’ll need to use the stairs to evacuate the building. However, the fire service might use the lifts to help with firefighting, so they have a special key to make the lifts work.
• As part of our regular checks of your building, we check that the lift system is working as it should.
Who checks: Property Safety Officers
How often: Monthly
• In addition to the regular checks by the property safety officers, the lifts in your building are also serviced regularly, to make sure they are working safely.
Who checks: Concept Lifts
How often: Monthly
• Lifts in your building are also independently inspected as part of Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.
Who checks: Ashdale Engineering
How often: Every 6 months
In the event of a fire, the fire service needs swift access to essential information about the building or equipment, this can include things like floor plans, or keys to access the dry risers, which are used to help the fire service easily access water. This is kept in a secure information box available to the fire service, which we check and update every month.
As part of these monthly checks, we also check the smoke control systems, dry risers, sprinklers and emergency alert systems.
Your building also has ‘wayfinding signage’ which is designed to help the fire service, and others in the building, easily find their way around the building in the event of a fire.
Who checks: Property Safety Officers
How often: Monthly
Your building has been designed so that each flat is its own ‘compartment’. This means that in the event of a fire, it should stay contained within the flat.
We work closely with contractors to ensure that they do not breach this compartmentation. If you are carrying out DIY work in your home, or have a contractor in your flat to undertake work on your behalf, please speak to us first so that we can ensure the compartmentation is protected.
Who checks: Property Safety Officers
How often: Annually
In addition to the regular checks by our Property Safety Officers, we also employ partner contractors and fire safety experts to carry out further safety checks. These include:
• Fire Risk Assessments (FRA)
– Annually
• Asbestos (checked in communal areas)
– Annually
• Electrical Safety Checks (in communal areas and individual homes)
– Every five years
• Emergency Lighting (the back-up lighting, in case there is no power to the building)
– Every three months
• Sprinkler System Servicing
– Annually
• PAT Testing (Portable Appliance Testing) (a safety check to ensure that any electrical appliances in communal areas are in good condition and safe to use)
– Annually
• AOV (Automatic Opening Vent) (vents in your building which open automatically in case of a fire, helping to release smoke and improve ventilation)
– Not applicable
• Fire Hydrants Servicing
– Not applicable
• Dry Risers Servicing (Dry risers are a pipe network that firefighters can use to easily deliver water to higher floors during a fire. It stays empty (dry) when not in use, but can quickly be filled with water when needed for firefighting.)
– Every six months
Fire Risk Assessment (FRA)
A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is a report on the fire hazards within the communal areas of a building, as well the external walls and materials used. It’s carried out by an independent fire safety expert. It explains the key safety measures in place and identifies any potential fire safety risks.
It also gives recommendations for Salix Homes if more safety measures are needed to prevent, control, and reduce the effects of a fire. Our FRAs are made available to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service should they be required.
Who checks: Independent fire safety experts
How often: Annually
An FRA is a very technical document, so we’ve summarised all the key bits of information for you here, including any recommendations that have been made and where we’re up to with making any changes or improvements.
View the FRA Summary for your building – Ascot Court
If you do want to read the FRA in full, you can request it from our Building Safety Team, by emailing firesafety@salixhomes.co.uk
Structural Assessments
We carry out regular structural assessments of our buildings to assess their strength and stability. It involves experts inspecting the building’s framework, materials, and support systems to ensure everything is in good condition, helping to ensure the safety and longevity of the structure.
Who checks: Building structural experts
How often: Structural surveys were last carried out in 2019. The next structural survey is due in 2025.
EWS1 Reports and External Walls
An EWS1 Report, or External Wall System Form 1, is a document that assesses the fire safety of the external walls of a building and is part of the overall fire risk assessment for your building. The EWS1 Report helps identify potential fire risks, particularly related to cladding, to ensure it meets safety standards.
As part of the assessment process, buildings are given a safety rating.
Contact our Building Safety Team, by emailing firesafety@salixhomes.co.uk to request a copy of the EWS1 Report for your building.
External Wall Remediation Programme
We complete all remediation works to the exterior of your building.
Investment Work
We carry out a regular programme of investment and improvement work to ensure all our homes and communities are safe and pleasant places to live. We also ensure they meet the Government’s ‘Decent Homes’ standard, as well as our own ‘Salix Standard’.
Investment work that has taken place at your building includes:
2013-2014
- Installation of a new rendered external wall insulation system to enhance the appearance of the block and improve thermal comfort in your home.
- Concrete repairs.
- Replacement of balcony balustrading with new steel balconies with glazed panels.
- Window replacement to block and properties.
- Kitchen, bathroom replacements and electrical upgrades inside properties.
- Communal decoration.
- Re-roof with a new insulated roof.
2016
- Both communal passenger lifts replaced.
2017
- Firestopping works to reduce the risk of spread in the event of a fire.
2019-2020
- New sprinkler system installed.
- New fire alarm fitted.
- Communal decoration overhaul with new design and flooring replaced.
- Stairwell railing replaced.
- Flat entrance door replacements.
- Upgrade of the electrical supply to the block by Electricity North West.
- Front and rear entrance doors replaced to the block.
- Communal lighting upgraded.
2021-2022
- Bin chute closure.
2022-2023
- Communal internal fire door replacements.
Upcoming investment works 2024-2025
- Any required Decent Homes works following stock condition surveys.
Upcoming investment works 2028-2029
- Communal decoration.
- Upgrade to communal and emergency lighting.
- Door entry system upgrade.
Customer Engagement Strategy
At Salix Homes, we want all our customers to feel safe in your home and know what we’re doing to help keep you and your building safe.
This strategy sets out how we will work together with our customers to communicate and engage with you on all matters relating to building safety.
The key aims of this strategy are:
- Ensure you are empowered to get involved and influence building safety decisions in your home.
- Ensure you are aware of key building safety messages and decisions.
- Ensure you know how to raise any building safety concerns with us.
- Ensure you are aware of and know how to access key building safety information about your home.
- Provide you with a clear understanding of our responsibilities as a landlord, and your responsibilities as a Salix Homes customer to ensure your home remains safe.
- Ensure you are effectively communicated with in a way that is accessible and easy to understand.
- Ensure you know what to do in the event of a fire or emergency in your building.
- Ensure you know how to make a complaint if you feel your concerns are not being listened to
You can read our Customer Engagement Strategy back on our Building Safety Case Information page.