Building safety managers have been urged to make sure they have a thorough fire risk assessment in place after a company and its former director were ordered to pay more than £100,000 by a crown court judge.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) is highlighting the issue after vital fire risks went unflagged at a Hampshire block of flats.
The fire risk assessment at Forbes Court, in Hilsea, Portsmouth, failed to take a thorough look at every aspect of the building, meaning residents’ lives could have been put at risk if a fire broke out.
Risk assessor, Adrian Watson, and the company he was a director of, Watson, Wild and Baker Ltd, were found guilty of failing to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment by a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court in July.
On Friday (4 November), Judge Timothy Mousley sentenced the defendants to pay fines and costs totalling just over £100,000 and said the risk assessment “fell far short of the appropriate standards”.
Read the full story at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service
