Thank you to all those who were available to join our resident meeting, online Tuesday 19th September. We also had the Project Director from Ardmore, Pietro attend and provided responses to resident queries.
Microsite Updates
We have been advised by some of the residents that the microsite hasn’t been easy to navigate. We have taken this feedback on board and have made some adjustments. The landing page titled ‘information for residents at Stratford Halo’ now details the pages that have been updated on a weekly basis. This is the best place to start to view the most recent updates. We are keeping all historical information on the site as requested but the historical information will be moved to the bottom of the web page in the archived section.
Q&A with Ardmore
Q1. Have Ardmore factored in Christmas and the resource difficulties that that entails into the new programme?
We experience seasonal fluctuations throughout the summer and winter due to the nature of the labour force as many of our operatives are self-employed. This means that sometimes they do leave depending on the time of year for a number of months, and unfortunately some do not return. We try and put mitigation measures in place to try and reduce this kind of risk by notifying our subcontractors, but this is an industry wide issue. We are bringing in our own employees onto the project to help further with this issue.
Q2. Why has the Ruby/Opal under croft has been delayed?
This element of works changed, as some of the panels had to be re-made which delayed works further by a week. We had to send the panels off to change the dimensions in order to match what we had on site. While there were delays in this area this group of workers were moved to elevation 7, Blocks F and G. Once the panels are back, they will go back and complete those works.
The works to the under croft have been completed with only the edge panels outstanding. The edge panels will need to be connected with elevation 2 cladding panels therefore will be connected once the elevation 2 works are complete and crash deck has been removed. The scaffold which was erected over the bins has also been removed.
Q3. Why is the crash deck around Opal Court so much larger than it was when Ardmore previously worked on that elevation?
On elevation three, we had to allow for emergency vehicles to gain access through to block A and block B by making it larger and to allow ambulance access and any other services that need to make entry. By doing this we are now oversailing onto the car park area, which meant we had to prop the car park. The temporary works design for this took a number of weeks to complete. On elevation one and two, we decided to make it wider in order to have more space, which can be used for storage. This would then reduce the amount of time that our workers would spend down from the cradle to collect more materials. With the materials already on the gantry, we could reduce lost time.
Q4. Have you considered the safety aspects of the crash deck for residents?
We restricted access to these areas to try and mitigate anybody being able to gain access onto the gantry without authorisation.
Q5. The walkway is completely enclosed with very limited lighting. Who is monitoring this?
We did add additional lighting to the elevation near elevation one. however overall, the Notting Hill Genesis Estate team look after the main lighting which has been fitted and turned on. In addition to this, ACL are also reviewing the temporary lighting requirements in the elevation 2 walkway area and an onsite meeting has been arranged to discuss this with NHG.
Q6. Why won't you utilise weekends to progress works quickly?
There are restrictions for working on the weekends, meaning works would have to stop by 1pm. Also, with it being the weekend, more residents are likely to be at home whilst noisy works are being carried out which could have a further impact on residents and their general wellbeing.
Q7. How are you going to fix the scratches on balconies from cradles banging into them and when will these issues be made good?
On the various cradles we have added foam buffers that should help minimise the cradles bumping the balconies or the façade. Where these are present this should mitigate them potentially damaging the works or the balconies. We will carry out further checks to make sure that the cradles are fully protected and not causing undue damage. All timber handrails are going to be replaced within the programme. If you have damage like this, please report to them to the Halo Fire Enquiries inbox: Halofireenquiries@nhg.org.uk
Q&A with Notting Hill Genesis
Q1. Are you making a list of the defects/issues that Ardmore need to remediate?
In terms of any damages to the cladding panels or the balcony decking, this is all being recorded via our site inspections and the snagging process. We are working with Ardmore on a weekly basis to record these items as soon as they are picked up. In terms of any damages like paint spills, again, we are working with Ardmore to resolve quickly. If you see any issues such as these please continue to report them.
Q2. How are NHG challenging Ardmore's total failure to meet any deadlines?
We are meeting Ardmore on a weekly basis and working with them to try and accelerate the programme. As you can see, we've got a lot more cradles in operation and more operatives on site to help speed up the rain screen cladding works.
We try our best to meet each weekly deadline but in some instances the sequence of the works might change due to lead times on certain materials or equipment.
Q3. When will the programme for Halo Tower and Warton House be communicated? Where will Ardmore be based during this period?
We would like to apologise that we have agreed to share this information on previous occasions but haven’t been able to do so. We have completed all the investigations that we needed to complete. These discussions are still taking place between the Fire Engineers, Ardmore and our insurance providers. There are currently a few options that we are looking at, factoring in the best solution time wise and the least impactful on residents. With multiple contractors involved, it does take a number of months, to complete these steps.
Following our meeting on the 21st, it has been agreed that further assessments are required before a scope of works can be finalised. ACL have been carrying out further investigations with their consultant teams and will be issuing NHG with full proposals that will be discussed with all party consultant teams and fire engineers. We will look to provide an update on these 2 blocks as soon as possible. We don’t yet have the full details as this is still being reviewed but as soon as its available, we will share this.
Q4. When will the analysis be done about how much this project has cost residents via our service charge?
We are working with Danielle and the rest of the Estates team to gather the information related to all costs charged to the residents. We expect to have a fully analysis completed by the end of December 2023 and will communicate the outcome with residents.
Q5. When will it be safe for the window cleaning to be resumed?
It is essential that the cradle anchor system is removed from the roof before the man safe system can be used again to carry out the window cleaning. Currently the residents are not being charged for the window cleaning under the service charge. Once the cradle systems have been removed from the roof the windows can be safely cleaned again.
Last Updated: 13/10/2023 11:35