Building safety
What is building safety for high-rise buildings?
Enfield Council is committed to making its housing stock the safest in London and we want to ensure our residents are updated on all the work we are doing with the government, now and in the future, to improve our housing stock and keep you safe.
We are confident that our housing stock is safe and are taking appropriate steps to minimise the risk to our residents, but we want to go well above and beyond what is required by the law, so you have absolute confidence in the safety of the buildings you live in.
Any building that is 18 metres or more, or that has 7 or more floors, is classified as a high-rise building (HRB) and must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator. From April 2024, building owners need to provide the Regulator with building safety case reports for all their registered buildings.
A building safety case identifies a building's major fire and structural hazards. It shows how the building owner is managing the risks as far as possible.
Registered blocks in Enfield
Brimsdown Ward:
- Alma House (1-13)
- Alma House (14-26)
- Alma House (17-45)
- Ashcombe House
- Honiton House
- Newton House
- Tiverton House
- Guernsey House
- Jersey House
- Herm House
Bullsmoor ward:
- Brookbank House
Carterhatch ward:
- Hastings House
Edmonton Green ward:
- Cheshire House
- Chiltern House
- Hereford House
- Leicester House
- Shropshire House
Enfield Lock ward:
- Dorset House
- Keys House
- Welch House
- Woolpack House
Haselbury ward:
- Walmer House
Lower Edmonton ward:
- Cumberland House
- Graham House
- Walbrook House
New Southgate ward:
- Jackson House
- Swinson House
Ponders End ward:
- Ambrose Court
- Buzzard Court
- Harrier Court
- Hawk Court
- Peregrine Point (97-122)
- Peregrine Point (123-162)
- Sark House
Southbury ward:
- Bonington House
- Gainsborough House
Town ward:
- Brittany House
Upper Edmonton ward:
- Boundary Court
- Bridport House
- Dover House
- Gilpin Crescent
- Isis House
- Joyce Avenue (2-90)
- Joyce Avenue (128-216)
- Joyce Avenue (254-342)
- Regan House
- Scott House
- Wadham House
- Pipistrelle House
Southbury ward:
- Bliss House
- Burgandy House
- Normandy House
- Picardy House
- Purcell House
Building Safety team
The team focuses mainly on our HRBs to ensure they are maintained and comply with all requirements of the Building Safety Act. Building Safety Managers are responsible for producing Building Safety Cases for these buildings. They, also act as the point of contact for the regulator, fire and rescue services and residents.
What the team does
- Register/Deregistering and managing the council’s high-rise residential buildings
- Preparing and implementing a resident engagement strategy
- Keeping information about higher risk buildings – the 'golden thread' of information
- Holding ‘Meet your Building Safety Manager’ sessions
- Operate a complaints system for building safety in high-rise buildings
- Prepare safety case reports
- Creating and implementing a Mandatory Occurrence Reporting system
You can contact your BSM by emailing buildingsafety@enfield.gov.uk.
What the act means for residents
Our priority is for the residents to be safe and feel safe in their homes, this means:
- Residents in HRBs will have more say in how their building is kept safe
- Residents will be able to raise building safety concerns directly to the owners and managers of the building
- If a resident feels their concerns are being ignored they can raise them with the Building Safety Regulator
- Homeowners will have more than twice the amount of time to claim compensation for sub-standard construction work – extended from 6 to 15 years
What the act means for building owners
- Duty holders such as the principal designer (PD) and principal contractor (PC) under the Act, will be required to manage building safety risks during the design, construction and completion in occupied buildings
- The accountable person (AP) will need to demonstrate that they have effective, proportionate measures in place to manage building safety risks in the higher-risk buildings for which they are responsible – those who do not meet their obligations may face criminal charges
- Have a golden thread of safety information for all HRBs across its entire lifetime, including during the earliest stage of the planning process
What the act means for leaseholders
- The act eradicates the idea that leaseholders should be the first port of call to pay for historical safety defects
- Building owners will not legally be able to charge qualifying leaseholders (defined under the Act but including those living in their own homes and with no more than 3 UK properties in total) for any costs in circumstances where a building requires cladding to be removed or remediated
- Qualifying leaseholders will also have robust protection from the costs associated with non-cladding defects, including interim measures like waking watch
Duties of residents under the act
A resident is anyone over 16 years of age who lives in or owns a residential unit. This applies to those who are leaseholder, social housing tenant, private renter, non-residential owner of residential unit.
Your behaviours and actions can affect the safety of the building and you may be breaking the law if you do not behave in a responsible way. This means you must:
- not damage, remove or interfere with relevant safety items, such as fire doors, signage, sprinklers, smoke alarms or fire extinguishers
- not do anything that could increase or create a risk of spread of fire or structural failure, for example carrying out refurbishment or building work that increases or creates a building safety risk
- help by giving the AP any information they ask for that they need to carry out their duties
You must keep your residence safe. The AP can ask for access to your residence, at a reasonable time, so they can assess and manage building safety risks. They can also ask for access if they think you are causing a risk to the safety of the building.
Any request from the AP to access your home must:
- be in writing
- explain why they need access
- be made at least 48 hours before the requested access time
If you refuse access to your residence, the AP can apply for a court order to gain access.
Before making an order, the court must agree that access is necessary and that the initial request for access was made correctly.
If the court issues an order, it will allow the AP, or someone authorised by them, to:
- access your residence at a date or time specified by the court
- take measurements, photographs, recordings or samples if necessary
Resident engagement
Our resident engagement strategy (PDF, 270.97 KB) sets out how residents are involved in building safety decisions and informed about building safety decisions.
Tower blocks
See Grenfell Tower update - questions and answers on Enfield Council tower blocks.
Fire safety
You can view important information about preventing fires, planning escape, risk assessments and commitments from your landlord, in our information about fire safety.
Gas safety
Every year about 14 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by poorly installed and maintained gas appliances.
When gas does not burn properly carbon monoxide is produced, which is poisonous. You cannot see it, taste it or smell it, but carbon monoxide can kill in a matter of hours.
If you suspect there is a gas leak:
- open all doors and windows straight away
- shut off the gas supply at the mains (a large lever usually next to the gas meter)
- call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111999
- do not smoke, light matches, lighters or cigarettes
- do not turn electric switches on or off
If you suspect a carbon monoxide leak:
- open all doors and windows straight away
- shut off the gas supply at the mains (a large lever usually next to the gas meter)
- call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111999
- contact us so we can arrange for a safety inspection
- if you or your family have any symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, seek urgent medical advice
Remember you should never:
- use a gas appliance if you think it is not working properly
- cover an appliance with anything
- block or obstruct any fixed ventilation grilles or airbricks
- block or cover outside flues
If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, call the National Grid free on 0800 111999.
Arranging your annual gas safety visit
If you're a council tenant, we will write to you every year to ask you to make an appointment with our Gas Safe contractor to carry out a safety inspection. This is to check and service your heating appliances and smoke detectors. If you need to change the appointment, you need to let the contractor know as soon as possible.
If you're not home at the agreed time, the contractor will leave a calling card with details asking you to contact them to rearrange the inspection. If you miss 2 appointments, the contractor will tell us and we will contact you to discuss the next steps.
If you do not allow us into your home to carry out the safety check, we will take legal action and you will have to pay any court costs.
During the inspection
You should make sure an adult over the age of 18 is at the property during the visit. If there is not an adult there, we will have to rebook the appointment.
If you smoke, please open a window before the contractor arrives, and we ask that you do not smoke during the visit. Please keep small children and pets in another room whilst the inspection is taking place.
The engineer visiting you will show you their company identification and their Gas Safe ID card. If you're concerned about the contractor's identity, you should contact us.
During the visit we will check all gas appliances (such as boiler, heaters and fires), your smoke and heat detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors.
We do not check appliances that you own, but we will check any flue or chimney that services it.
If you own the appliance, you are responsible for maintaining it and arranging an annual gas safety check. Always use a Gas Safe registered engineer. To find an engineer, visit Gas Safe Register, phone 0800 408 5500 or use the test phone service on 0800 408 0606.
The contractor will let you know during the visit if any further works are needed to replace or repair any of the items tested.
If they find a fault with your boiler or other gas appliance which means it is unsafe, they will turn the appliance and gas supply off. If this happens, the contractor will tell us and we will contact you to arrange temporary heating if needed. We will also organise the works to replace or repair the appliance as quickly as possible.
If no faults are found, we will send you a copy of the Landlord Gas Safety Certificate within 2 weeks of your appointment.
If you're a council tenant and do not think a gas safety check has been carried out in your home in the past 12 months, you should phone us at once on 020 8379 1000.
Council leaseholder's responsibilities
If you're a council leaseholder, you must keep your home and gas appliances in good condition. You should appoint a registered Gas Safe engineer to do an annual gas safety inspection of any gas appliances in your home.
You can find a qualified gas engineer in your area by searching the Gas Safe Register.
Once you have completed your annual check, email a copy of your certificate to leaseholder@enfield.gov.uk.
Private tenants
If you rent your home from a private landlord or registered social landlord and your home has a gas appliance installed, your landlord has the same legal duties as the council.
Your landlord should supply you with a copy of a Landlord Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) at the start of your tenancy. They should also commission a Gas Safe Registered contractor to reinspect your home every 12 months and provide you with a new certificate.
If you think your landlord has not completed a Landlord Gas Safety inspection, you should raise this with your landlord via their complaints process. If the matter is not resolved via this route, you can contact our Environmental Health team for further advice and support.
Carbon monoxide – know the danger signs
The signs to look out for include:
- yellow or orange flames (except for fuel effect fires) – flames should normally be blue
- soot or stains around the appliance
- pilot lights that frequently go out
The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include:
- tiredness
- drowsiness
- headache
- nausea
- chest pains
- stomach pains
These symptoms are similar to many common ailments and may easily be confused with flu or simple tiredness.
If you suspect you or someone else is suffering from the effects of carbon monoxide, you should switch off any fuel burning appliances and seek urgent medical help straight away.
For more information, visit The Health and Safety Executive.
Electrical safety
We carry out inspections and tests on all electrical mains installations serving communal areas of blocks of flats, in line with current legal requirements.
We also check the condition of electrical wiring and fittings inside council flats:
- when they become vacant, to make sure they are safe for new tenants
- after a leak or other problem, which may have affected the flats electrical system
- if a resident reports a concern to us
- after we have completed any major works to the communal electrical system serving the property
- at regular intervals during the tenancy, to make sure the system is in good working order
Council leaseholders are responsible for the inspection, testing and maintenance of the electrical system in their homes. If you're looking to buy a council lease, we advise you to get an electrical inspection report as part of the conveyancing process.
If we contact you to arrange an inspection of your home's electrical system, it's important you allow us access to complete this. This is to make sure you and your family are safe and the installation does not pose a risk. If the system is defective, it could electrocute you or start a fire.
For information about electrical safety and how to prevent fires in the home, see our fire prevention pages.
Electricity not working
If the electricity is not working in your home:
- check you have credit on your meter or that you have paid your bill
- check if your neighbours are affected - if they are, contact your electrical supplier
- contact your electricity supplier if the electricity meter is faulty, vandalised or damaged (do not call the council)
- turn off and unplug appliances until power is restored
- do not use cooking facilities
- do not use candles or gas cylinders
- use a torch
Balcony, window and roof safety
If you live in a tall building, falls from height pose a significant risk to you and your family, especially small children.
It’s important you report any fault or damage to your windows, balcony railings or glazing to us at once, so we can make them safe or carry out an urgent repair.
This includes any damage to balcony or walkway railings, balustrades or glazing panels to communal walkways.
Residents are not allowed access to roof areas, unless the roof forms part of the buildings means of escape route.
If contractors or utility providers chosen by residents need access to roofs, they must contact us to get a permit to work by emailing buildingsafety@enfield.gov.uk.
To make sure you and your family stay safe in your home, remember:
- Do not disconnect the window restrictor on your window, unless you need to open the window fully to clean it. The restrictor is a safety device which prevents the window opening wide enough to allow a child to fall out.
- Never leave small children unattended in a room where windows or French doors leading to balconies are open
- Keep the area below windows and balcony railings clear of furniture or stored items. These could be used by a child to climb out of an open window or climb over a balcony railing.
- Do not put any material (such as vinyl sheet or tiles) down on your balcony. This will prevent rainwater from draining properly and may also make the surface slippery when wet, causing you to slip and fall.
Remember, if there is a fault or a repair is needed to your windows or balcony railings, you should report this to us at once.
E-bikes and e-scooters
Council housing approach to e-bikes and e-scooters
Did you know that in 2022, the London Fire Brigade attended 87 e-bike and 29 e-scooter fires, attributed to lithium batteries? And the situation has got worse – in the first 8 months of 2023 the London Fire Brigade have attended 104 e-bike and 19 e-scooter fires.
These fires are due to the batteries failing, leading to a very hot and concentrated fire, with a potentially devasting impact.
The council wants to reduce the risk to residents as far as possible, so our approach is to insist you need our written permission to bring an e-bike or e-scooter onto our land – this includes our estates, shared communal areas of flats, and individual properties.
We will never give you permission to charge an e-bike or e-scooter in or around one of our blocks of flats, because the risks to you and your neighbours are too great. Don’t forget the council has a zero tolerance approach to storing any items in the communal areas of flats, because they are the safe route for residents and firefighters in the event of a fire.
View our e-bikes and e-scooters policy (PDF, 230.15 KB).
See information on the law on the use of e-bikes and e-scooters.
Contact your First Response Officer if you want to know more.