Fire protection for housing associations and residential complexes
Fire protection in residential complexes and apartment blocks, with an estimate that fits your long-term maintenance plan.
A housing association portfolio consists largely of complexes from the 1960s to the 1990s: walk-up flats, gallery flats and high-rise in which the fire separations were correct at handover, but which have since endured decades of tenancy changes, renovations and residents' alterations. Every kitchen replacement, mechanical ventilation system, fibre-optic connection and central-heating upgrade has made holes in party walls, floors and shafts.
Grazy Brandwering carries out a baseline survey per complex and delivers the outcome in two forms: a technical remediation plan for the supervisor and a cost estimate per complex that fits straight into the long-term maintenance plan. For associations with dozens of complexes we report uniformly across the entire portfolio, so you can prioritise on risk rather than on whoever rings the alarm loudest.
Risks relevant to this sector
Tenancy-change maintenance without a fire protection check
With every change of tenant, there is drilling, cabling and adjustment. Turnover maintenance often includes no check of the fire-resistant sealing of new penetrations, so the defect grows with every letting.
Gallery and walk-up flats from the post-war housing stock
Meter cupboards, shafts and the transition from dwelling to gallery or stairwell are the classic weak points. In many complexes these have never been systematically checked since handover.
Renovation and sustainability upgrades
Insulation, new ventilation systems, heat pumps and solar panels run new pipes and cables through existing fire separations. Without fire protection supervision, a sustainability project produces new defects.
No portfolio-wide picture
Without a uniform baseline survey there is no way to substantiate which complex should come first, and the fire safety item in the long-term maintenance plan is an assumption rather than an estimate.
Services that make the biggest difference here
Fire-Resistant Seals
Sealing penetrations against fire with collars, wrap strips, sealant, mortar or other systems with a substantiated application, so that the WBDBO of your fire separation stays intact.
More about fire-resistant sealsFire-Resistant Doors
Fire doors made to measure, adjusted or refurbished: up to 60 minutes fire resistance, smoke-resistant where required, self-closing and certified.
More about fire-resistant doorsFire-Resistant Separating Structures
Fire-resistant walls, partition systems and ceilings that divide your building into manageable fire compartments.
More about fire-resistant separating structuresConsultancy & Assessment
From a quick fire safety scan to a full survey: we map out the fire safety of your building clearly.
More about consultancy & assessmentMaintenance & Inspection
Periodic maintenance and inspection of your fire protection, with everything verifiably recorded in a digital logbook.
More about maintenance & inspectionWhat that looks like in practice
For a housing association with 14 complexes we carried out a baseline survey on three representative buildings per construction period, translated the findings into a provisional estimate for the rest of the portfolio and delivered a long-term maintenance estimate per complex. The remediation now runs along with the existing renovation schedule instead of as a separate project.
View our projectsAssessment framework
- Dutch Buildings Decree (Bbl) - duties of care Art. 3.5 (condition of existing building) and 6.4 (fire-safe use)
- NEN 6068 / NEN 6075 - WBDBO and smoke resistance between dwellings and escape routes
- NEN 2767 - condition assessment as the basis for the long-term maintenance plan
- NEN-EN 1366-3 - fire resistance of penetrations
Questions about fire safety in housing associations and residential complexes
Yes. We supply the costs per complex, split into what has to be done immediately and what can be planned, with unit prices per penetration and per door. That allows the item to be spread across several financial years and recalculated at the next update of the long-term maintenance plan.
Not to start with. An initial survey of a few selected complexes helps to set priorities and a provisional budget. Look beyond the construction period when selecting: building system, installations, renovation history and previous defects also count. A sample does not prove that the other complexes comply; on that basis you decide which complexes get a full survey first.
By making fire-resistant sealing a fixed part of your tenancy-change and renovation protocol and registering the new penetrations. We supply a work instruction for this and can join the inspection periodically.
Yes, that happens regularly. We then handle the fire protection discipline and the accompanying documentation, while your contractor carries out the regular work. We are also available as a subcontractor on a renovation project.
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