Does emergency work over-ride a S20?

Does emergency work over-ride a S20?

12:05 PM, 1st August 2022, About 2 years ago 2

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Hi all, We are a block affected by the lack of fire stopping, cladding and other fire-related issues. The block is 5 years old and has numerous issues and defects and when we formed the Right to Manage (RTM) in March we took on all these issues and more that the managing agent had not dealt with.

The insurers gave us 6 months to get a fire risk appraisal of external walls (FRAEW) to continue cover, clearly, the Managing agent had fudged information for the previous 5 years as apparently, we had cover but not in our name. We have carried out and are in the process of carrying out works, including the sprinkler/mist system and this went over the S20 amount due to a change in the pipework.

We decided to carry on rather than stop and retender as there was no time. The FRAEW has raised many more issues and as we started this remedial work 3 months ago we are well on the way to meeting the recommendations but the managing agents have now given us notice for not retendering the S20 and sacked us with 2months notice. They were the original managing agents as there were so many issues we felt we needed to keep them going.

They carried out no remedial works during their reign. We have fire doors that haven’t passed the FRA that was there from the start, a threat of enforcement action by the Local Authority due to excessive heat in the flats due to a lack of ventilation (blocked and not installed) and a heating system that had been wrongly commissioned that we have now had redone. It’s been full-on since the RTM started.

The first question is what is the situation with overspending on a S20?

The second question is we need to carry out works for a fire alarm system and need to raise funds for this. Can we do this during the S20 works or before as to wait for 3 months for the end of the process means we could be exposing the building to good old ‘waking watch’.

Does emergency work over-ride a S20?

Had we not done the work we had we would be looking at employing waking watch.

The Block is well below 18m but has internal cladding and no compartmentalisation (we have a S20 for this). It’s just trying to literally do a rebuild with people and authorities breathing down our necks. The last thing we needed was for the managing company, who had done little, to now sack us for actually doing something but we need them for the general running of the show.

The main query is can we do emergency works without a S20 – or ‘S20 to follow’?

Harlequin Garden

Editor’s Note:

From the government’s Leasehold Advisory Service >> https://www.lease-advice.org/faq/what-is-the-section-20-consultation-process-for-major-works/

“As a leaseholder, you have the right to be consulted if the landlord carries out major works for which you will be asked to pay. This consultation process has two and sometimes three stages:

  • First stage – a notice of intention to do the works
  • Second stage – notification of estimates obtained by the landlord
  • Third stage – where applicable, notification of award of contract

Detailed information on each of the three stages of consultation can be found by clicking on the links below:


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Comments

Harlequin

13:25 PM, 1st August 2022, About 2 years ago

Thanks for these links, my question is, can the RTM company over ride this need - if we wait for 3 months we will be into waking watch having not been able to negotiate a time with the works to be done - we are ready to go, the managing agent have known about this since the first FRA 2 years ago (and no doubt 2 years before that) - and just not done anything. We saw the writing on the wall and carried out as much remedials as we could in repairs and sprinklers, alarms, redoing fire doors etc but we do need to extend the sprinklers in light of this report and put in full alarm system and cctv - if we don't we will be paying out for waking watch and uninsurable. The insurers will give us time if they know what we are doing.

Harlequin

11:45 AM, 9th August 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Harlequin Garden at 01/08/2022 - 13:25
Ok, I'll answer my own question! I do appear to be posting the impossible lately.
You can apply to the FTT retrospectively if works can be shown to be necessary - bottom line.

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