Attention to Detail
14th February 2012

There have been plenty of negative headlines relating to the public sector spending cuts in the last couple of years, but recently we were given some good news when the Affordable Homes Programme announced its aim to increase the amount of affordable homes in the UK between 2011 and 2015. The £4.5bn investment will see new properties become available for rent or ownership in the period. But with this increase in new build properties it’s important that the same level of attention to detail is given to their specification. This sounds obvious but many people still leave the specification of a property with the main contractors, which although they are more than capable of producing, isn’t sufficient when it’s the Housing Associations that have the added responsibility of maintaining the property for its lifetime. They need a specification that will last for the long term, not just the length of the NHBC certificate or other insurance cover they may have.

Securistyle is a hardware expert so we will take this as an example, but it applies to every element of the building. We work closely with Housing Associations and the companies that supply them nationwide and have noticed some of the disparities that can occur. It is not unusual for example for contractors to follow the NHBC guidelines for door hardware. These guidelines might cover the issue of Secured By Design, but not Secure Escape – Security balanced with the easy escape in the event of a fire – and the more specific functionalities like BSEN10621 ‘Thief Resistant Dual Mode Lock Assembly’ haven’t been taken into account. Part of the problem occurs because the standards governing each product that might be included in a new build property are changing all the time. Housing Associations need to be confident that they are specifying products from manufacturers that don’t just supply a product but that also understand all of the existing and future legislation as well as all product types and performance. Whether you’re a Housing Association writing a specification or a fabricator supplying products to Housing Associations, it’s much better to work with experts now than be caught out in the future and have to spend out on updates, or be called back to carry out costly repairs.

Yours sincerely

Ken Evans
National Specification Manager, Securistyle