Housing associations

Howard Trotter, Business Manager of leading Birmingham-based window and door manufacturer Shelforce, discusses setting the standard when it comes to product and service is the key for housing associations and Local Authorities when specifying windows and doors.

Don’t let drinking water harm your tenants

Awareness of the potential health problems caused by lead in the water supply, particularly in infants and children is growing.  Houses built before 1970 would have been constructed with lead water supply pipes and if still in place can be causing developmental harm to young occupants.

Although the use of lead in plumbing has been banned in the UK for more than 50 years, there are still many properties where a risk of lead contamination of water is a risk.  In some areas of the UK up to a third of these older properties are still receiving their water through these original lead pipes.

FireDNA is cloud-based Software and a Mobile App that has been developed for everyone involved in Passive Fire Product Manufacture, Installation, Inspection, Management and Maintenance. As well as for those that live and work within environments where passive fire products are installed, and have a crucial role to play in fire safety and prevention.

FireDNA software catalogues Manufacturers
product data, digitally shares it with Contractors and Installers, who in turn add their installation data, passing that onto Building Owners, Facilities Management Teams and Tenant Management Organisations.

That data can then be used by Building Control, Maintenance Teams, Fire Inspectors and viewed by Tenants and Residents alike, with a simple swipe of a smartphone or mobile device.

Leading social housing provider and housebuilder Orbit, has been crowned Housing Association of the Year at the 2022 WhatHouse? Awards.

Described as ‘the most advanced system for management of fire doors on the market’, Door Data Systems is an innovative system enabling the recording and storage of key data attached to fire door processes, including inspections, maintenance, and installations. Those responsible for fire door safety can be certain that they are taking a responsible, forward-facing approach to improving the standards of building safety by specifying Door Data Systems and joining National Fire Door Register.

Managing the housing stock of a tenant population comes with its own unique set of challenges. In relation to heating and hot water, many of these challenges arise because of a lack of visibility into what is happening within the full heating ecosystem. Constant visits and calls to every household to assess the situation isn’t practical or cost effective, paving the way for connected appliances and remote monitoring.

With the topic of air quality gaining in importance for end users and landlords, SIEGENIA’s compact single room heat recovery ventilation unit can now provide an even healthier indoor environment as it is available with CO2 regulation on request.

Ventilation remains an ongoing challenge not just for private developers and self-builders, but also for those of us undertaking any refurbishment works on properties. With increasing airtightness standards in the UK for new build homes and the focus on procuring the most energy efficient products, we end up creating nothing more than highly efficient sealed boxes. This may sound ideal (and from an energy conservation point of view it is) but without a properly considered holistic ventilation strategy, poor indoor air quality and issues of condensation and mould will ensue and become a recurrent problem for housing managers and landlords.