Surge in fire safety contracts put out to tender in wake of Grenfell fire

There has been a huge surge in fire safety contracts put out to tender in recent weeks as the social housing industry attempts to grapple with the fallout from the Grenfell fire, it has emerged.

More than £400 million in contracts to improve fire safety have been put up for grabs since the start of October, an 803% surge on last year, according to data from Tussell, which offers market intelligence on public procurement.

Contractors, most likely construction firms, will vie for the three huge deals. They are: a £118 million piece of work for the Borough of Tower Hamlets; a £163 million contract from Re:allies, a collaboration of housing consortiums across the north; and the Northern Housing Consortium, with a £150 million tender.

The tenders are for “frameworks” which will set out the terms of work which the winning bidder will then likely contract out to specialist suppliers of services like sprinklers and fire alarms.

The values represent the maximum amount that could be spent over the lifespan of the agreement.

The data show the trio of tenders represent 40% of the value of all fire safety contracts since the start of 2015.

The social housing sector is revealing from the fallout from the Grenfell tower disaster. In June, the west London high-rise was incinerated, killing at least 80 people.

Last week Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Chancellor Philip Hammond to set aside £1 billion to get sprinklers fitted to all council and housing association towers as the Budget approached next week. Only 2% of tower blocks currenty have sprinklers, Labour said.

Gus Tugendhat, founder of Tussell, said there could be a “significant increase” in the value of future tenders. “This is an indicator that the social housing industry is responding to concerns over fire safety in the wake of Grenfell,” he said.