The Regenda Group has chosen Fire Safety Week 2021 to announce its implementation of latest technology to ensure fire safety for its staff and residents.
Since July 2021, Regenda has been working with leading Compliance and Job Management software provider Propeller Powered as their partner of choice, rolling out their innovative PROP-FS Fire Door software across their properties.
This partnership will also see Propeller Powered check and monitor fire doors at their offices across the North West.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, the Hackitt report issued a number of recommendations which have since been incorporated into the Building Safety Bill currently working its way through Parliament.
The Fire Safety Bill has already been enshrined in legislation, as the Fire Safety Act 2021. This includes important additions to elements that must be inspected as part of fire risk assessments extending to the external walls of a building, and fire doors to individual flats.
While the government has yet to confirm a timeframe for implementation of the new requirements, Regenda were keen to be an early adopter.
Following a demonstration of Propeller’s capabilities in May this year, Regenda were keen to work together on a digital toolkit encompassing inspection scheduling, asset-tagging, job management and reporting.
The first stage has been to create a ‘digital footprint’ of all fire door assets across the Group’s portfolio.
Working with Regenda’s newly-assembled Building Safety team, each fire door has been tagged with a unique QR code, recorded within the PROP-FS module of the cloud-based Propeller platform. Inspection dates and outcomes have also been fully digitised.
From this autumn, the Group will be embarking on a new cyclical Fire Door Inspection and Maintenance regime across their buildings and blocks.
Inspectors will be using the Propeller mobile app to capture inspection outcomes on site, tagging all door assets as they go with unique QR coding to identify and record any door defects.
All data is logged on the Propeller platform where priority actions can be raised for repairs against that individual door, instantly traceable thanks to the unique QR code assigned to each asset.
The QR code asset-tagging system can also be used by non-Propeller users, meaning that anyone with a smart device can scan the QR code on a particular door, and access vital safety information about it online.
Mike Bradley from Propeller said: “A crucial element of all Building Safety data is traceability, or the ‘golden thread’.
“PROP-FS enables those with responsibility to identify, understand, manage and mitigate risks relative to every single door, all tied together by a unique QR code, throughout the life cycle of the building ensuring that the golden thread is instantly and clearly visible.”
Regenda will be using the Propeller platform for compliance across all fire door and non-fire door related tasks.
The system will also help to identify any doors across their buildings that require upgrading, for incorporation in a planned programme of replacements.
Prop-FS can also be used to log ‘no access’ visits – recording and evidencing the number of attempts to survey a flat door for vital safety checks.
With fire door surveys well underway, the next phase of development is expected to extend use of Propeller’s software to tag further compliance assets including smoke alarms and emergency lighting.
The Regenda Group and manages around 12,000 social and affordable homes across the North West.
Housing Digital Stakeholder Propeller provides cloud-based compliance and workforce management solutions to the housing sector.
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