Author: Davenheath

As with any complaint there is always two sides to the story.
We have been in contact with this customer regarding the site attendance in dispute. Basically on a routine site maintenance visit (Fire alarm System) an issue was found on an existing installed system cable to the basement area of the premises.
As per our normal practice a brief inspection was carried out which showed that the fault was with the existing system cable in the basement area, a written proposal and price was given to the customer for two engineers to return to site and install a new system cable from the system control panel on the ground floor to the basement area. The customer agreed the proposal costing and two engineers (1 x senior and 1 x junior) were booked for half a day site attendance.
Our engineers attended site and as with any work engineers will check through the devices to make sure that all are intact and connections in the bases are sound, which they did, this involves taking heads down etc (more than 10 minutes). Whilst undertaking this first function an engineer found a broken wire behind a detector base. The broken cable was reconnected and the system control panel fault light cleared. The engineers tested the zone which was pronounced fully functional.
The customer has alleged that we have over charged her and that our engineers were only on site for 10 minutes (in fact this time frame keeps changing depending on which letter/correspondence or conversation you have with her) and that only one engineer was on site also, this we strongly refute. Our original cost for two engineers to attend site and supply and install the proposed new system cable was £435.00 + Vat as no system cable was installed our invoice was for reduced to £385.00 + Vat.
The customer has also alleged that we have breached trading standards in charging an unreasonable amount for our engineer’s attendance. As with most companies, time is booked to undertake specific works and a price is agreed, hence the quotation being sent out and accepted. Should a job take longer OR is completed under time the price remains the same. It is without doubt the customer would not be complaining if the job had taken all day and was then only charged for the half day as agreed.
We do our utmost to give our customers a good and reliable service but unfortunately it would seem that we have been unable to please this customer on this occasion.

Alan Dadley
Managing Director
Davenheath Ltd

This two day event held at the Barbican was aimed at helping Landlord’s and Letting Agents with advice on problems encountered and giving solutions to them.

Davenheath decided to exhibit as it had increasingly become apparent, in the day to day business, that many Landlords and Managing Agents did not know their fire protection requirements or had had installed inadequate or wrongly zoned detection by non qualified persons.

The Davenheath stand was an immediate hit. Barbican staff, fellow exhibitors and, of course, the visiting public, took a great shine to Gip, their dog, seen here in the picture enjoying some biscuits. He was the star of the show and became loved by everyone.
Landlord’s and managing agents, with widely varying stories of their experiences, visited the stand. It was evident that along with the requirements that local councils put upon the owners in order to obtain a licence, the array of different fire alarms available and correct level of detection was confusing and complicated.

Expert advice was on hand to the customers and the majority were grateful to get a better understanding of Fire Safety regulations for their particular properties.

Davenheath will be back at the next show in September.

SaveSave

Come and see Davenheath at the Landlord & Letting Show, Stand 1, which will be held at The Barbican in London on the 27th & 28th February 2014. This Show is held around the country in order to provide assistance to those involved in letting or managing premises. The exhibitors cover aspects of insurance, tenant reference agencies, managing agent companies, to legal compliances and everything in between. Davenheath will be exhibiting fire & security alarm equipment and will demonstrate how a House of Multiple Occupation can provide a fire alarm system to BS5839 Parts 1 & 6.

BE SAFE not sorry.

Having been long standing members of ECA, NSI and more recently British Fire Consortium, Davenheath has been awarded Safecontractor accreditation. Safecontractor is a leading third party accreditation scheme which recognizes very high standards in Health & Safety management amongst UK contractors and is applicable to most sectors although particularly relevant within the manufacture, property, facilities management, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contracted services.

Alan Dadley, Managing Director of Davenheath, said

“Many major clients recognize the scheme and accept the Safecontractor certificate as confirmation of competency, we are extremely pleased to have gained this accreditation. Businesses need to be confident that the contractors they use are properly qualified and competent, Safecontractor gives that peace of mind”

Davenheath Limited exhibited at FIREX 2013 which took place at the NEC, Birmingham in May. This was the company’s first time of exhibiting and we were delighted to be part of the FIKE Tech Zone complex. The show was very successful and Davenheath not only had many new and interesting enquiries (all of which are naturally being followed up) but that customers were very complimentary about the look of our stand and how our staff were able to answer an array of questions including details about current legislation, training requirements, different types of fire alarms, signage, emergency lighting, etc.

We now look forward to FIREX moving to London next year… See you there!

Davenheath are at FIREX, NEC Birmingham this week for the first time. Staff members are on hand to welcome you and answer your fire and intruder related questions. Come and see us in Hall 3 in the FIKE Tech zone. We look forward to seeing you.

Davenheath held another successful Fire Marshall Course on Tuesday 19th March 2013 at The Gestalt Centre in London. Delegates from many different businesses attended, one in particular who had first hand experienced a fire within their business premises.

Rob Parfitt, our new speaker, seen in the picture explaining what and why a Fire Risk Assessment is required, delivered his first course for Davenheath and received a standing ovation. Rob also carries out Fire Drills for many clients and was therefore able to relate first hand to each of his delegates in problems they may encounter in evacuating a premises. ‘A fire takes no prisoners’ he explains ‘people on the other hand can be very fickle and self minded when the fire alarm sounds, your job will not be easy when that one stubborn person decides they are not going out in the cold weather etc’.

Each delegate leaves the course with a better understanding of the causes of fire and it’s effects. They all left on Tuesday knowing that when they returned to their offices there were several tasks they needed to put into practice.

Davenheath hold regular Fire Marshall Courses, so please contact us to find out when the next one will be held. Equally a course can be held on your premises, just give us a call and we can provide you with a quotation.

A Co-op store in Waterlooville, Hampshire, was decimated by a fire that rapidly took hold.

The blaze, which started on Saturday afternoon on 5 January, required fire crews to remain at the scene until Sunday, damping down to prevent the fire from reigniting.

It is thought the fire started because of an electrical fault in a freezer.

Thirty firefighters were called to the scene to extinguish the blaze, but were forced to withdraw before the fire caused the single-storey shop’s roof to collapse.

Four sets of breathing apparatus, four jets and an aerial ladder platform were needed to extinguish the flames.

Ambulance crews treated three people at the scene for the effects of smoke inhalation, one of whom was taken to hospital as a precaution. There were no further injuries and all members of the public were quickly and safely evacuated from the shop.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service group manager Tony Deacon said: “We have seen from fires in similar shops in this area how quickly the roof can be compromised”.

“The roof collapsed once the flames got into the roof space and we were left to tackle the fire from outside the building.”

According to the Hampshire fire service, two Tesco Express stores in Waterlooville have been destroyed by fire in recent years, one in September 2011 and one in July 2010.

The successful evacuation of all members of the public highlights the effectiveness of proper fire training and, Southern Co-op worker Phil Ponsonby told the BBC that he was “very proud” of his colleagues for ensuring that no customers were hurt.

He also said: “All colleagues undertake fire evacuation training and this paid off on Saturday.”

– Image courtesy Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service

Fashion retailer Jack Wills Limited has been fined £27,000 after pleading guilty to six offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The case – heard at York Magistrates Court on 13 December – followed an inspection by fire safety officers in January 2011, when a notification of deficiencies was issued to the company to improve fire safety standards and management.

Following further visits to the store in York to check that the work had been carried out, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service issued an enforcement notice.

The premises consist of ground, first, second, and third floors and an attic space accessed via the main staircase. The ground, first and second floors were used for shop clothing displays, changing rooms, storage rooms and a sitting room for public use on the second floor.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the main issues surrounded the single staircase escape route and inadequate or damaged fire doors. Staff were also not aware of the danger of storing combustible materials in the staircase enclosure and in the understairs electrical switch room. On the first floor the alternative escape route was not kept clear and was not clearly indicated.

Jack Wills Limited was fined a total of £27,000 and also ordered to pay £5,619 costs.

Station manager David Watson of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said:

“Fire safety officers always try to work with businesses and business owners to ensure they are compliant, or can achieve compliance with the requirements of the legislation within an acceptable time scale. Unfortunately in this case, Jack Wills Limited chose to disregard the items identified within their own fire risk assessments and further advice offered by fire safety officers.”

A spokesperson for Jack Wills said:

“We regret that the fire safety precautions in our York store were deficient and we have since had a third party audit that has confirmed that all of our stores, including York, now comply with fire safety requirements. The safety of our customers and staff is of the utmost importance to us and we have taken prompt company-wide action to ensure that we maintain the highest standards of health and safety.”