Leeds City Council High Rise Flats Stock Condition Survey

Overview

Mason Clark Associates (MCA) were awarded the contract with Leeds City Council (LCC) to carry out Condition Surveys across 93 high rise blocks within their portfolio and provide reports to support strategy for the next 30 years of investment and planning.

Tasks/Challenges

The greatest issue and challenge during these surveys was safety during the COVID19 pandemic. We overcame this by having Risk Mitigation meetings and were able to achieve suitable outcomes for planning. These outcomes included agreed pauses in surveys and additional safety precautions when accessing through flats.

Activity

MCA started with initial pilot surveys of 11 archetypes. These archetypes were chosen by LCC from a list of different construction types. The pilot surveys enabled us both to recognise challenges and opportunities for surveys of the remaining 82 blocks and to agree the details of the format of the report, finding the best fit for Leeds to add this to the planned maintenance strategy for the next 30 years. External surveys at roof level and ground level were then carried out by MCA. We also surveyed a selected number of balconies carried by access through flats. The MCA inspection aided by LCC provided steeplejack survey reports.

Results

MCA supported Leeds City Council commitment to resident’s well-being in ensuring continued good practice in improvement and upgrade of high rise blocks.