Industry
Social Housing
Challenge
Coordinating thousands of fire door inspections across complex high-rise housing while ensuring resident engagement and full compliance.
Results
Achieved 100% asset coverage on time, delivering a complete compliance audit trail and improved resident confidence.
Key Product
Fire Door Inspection Programme
Client Background
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council is one of the largest local authorities in the West Midlands, responsible for delivering services to over 330,000 residents. Their housing portfolio includes a wide range of high- and mid-rise social housing, with a strong focus on tenant safety, regulatory compliance, and maintaining safe living environments.
Project Overview
Firntec was appointed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council to deliver a comprehensive fire door inspection programme across a wide-ranging housing stock of both high- and mid-rise residential tower blocks. The programme was designed to achieve full compliance with fire safety regulations, ensuring both tenant safety and readiness for audit requirements.
Challenges & Solutions
The scale and density of Sandwell’s housing portfolio presented operational and logistical challenges, particularly in securing access to all properties within the timeframe. Firntec addressed this by rapidly scaling its operational capacity, deploying multiple survey teams across several tower blocks simultaneously. Dedicated tenant liaison officers were embedded into the programme to improve communication, gain resident cooperation, and reduce the likelihood of missed appointments. Digital reporting tools were used to capture and track inspection data in real time, ensuring transparency, consistency, and the ability to respond quickly to emerging themes.
Added Value
Firntec’s digital inspection platform, Riskbase, enabled instant progress tracking and transparent reporting for the council, supporting informed decision-making and regulatory assurance. The combination of skilled surveyors and specialist liaison officers ensured that technical rigour was matched by strong resident engagement, delivering a seamless experience for all stakeholders.
Social Value
By prioritising clear, respectful, and proactive communication with residents, Firntec helped build trust and cooperation across the housing community. Minimising disruption to tenants and ensuring appointments were met first time contributed not only to the project’s success but also to greater resident confidence in their housing provider’s commitment to safety.
Results
Firntec successfully inspected 100% of the identified fire doors—2,827 FEDs and 4,034 CFDs—within the agreed programme timeframe. The project delivered enhanced assurance of fire safety across Sandwell’s social housing portfolio, with a full digital audit trail to support compliance with the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Resident engagement was markedly improved through the deployment of liaison officers, which contributed to a high rate of first-time access. The council praised Firntec’s ability to combine operational scale, technical accuracy, and a resident-first approach to deliver a high-volume programme without compromising on quality.
Lessons Learnt
This project reinforced the value of combining technical delivery with strong tenant engagement, demonstrating that proactive communication is essential for achieving high access rates in large-scale inspection programmes. It also highlighted the benefits of real-time digital reporting in providing clients with confidence, visibility, and control throughout delivery.
In Partnership with
Interested in learning more...
