Company fined £250k for fire failures

A real estate firm which failed to put post-Grenfell recommended fire protection in a Birmingham apartment block where 160 live has been hit with a £250,000 court bill.

Birmingham Magistrates heard how Middlesex-based Avamore Ltd had failed to comply with an improvement notice which required a National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) L5 Fire Alarm System to be installed in one of three blocks of Solihull Heights in Coventry Road.

The notice had been issued in May 2025 and had to be complied with by November last year but District Judge David Wain was told the necessary changes were not made for another six months

The court also heard the company had stopped communicating with Birmingham City Council housing officers for a period of time before the notice was due to be complied with.

Avamore had completed the works on the other two blocks at Solihull Heights within that time and, in mitigation, said access to three of the apartments had caused delays to completing the third block.

The company had pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to comply with an operative notice at a hearing in May this year before being adjourned for sentencing.

At a hearing on Friday, October 16, Joseph Millington, prosecuting, said: “By the end of the compliance period, communications dried up and then stopped.

“No explanation was given for failing to comply with the notice. The certificate came through (six months later). This is not a short period for a such a huge number of people to be at risk.

“This was a serious offence. An explanation for non-compliance was non-existent. It betrays a lack of understanding of the position they were in.”

The court also heard other structural issues, not related to this case, have been identified at Solihull Heights and the company is in the process of rectifying them.

Mohammed Khan, defending, said fire protection was installed at the block but that it was not an L5 system as required.

He added Avamore had acted quickly to install the required fire system in the other two blocks on the site within the notice period.

He said: “There were difficulties in contacting two or three flats. The delay was not deliberate because they did not want to fund it.

“They were serious about it, they were taking relevant steps and it was not a blatant disregard. There have been no issues in the building but we accept there was a risk.”

District Judge Wain asked if the company could provide evidence they had carried out works on the apartments Avamore did have access to and help reduce the number of people at risk but they couldn’t.

Judge Wain said: “The company had the assets to undertake the work and had the time to do so. They have not notified the council with any issues.

“There is no explanation for the company’s failure to complete the work in a timely manner.”

Avamore was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay a surcharge of £2,000 and prosecution costs of £9,153.30.

By Gurdip Thandi | Local Democracy Reporting Service