4 Grand Avenue

4 Grand Avenue is an older residential building in Brighton with 56 occupied flats. It came with the realities that make compliance work harder: an existing structure, original doors, and known hazards, including the discovery of asbestos.

We were brought in while the building was live and occupied, after fire risk assessment reports highlighted that fire door inspections needed to be improved to meet compliance and regulations.

The board were actively pushing to get it resolved, which usually means urgency, scrutiny, and little tolerance for disruption. The client’s biggest concern was simple: keeping residents happy while safety-critical work was carried out around their homes.

Residents were working from home, and some were elderly; access had to be managed carefully, and noise/disruption needed to be controlled. The basement also contained live services, adding another layer of risk and coordination.

The client’s goal was to bring the building into compliance without turning residents’ day-to-day lives upside down. More specifically, it was to improve compliance in response to the FRA findings (particularly around fire doors).

This project called for two things at the same time: a compliant delivery and resident-first site management.

Across the 56 flats, our scope included:

• Fire stopping solutions
• Fire doors
• Remedial works

Rather than rotating our operatives, we kept the same installers throughout. That consistency helped build rapport and trust with residents which was especially important when people are letting you into their homes and living through disruption.

We used regular touchpoints including weekly meetings with named stakeholders to stay aligned and deal with access, scheduling, and resident coordination.

Ongoing resident engagement involved booking access for the windows, communicating upcoming works, and managing expectations around noise. Residents working from home, elderly residents, access constraints, and a basement with live services meant we had to plan the day-to-day execution carefully to keep the building functioning safely.