[Misc] Emergency Services And Access To Local Buildings

[Herr Tubthumper]

The poster who represents Germany …I’m guessing the ‘dustmen’ only carry keys etc that are relevant to their particular delivery route?

Good question. I don’t actually know the finer details. I will investigate.

 

[Half Time Pies]

I do not know about the police BUT post and dustmen have a key to access apartment blocks over here, otherwise they will not be able to deliver post or pick up rubbish. I can only imagine the emergency services do as well.

Most door entry systems for blocks of flats have a tradesman’s entrance which opens the door during specified hours of the day, usually early mornings.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Apparently the post and dust men/women/them will have a key to the main front door. This does mean a lot of keys but then they will only be visiting a finite number of apartment blocks at anyone one time.

 

[The Clamp]

Apparently the post and dust men/women/them will have a key to the main front door. This does mean a lot of keys but then they will only be visiting a finite number of apartment blocks at anyone one time.

Also many of these sets of keys are kept in a combination lock box on site. So no need to carry tonnes of keys with them.

 

[The Clamp]

This is what we have in our small block. Problem solved.

 

[Half Time Pies]

At 2.15 this morning my intercom went. The video showed two police officers standing there. I knew immediately why. There is a flat along the corridor where a very angry man often kicks the shit out of his girlfriend. They had been called to a domestic. Or to put it more accurately, him behaving like a wild animal as usual.

I let them in and stood on the landing hearing them threaten to break the door down if he didn't let them in.

I am not bothered that they rang my number, although there are elderly folk with numbers close to it. What does bother me is that the police do not appear to have access codes to ALL blocks of flats for emergencies. This is the same for ambulances. I have witnessed an ambulance crew trying to get access to another block in Queen's Park late one night. This is a life or death matter. And in this situation the young lady may have lost a few more lumps whilst they were trying to get in.

I'm not sure what to do, but feel maybe an email to the police at the very least.

I'm convinced this could be a life or death matter. A block of elderly folk, especially one without video calls, may see folk reluctant to answer or disbelieving of who it might be.

I'm really unhappy at this. Not at being disturbed, just unhappy that folk could be suffering when the emergency services could simply ask for access to all buildings. I can't think that anyone would object.

Having worked both in building maintenance for a while and currently owning a company where my staff have to access blocks of flats regularly i think this would be very difficult to achieve. There are lots of different access systems of varying ages and on many buildings the codes are changed quite regularly for security reasons. It’s not just the task of putting together a database of all the various codes that would need to be accessible to the emergency services, the main difficulty would be keeping the emergency services updated every time a code is changed. Who would do this and what would be the process? Presumably it would have to be a legal obligation or it wouldn’t happen so you would not just have to change the law, you would also have to identify who was legally obligated to provide this information for each property.

 

[Eeyore]

Having worked both in building maintenance for a while and currently owning a company where my staff have to access blocks of flats regularly i think this would be very difficult to achieve. There are lots of different access systems of varying ages and on many buildings the codes are changed quite regularly for security reasons. It’s not just the task of putting together a database of all the various codes that would need to be accessible to the emergency services, the main difficulty would be keeping the emergency services updated every time a code is changed. Who would do this and what would be the process? Presumably it would have to be a legal obligation or it wouldn’t happen so you would not just have to change the law, you would also have to identify who was legally obligated to provide this information for each property.

My view is that all buildings have managing agents, thus they would be responsible for informing emergency services. It is the managing agents that change codes here in this building as an example. A central database could log details.

I'm under no illusion that this would not be any easy task to implement without some time needed. But in the days of modern tech I think it makes sense.

Seeing an ambulance crew trying to gain access to an block of elderly folk late at night is a disturbing sight.

 

[studio150]

No different to patrolling your residential street.

So zero patrols.

 

[The Clamp]

So zero patrols.

Well yes. I mean the concept of it.

 

[LamieRobertson]

This is what we have in our small block. Problem solved.
View attachment 169304

All codes 999 ..simple then

 

[Westdene Seagull]

At 2.15 this morning my intercom went. The video showed two police officers standing there. I knew immediately why. There is a flat along the corridor where a very angry man often kicks the shit out of his girlfriend. They had been called to a domestic. Or to put it more accurately, him behaving like a wild animal as usual.

I let them in and stood on the landing hearing them threaten to break the door down if he didn't let them in.

I am not bothered that they rang my number, although there are elderly folk with numbers close to it. What does bother me is that the police do not appear to have access codes to ALL blocks of flats for emergencies. This is the same for ambulances. I have witnessed an ambulance crew trying to get access to another block in Queen's Park late one night. This is a life or death matter. And in this situation the young lady may have lost a few more lumps whilst they were trying to get in.

I'm not sure what to do, but feel maybe an email to the police at the very least.

I'm convinced this could be a life or death matter. A block of elderly folk, especially one without video calls, may see folk reluctant to answer or disbelieving of who it might be.

I'm really unhappy at this. Not at being disturbed, just unhappy that folk could be suffering when the emergency services could simply ask for access to all buildings. I can't think that anyone would object.

I'm currently selling a flat of my father's estate. It has key code entry to the block BUT there is 'T' button for tradespeople - push and you're in

 

[Eeyore]

I'm currently selling a flat of my father's estate. It has key code entry to the block BUT there is 'T' button for tradespeople - push and you're in

Yeah, but that would only apply to certain hours I suspect.

 

[Justice]

Exactly. This is my point. I feel it should be mandatory for private blocks to provide access codes. Such access, and reasons for, is bound by statute. But having witnessed an ambulance crew being halted by inability to gain access once, it is such a crucial issue.

Trouble is private systems are normally basic with just buttons for each flat, council blocks systems are more advanced with door codes and sometimes touch fob entry.
You could install an emergency switch outside in a locked box which could only be opened with a FB key.

 

[junior]

The police round our way usually just knock one of the ground floor windows near the main door, or press some random buzzers and ask to be let in. Never fails, so maybe your trying to create a solution for something that's not really an issue.

 

[Half Time Pies]

My view is that all buildings have managing agents, thus they would be responsible for informing emergency services. It is the managing agents that change codes here in this building as an example. A central database could log details.

I'm under no illusion that this would not be any easy task to implement without some time needed. But in the days of modern tech I think it makes sense.

Seeing an ambulance crew trying to gain access to an block of elderly folk late at night is a disturbing sight.

Your view isn’t correct, not every building has a managing agent, some are managed by freeholders, some are self managed by leaseholders, there are also regulated managing agents and unregulated building managers.

But let’s say for arguments sake that you could identify who was responsible, then you would need to introduce a law that allowed you to create a database of every shared residential building In the country, and identify who was responsible for that building. You would then need to identify which buildings had access codes (as presumably those with fobs, keys and buzzers would be exempt). The database would need to be populated and updated each time the management of the building changed or a new building came in to operation or changes were made to a building that affected the access and obviously whenever the codes were changed. Then you would have to have an enforcement process for this new law as without it nothing would happen.

Basically you would have to overhaul, regulate and monitor the entire building management sector in the uk, introduce a whole new legal framework for access codes, create a department probably the size of the DVLA to manage it, and waste a whole load of police time enforcing it!

 

[HHGull]

Your view isn’t correct, not every building has a managing agent, some are managed by freeholders, some are self managed by leaseholders, there are also regulated managing agents and unregulated building managers.

But let’s say for arguments sake that you could identify who was responsible, then you would need to introduce a law that allowed you to create a database of every shared residential building In the country, and identify who was responsible for that building. You would then need to identify which buildings had access codes (as presumably those with fobs, keys and buzzers would be exempt). The database would need to be populated and updated each time the management of the building changed or a new building came in to operation or changes were made to a building that affected the access and obviously whenever the codes were changed. Then you would have to have an enforcement process for this new law as without it nothing would happen.

Basically you would have to overhaul, regulate and monitor the entire building management sector in the uk, introduce a whole new legal framework for access codes, create a department probably the size of the DVLA to manage it, and waste a whole load of police time enforcing it!

You haven’t said if you’re in favour or not

 

[Half Time Pies]

You haven’t said if you’re in favour or not

Im still on the fence to be honest!

 

[A mex eyecan]

Mrs A and I were watching one of those police fly on the wall programmes the other evening. Police decided to smash in someone’s front door during a search for a ‘suspect’.

So when this happens who pays for a new front door?