Class 0 Coating System & Hazardous Material Removal, Communal Stairwell, Camden

Spectra were appointed to upgrade the communal stairwell of a higher-risk residential building in Camden, applying a Class 0 flame retardant coating system to the protected escape route. Before any new system could be applied, three separate hazardous or contaminated material streams had to be removed from a stairwell that remained in use.

The stairwell is the building's protected escape route, so the coating specification had to be verifiable rather than simply applied. Spectra worked directly with Crown to develop the full specification using the Crown Trade Timonox system, which is tested to BS EN 13501-1 and upgrades existing surfaces to Class 0.

Three material streams had to be cleared first. Lead paint was removed under controlled conditions. Pigeon guano was removed as a biological hazard rather than as general waste. An existing anti-graffiti coating was stripped, because it would have prevented the new system bonding and performing as tested.

Operatives were given manufacturer CPD training on the system before application began. Spectra recorded wet film thickness throughout, and Crown attended to take dry film thickness measurements and provide final sign off. The finished system was therefore verified by the manufacturer rather than certified by the contractor who applied it.

The stairwell was completed in three weeks, with a manufacturer-verified Class 0 system in place and a documented record of film thickness from application through to sign off. For the building's duty holder that record is evidence that the fire performance of the escape route has been upgraded and independently checked, which is the kind of information the Building Safety Act expects an accountable person to hold. Spectra were subsequently appointed to carry out an environmental clean at the same building.