Published: 21/05/2018
Council building experts were called in to save two family homes in Balham that were in danger of collapsing.Work being carried out in a basement at a terraced property in Cathles Road disturbed the foundations and prompted fears that both it and a neighbouring property could partially collapse.
Firefighters who’d been called to the scene by the builders immediately summoned staff in the council’s building control service who pumped tonnes of concrete into the basement and then erected scaffolding to stabilise the two stricken buildings.
The council’s building control team is on call 24 hours a day to respond to any situation in Wandsworth which may involve a dangerous building or structure.
Wandsworth’s head of building control David Batsford said: “We got a call from the emergency services on Thursday morning telling us that there was a serious problem with these two properties and that they were in imminent danger of collapse.
“We were able to quickly get there with some equipment, which was fortunate because the buildings were in a precarious state.
“We had to then work in quite dangerous conditions to pour concrete into the basement to stabilise the building. This was made slightly more difficult as the local authority were unfamiliar with the building because the construction works were being overseen by a privately-approved inspector.”
People can report a dangerous building or structure to the council at any time of the day or night. During office hours people can call (020) 8871 7620 or (020) 8871 6000 at all other times.
Source: Wandsworth Council