Leeds building control attend two dangerous buildings in same street in two days

One of the less well known functions of building control is dealing with buildings or construction work that could threaten public safety. This can often be caused by road traffic accidents or poor quality building work.

So imagine being called to two such incidents – one caused by a car crash and another from unregulated and dangerous building work in the same street – within days of each other! That’s what happened to the Leeds building control team one weekend at the end of June.

Firstly they attended an incident when a car driven by a driver under the influence of drink and drugs crashed into a house causing structural damage. The house was made safe to the public after building control arranged for it to be propped up. 

Then, 48 hours later, they received a call from the fire service requesting their help with a collapsed building in the same street – Florence Street in the city’s Harehills district. No one was sure this wasn’t about the same building until Leeds’s Senior Building Control Surveyor, Ian Lawrence, attended and confirmed it was a different property.