PTSG is urging university estates teams to act before summer 2026 works begin – warning that incremental, uncoordinated change poses a greater threat than any single failure.
Neo Property Solutions, part of PTSG Fire Solutions, has issued a practical warning to university estates teams ahead of summer 2026 refurbishment programmes: passive fire performance is being undermined not by dramatic failures, but by the slow accumulation of small, uncoordinated changes that go unnoticed until compliance scrutiny arrives.
Summer programmes typically run multiple parallel workstreams – M&E upgrades, IT installations, flooring replacement, access control works, decoration cycles. Each package appears low risk in isolation. But passive fire performance depends on the continuity of compartmentation and door set integrity across all those interfaces. When no single trade sees the cumulative impact, and sign-off confirms task completion rather than system performance, fire safety can drift without anyone having made an obvious mistake.
Neo’s team highlights specific risks that often go unrecognised: replacing floor finishes that subtly increase door undercuts; overboarding ceilings that interrupt compartment lines in corridor voids; adjusting closer forces for accessibility that affect latch engagement; and “like-for-like” hardware swaps where dimensional tolerances differ from the original tested assembly. Each action may be technically reasonable. Collectively, they can shift a building’s passive fire performance outside its intended tolerances.
Evidence management is equally at risk. Where fire door schedules and asset registers are not updated to reflect changes made during summer works, documentation diverges from physical reality – creating exposure in future FRA reviews, insurance audits, and under the Building Safety Act 2022’s Golden Thread requirements.
The buildings that come out of summer 2026 in the best position won’t necessarily be the ones where the most passive fire work was done. They’ll be the ones where the right questions were asked early, the right people were accountable, and the record at the end reflects what actually happened.
Neo is encouraging estates teams to take five practical steps before mobilisation: screen every package – including minor works – for passive fire interaction; name one person responsible for passive fire outcome per affected package; build a pre-start conversation and a pre-handover walk into each affected programme; agree in advance how unexpected discoveries will be handled; and reconcile asset registers at the end of summer while the work is still fresh.
Neo operates as part of PTSG’s Fire Solutions division. The company delivers passive fire protection – including fire door maintenance, compartmentation management and firestopping – across university, healthcare, social housing and student accommodation estates nationwide. Its directly employed team of approximately 100 specialists works to LPS1197 and BM Trada STD 058 certification standards, supported by a digital audit platform that maintains the full record from survey through to certified completion.
For more information visit www.neo-ps.com
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