Sectors

Building maintenance and fire safety for student accommodation

Student accommodation is cleaned and assessed to a calendar, not on demand. SeeForth plans the external work into the summer break, keeps term-time visits short and supervised, and carries out the fire risk assessments the Responsible Person needs. This page shows the student buildings we have worked on and how each job ran.

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Student buildings we have looked after

Every sector page on this site is built on jobs we have done. These are the student sites, all described without naming the client.

Colchester

Render and windows on a tower and a curved block

A national student accommodation provider asked us to restore the acrylic render and clean every window on two buildings during the summer break. Soft washing at low pressure, rope access from the roof and a spider lift where the ground allowed. When render dust settled on glass we had already cleaned, we went back by rope and cleaned it again. Read the case study.

Hatfield, AL10

Cladding panels across five courts

Reach and wash with purified water across five accommodation courts on a university campus, in the summer break. Some panels carried construction residue that water would not shift. We cleaned the worst a second time, filmed the result and reported which panels had not responded and why, rather than signing the job off. Read the case study.

Newmarket Road, Cambridge

A two-year planned maintenance contract

External window cleaning in September 2025, then rainwater goods clearance in November 2025 and March 2026, on one student block under a planned maintenance agreement. One supplier, one calendar, one point of contact for the site team.

Stratford, E15

Annual external clean of a student tower

Rope access from the roof, one visit a year, booked with the site team so the drops run down the elevations that are empty that day. The glass, frames and ledges are cleaned on the same drop.

Greenwich, SE10

Hall of residence, reach and wash

Ground-based purified water cleaning of a low-rise hall, with no ladders on site and no equipment left on the paths between blocks.

Dagenham

University campus, reach and wash

A campus on the Essex border cleaned by reach and wash on a rolling programme, elevation by elevation, around lecture timetables.

What student accommodation needs

  • A calendar, not a call-out. The big external jobs go into the summer break, when the buildings are empty. Gutters are cleared in November and again in March. Windows are cleaned to a fixed round. We agree the year with the site team in advance and hold to it.
  • Term-time visits that stay out of the way. Where a visit has to happen with residents in, notices go out first, the site team is told each morning which elevations are in use, and a supervisor is on the ground for the whole visit.
  • Access without scaffold. Rope access from tested anchors, MEWPs and spider lifts, and reach and wash poles from the ground. Scaffold on a student tower costs more than the clean and blocks the site for weeks.
  • Honest reporting. Before and after photographs of every elevation, video where it helps, and a plain statement of anything that did not respond, so the site team can take it to the right contractor.
  • Fire risk assessments to BS 9792:2025. Student accommodation is residential accommodation with a Responsible Person. Our assessors hold the NSA Level 6 Diploma and are IFSM registered, and the report arrives within 48 hours of the visit. See our fire risk assessment page and our fire strategy page.

Services for student sites

High rise window cleaning

Rope access and MEWP cleaning of student towers, planned into the summer break or run elevation by elevation in term time.

Cladding and render cleaning

Soft washing for render, purified water for cladding panels, with a report on any panels that need a different treatment.

Gutter and rainwater clearance

November and March clearances on a planned cycle, with photographs of what came out.

Fire risk assessments

For halls, towers and converted blocks, assessed to BS 9792:2025, report within 48 hours.

Eyebolt testing

The anchors the rope access team uses are tested and certificated, with a register for the building.

Bird proofing

Netting and spikes on ledges and plant areas, fitted in the break so nesting season does not start on the building.

Where we work

Student sites in London, Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridge, from our office at 86-90 Paul Street, EC2. The Colchester, Hatfield, Cambridge, Stratford, Greenwich and Dagenham jobs on this page are all within an hour and a half of the office.

How a student accommodation programme is set up

  1. Site walk with the accommodation manager. We look at the elevations, the anchors, the ground for a lift, and the term dates.
  2. A written year. Which jobs go into the summer break, which run in term time, and what each needs from the site team.
  3. RAMS per visit. A site-specific risk assessment and method statement before every visit, with the access method for each elevation.
  4. Report after every visit. Photographs, video where it helps, a certificate of completion, and a note of anything found that needs a different treatment.

Common questions

When is the best time to clean student accommodation?

The summer break. The Colchester and Hatfield jobs on this page were both done then, with the buildings empty and the site team releasing each elevation as we needed it. Where a visit has to happen in term time, notices go to residents first and a supervisor stays on the ground.

Can you work on a student tower without scaffold?

Yes. Rope access from tested anchors on the roof is how we cleaned the Colchester tower and the Stratford tower. Where the ground allows, a spider lift or MEWP is used instead. Scaffold is a last resort on a student building because of the cost and the weeks it stays up.

Do you carry out fire risk assessments for student accommodation?

Yes. Both of our assessors hold the NSA Level 6 Diploma in Fire Risk Assessment and are IFSM registered. Student accommodation is assessed to BS 9792:2025, the code of practice for fire risk assessment in housing, and the written report arrives within 48 hours of the visit.

What happens if a panel or a wall does not come clean?

We tell you. At Hatfield the report showed which cladding panels had not responded and why, with photographs and video, and recommended a builder's clean by hand. You get evidence to take to the contractor responsible rather than a bill for a clean that did not work.

Can one contractor cover the whole building?

That is how the Cambridge contract runs: windows, gutters and roof drainage on one planned maintenance agreement, with the fire risk assessment available from the same firm. One calendar and one point of contact for the site team.

How do residents find out what is happening?

Notices go out before any term-time visit. Each morning the site team is told which elevations are in use, so residents on those elevations can keep windows closed and blinds down. A supervisor is on the ground for the whole visit.

Tell us the building and we will tell you what it needs. Call 020 4634 3089 or send the address and a photo.

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