Concerns about safety of new construction after Amsterdam apartment complex fire

The fire at the apartment complex on Joan Muyskenweg in Amsterdam this weekend, so soon on the heels of another fire that destroyed 75 container homes in the city last year, has left the VVD faction in Amsterdam concerned about the safety of new housing construction. “I am concerned about the way we build. I have doubts about the quality,” VVD councilor Myron von Gerhardt told the Telegraaf.

Saturday’s fire happened at a former office building that was converted into housing. The original building from 1991 consisted of five floors. When it was converted about five years ago, the building was “topped up” with another three floors made from light materials. Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Housing has plans to create another 100,000 homes in this way in the coming years.

According to Telegraaf, the fire department believes that the fire started on the sixth floor, so in the new construction. Flames reached the roof through a cavity wall, and the strong wind drove them over the insulated roof and back down into the building, the newspaper wrote.

The problem lay in the fine-meshed steel skeleton and wood used for the top-up floors, fire expert Fred Vos told the Telegraaf. “That is asking for trouble. I can’t imagine anyone ever approved this,” he said. “You can’t just put three floors on top.”

The VVD wants clarification from the city. “Lately, we hear a lot of noise about defects in new construction,” Councilor Von Gerhardt said to the newspaper. “A lot has been built in recent years, and it must not lead to unsafe living situations. At how many other buildings is this possible?”

Most of the residents of the 95 apartments affected by Saturday’s fire will be displaced for about three months. At least 20 apartments may be uninhabitable for up to three years, a spokesperson for landlord Vesteda said.

“At the moment, we are busy with the investigation,” a spokesperson for the Amsterdam fire department told the Telegraaf. “We want to get to the bottom of this. It is striking indeed that there have been two such fires.” However, he stressed that the two situations are incomparable.