A man living in a city centre apartment block has said he feels "unsafe" in the building, citing long-term issues with the fire alarm system, malfunctioning lifts, and the handling of his personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP), which was submitted to building management due to his disabilities.
Elijah Proetta, 27, has a one-bedroom flat in a property on North John Street and has become increasingly concerned about malfunctioning equipment in the block, some of which is linked to emergency planning. Many of the issues raised by Elijah relate to historical failings when the building was under different management, but he said some problems are ongoing.
Fire alarm and lift problems
Elijah said: "A couple of years ago, when we had a different company in charge of the building, they found out that the building failed its compartmentation assessment, meaning a fire would spread quite quickly should one occur. So we had to move from stay put to simultaneous evacuation, and we are considered a high risk building because it's a high rise with seven storeys."
"For a while we had a 'waking watch' put in place while they put in sounders and things into every flat, but there had been problems with the fire system even before that happened."
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) issued an enforcement notice on the building in May 2024. The new management company confirmed it has successfully satisfied the requirements of the historic notice, and a recent audit conducted by MFRS in August this year did not result in any further enforcement notice being issued.
Elijah added: "Last October, Berkeley Shaw had already started as the management company for the building, and to be fair, they inherited a lot of problems. The fire alarm started going off really, really frequently, that has led to so many issues."
"There was one time when the alarm went off three times in one night. There were so many faults on the system. At one point we had 18 faults on the system."
He added: "Recently, our lifts stopped grounding, so when the fire alarm goes off, the lifts continue moving. I've reported it for months, the fire service have documented it when they've come to check the building."
"Building management still haven't done anything about the lift issue. They keep telling me they're aware that there's an ongoing issue with the lift, but this is more than an 'ongoing issue'."
"Then even more frustrating is the lift not working when you do need them, when they should be running. One or both of them is out of order constantly."
Resident's safety concerns
When informed Berkeley Shaw has satisfied the previous enforcement notice, Elijah said: "That's a big step forward, ultimately that's what I'm wanting from all of this, I don't want conflict with building management, I just want us to be safe where we live."
In reference to the impact on his sense of safety, Elijah said: "I don't feel safe at all, especially because I am physically disabled, and I have an emergency evacuation plan, but it never [seems to have been] actioned."
"I spoke to building management about that and told them I never get contacted when the alarm's gone off to see whether I can safely evacuate, and [it's important because] I have been in A&E previously because of injuries that happened during a fall during an evacuation."
"I sent them the plan, and that was that. I've never heard anything about it since, meaning if there ever is a real fire, I'll be sitting here thinking 'does anyone know to come and help me?' I don't want to wait to find out."
Management company response
Responding to the concerns raised by Elijah, a spokesperson for Berkeley Shaw said: "[The building] was subject to fire safety enforcement action prior to Berkeley Shaw Real Estate's appointed as managing agent in February 2025."
"On behalf of our client, and together with the relevant authorities and professional contractors, we successfully satisfied the requirements of this historic notice and I am pleased that a recent audit by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service in August 2026 did not result in any further enforcement notice being issued."
"Since its appointment, Berkeley Shaw has worked with the freeholder, Head Lessor, specialist contractors and relevant authorities to monitor fire safety arrangements and progress necessary improvements."
"Following compartmentation findings, the fire strategy was revised, and the fire alarm system was upgraded to support a simultaneous evacuation strategy. Further fire-stopping works remain under review, with specialist contractors being consulted and additional quotations being sought to inform the next phase of works."
"We are aware of reports concerning fire alarm activations. Recent activations have included incidents associated with cooking activity and occasions where detector heads were removed from apartments."
"These incidents were investigated and followed up with the relevant residents and letting agents. We continue to monitor reports received from contractors and site patrols to ensure appropriate action is taken where required."
"We have also been working with specialist contractors to investigate concerns relating to lift operations."
"On behalf of our clients, we lead on the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) procedures to ensure they are appropriately maintained and kept up to date. We do not comment on individual resident cases."
