The short answer
In October 2026, Birmingham Magistrates fined Avamore Ltd £240,000 for failing to comply with an improvement notice that required a fire alarm system at Solihull Heights, after the work was completed in two of the three blocks but not the third within the notice period. For any project business, the lesson is to define complete, item by item, before anyone says a job is nearly done.
By Euan Pallister, Operations & Quality Improvement Consultant. Published on . Story dated 16 October 2026. The facts below come only from the sources listed at the end.
What was reported
The Express & Star reported that Birmingham Magistrates heard the case against Middlesex-based Avamore Ltd, which had pleaded guilty earlier in the year to failing to comply with an improvement notice. According to the report:
- The notice required a National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) L5 fire alarm system to be installed at Solihull Heights in Birmingham.
- Avamore completed the work on two of the three blocks within the notice period, but not the third.
- In mitigation, the company said access to three of the apartments had delayed completion of the third block.
- The district judge asked whether the company could show it had done the work in the apartments it could access, to reduce the number of people at risk. It couldn’t.
- At a hearing on Friday 16 October, the company was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay a £2,000 surcharge and £9,153.30 in prosecution costs.
Nearly complete isn’t a status
The notice asked for a system across three blocks. Two out of three is a lot of work done, and still not compliance. Done meant three.
That gap between “nearly done” and done is also where project businesses lose money. The last part of a job is where return visits, extra mobilisations and arguments over the final account tend to live. A job that sits at nearly complete for weeks usually has an access problem, a missing item or an unpriced change behind it, and someone is paying for every extra trip.
The check to run on Monday
For every open job, ask two questions.
- What exactly does complete mean on this job, written down, item by item? Rooms, areas, phases or systems, and what has to be true of each.
- Who checks it before anyone says the word? And where is the record of that check?
Then look at the jobs that have been at nearly done the longest. What is stopping each one, and how many trips has it cost so far?
Quick answers
What was the notice about?
According to the Express & Star, an improvement notice required a National Fire Chiefs Council L5 fire alarm system to be installed at Solihull Heights in Birmingham. The work was completed in two of the three blocks within the notice period, but not the third.
What was the penalty?
The Express & Star reported a fine of £240,000, a surcharge of £2,000 and prosecution costs of £9,153.30, at a hearing on Friday 16 October.
What did the company say?
The report says that, in mitigation, the company told the court that access to three of the apartments had delayed completion of the third block.
What is the lesson for a project business?
That nearly complete isn't a status. Write down what complete means for each job, item by item, and check it before anyone reports a job as done.
Sources
- West Midlands company fined £240k for fire failures (Express & Star)