A construction firm and a site manager have been fined for breaches of safety legislation, which included fire alarms being switched off on site.
Investigators also found that fire extinguishers held at the building, in China Town, Manchester, had not been tested for at least seven years.
A “massive” wall to ceiling collection of waste packaging and cardboard was also being stored in the building’s basement, which was just underneath a Chinese restaurant open to the public, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Neil Martin told Info4fire.
The fire safety breaches, under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, were found in January 2009.
By then, construction work had been going on for almost three months, and the implications of the breaches so great that the HSE chose to prosecute “virtually” straight away.
Work was taking place on the second, third and fourth floor of the building, to convert offices into a karaoke bar. However, health and safety inspectors were tipped off about safety hazards just before the project was due to complete.
Investigating with the help of fire safety officers from Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, the HSE also found that potential escape routes had not been marked, and in some cases, were blocked entirely. The rubbish filled 14 skips and took two days to clear, the HSE said.
Construction company, Music Box Karaoke Ltd, pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates Court on 10 December to breaching regulations 14(1), 16(a) and 21(1) of Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. It was fined £6,000 with costs of £3,313.
Site manager Marc Royle, 37, also entered a guilty plea for breaching regulations 38(a), 39(1) and 41(1). He was fined £450 with costs of £2,710.
Following the prosecution, Mr Martin said: “We were called in after receiving a complaint about the safety standards on site and were shocked by what we found. The basement and corridors were blocked with waste materials so it would have been extremely difficult to escape in a fire.
"There was a Chinese restaurant open to the public on the first floor and the neighbouring buildings were also occupied. Just one spark could have set light to any of the piles of cardboard, and then dozens of lives would have been put in danger.”
The K2 karaoke bar, which was completed in February, is now open to the public.
