Nottingham City Council has approved a £315,000 programme to install sprinklers on the top floor of the Broad Marsh Car Park and Bus Station after its insurer warned that full cover would be withdrawn unless additional fire protection was added.
The decision means work will now go ahead on the sixth floor to extend the current sprinkler system and ensure the flagship building remains fully insured.
The Broad Marsh Car Park and Bus Station opened in 2022 as one of the centrepieces of the wider Broad Marsh redevelopment. Designed as a modern gateway to the city centre with a bus station, parking, a library and new retail spaces, the building was constructed to high environmental and safety standards.
View across Carrington Street to Broad Marsh car park and library
However, the council’s insurer, Zurich Municipal, has altered its risk appetite during the 2025 policy renewal process. In April, it told the local authority that unless sprinklers were installed on the top level of the car park, the most vulnerable floor in fire-risk terms, it would only insure the building up to a maximum indemnity value of £5 million.
The building’s reinstatement value is just over £85 million. Council officers warned that accepting a reduced level of cover would leave the authority dangerously exposed in the event of a major fire, not only risking the loss of the asset but also removing any realistic means to reinstate it.
Zurich agreed to maintain full reinstatement cover while the works are carried out, but only on the condition that the rooftop photovoltaic panels are temporarily isolated until the sprinkler installation is completed to reduce risk as much as possible during the interim period.
The council says it considered whether any alternative approaches were possible, but concluded there were none. Failure to meet the insurer’s requirements would have reduced indemnity to around £15 million even under the most generous negotiated position, still far below the building’s actual value. Officers also noted that failing to meet the insurer’s directive could be interpreted as negligence if an incident later occurred.
The £315,000 project cost includes a 10 per cent contingency and covers design, installation, builders’ work and commissioning. Two mobile crane lifts will be required at the start and end of the programme. To minimise disruption to motorists, the council plans to close around 60 parking spaces in stages rather than shutting off whole levels of the car park. Corporate Landlord teams will oversee the works to ensure they comply with existing warranties and guarantees attached to the building.
Because the building is a parking asset, the work will be funded from the council’s Parking Places Reserve Account. The reserve currently stands at £6.56 million, with about £600,000 already expected to be drawn for other commitments. Financial officers confirmed that using the reserve in this way is permitted under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Act 2004, which allow surplus parking income to be used for the provision and maintenance of off-street parking facilities. The ongoing revenue cost once the system is installed is expected to be around £240 per year, which will be absorbed within existing budgets.
The proposal was considered and approved by the council’s Capital Board in September. Legal, procurement, finance and property teams also reviewed the decision. As the installation will be delivered through an existing corporate contract, no further procurement process is required at this stage.
The decision has been classified as a portfolio holder decision and is subject to call-in until 20 November.