On Wednesday 4th September 2024, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry published its Phase 2 Report into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14th June 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 72 people.
A damning report

 

The 1700 pages report highlights failures by the government, local authorities, contractors, and manufacturers, citing incompetence, dishonesty, and greed. According to the inquiry chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, those named in the report bear different degree of responsibility for the disaster, yet each contributed to the tragedy in one way or another.

Considering the thorough assessment of failings involved and the extent of recommendations provided in the report, it seems fair to assume that significant changes to legislation will follow; however, since it took 7 years for the final report to be published, it is unlikely this will happen very soon.

 

An avoidable tragedy

 

 

The deaths of the 72 people in the Grenfell Tower fire were deemed avoidable, with multiple parties failing in their responsibilities over the years.

 

Amongst those identified to have failed in their responsibilities are:

  • The Government (successive governments);
  • The National House Building Council (NHBC);
  • Local Authority Building Control (LABC);
  • The London Fire Brigade (LFB);
  • The Building Research Establishment (BRE);
  • The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS);
  • The Tenant Management Organisation (TMO);
  • The British Board of Agrément (BBA);
  • Manufacturers such as Arconic, Kingspan, Celotex, and Siderise;
  • Contractors involved in Grenfell`s refit, including Studio E (architect), Rydon (principal contractor) and Harley Facades (sub-contractor); and
  • The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).

Key Findings

 

The key findings of the report include, amongst others:

  • failure of successive governments to act, despite experts raising an alarm about cladding fires as early as 1992, after the Knowsley Heights fire in Huyton, Merseyside;
  • serious deficiencies in the management of building safety in England and Wales;
  • manufacturer Arconic concealed the true extent of the danger of using its product, the Reynobond 55 cladding;
  • ‘systematic dishonesty’ of those who made and sold the cladding, including Arconic, Celotex and Kingspan;
  • privatisation of The Building Research Establishment (BRE), which exposed it to ‘unscrupulous product manufacturers’;
  • indifference to fire safety by the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), including in relation to handling complaints, remedying defects identified in fire risk assessments, installing and maintaining fire protection systems and routine inspection and maintenance of fire doors;
  • poor management of Grenfell` refit by both contractors and the TMO.
  • failures of the London Fire Brigade around staff training as well as lack of a strategy to evacuate the building; and
  • inappropriate fire testing regime, including the use of ‘Class 0’ as a standard of fire performance for products to be used on the external wall of tall buildings.

Recommendations


The final report includes almost 60 recommendations, many of which are focused on the construction industry.

The key recommendations include:

  • the appointment of a single construction regulator, in control of all aspects of the construction industry;
  • a review of the definition of higher-risk building, taking into consideration not only the height threshold but other factors such as vulnerability of residents;
  • bringing responsibility for all aspects of fire safety (currently delivered by multiple Government departments) under one department and a single secretary of state;
  • a licensing scheme for principal contractors wishing to undertake the construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings;
  • regulation and compulsory accreditation of fire risk assessors;
  • recognition and protection by law of the fire engineering profession and the establishment of an independent body to regulate it;
  • the Government to make it clear that BS 9414 should not be used as a substitute for an assessment by a suitably qualified fire engineer.
  • a statutory requirement that a fire safety strategy produced by a registered fire engineer to be submitted with building control applications (at Gateway 2) for the construction or refurbishment of any higher-risk building and for it to be reviewed and re-submitted at the stage of completion (Gateway 3);
  • the establishment of a College of Fire and Rescue with sufficient resources to provide training and education services to fire and rescue services nationally;
  • the establishment of a Chief Construction Advisor to provide advice on matters affecting the construction industry;
  • a review of the building control functions;
  • product manufacturers to provide all relevant test results that support fire safety claims; full history of tests – including failures – to be included in product certificates;
  • the review of Approved Document B, followed by a revised version as soon as possible;
  • the current guidance on preparing for emergencies, currently contained in several documents, to be revised and consolidated in one document.

The Inquiry panel also recommends that the Government should maintain a record of recommendations made by public inquiries and select committees, describing the steps taken in response to or the reason for not accepting a recommendation, and report annually to parliament. The record should be publicly accessible.

 

Over the course of Phase 1 and Phase 2, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry (opened in September 2017) has disclosed over 320,000 documents, took over 1600 witness statements and held more than 300 public hearings. The investigation revealed failures by the government, local authorities, contractors, and manufacturers and provided an extensive list of recommendations which aim to ensure tragedies like the Grenfell fire will never repeat.

As part of improving building safety, following the Grenfell Fire, 3 new laws came into force on 1st January 2024 in Wales.


The Building (Building Control Profession) (Registration, Sanctions and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2023.

From 6th April 2024 the building control regime in Wales changes, with a new mandatory scheme for Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs) and Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) coming into operation and replacing the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register (CICAIR). RBCAs will be registered for 4 years and RBIs for 3 years with the ability for those registered to be sanctioned or have their registration suspended or cancelled for non-compliance with standards.

In November the Welsh Government published guidance, standards and codes for building control approvers and inspectors which can be accessed online here.


The Building Control Profession (Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2023

Welsh Ministers are now able to recover charges for the regulation of building safety in Wales, as such non-compliant building work may result in fees being imposed on relevant duty holders.


The Building Safety (Description of Higher-Risk Building) (Design and Construction Phase) (Wales) Regulations 2023


Higher-risk buildings (HRB) in Wales are defined as a building that is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 stores and contains:

  • at least one residential unit;
  • a hospital;
  • a care home; or
  • a children’s home.

N.B. A HRB in Wales only requires the presence of a single residential unit, in England a HRB requires 2 or more residential units.


A summary of changes made by these regulations can be found on the Legislation Update Service as updates under the Building Act 1984


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Jurisdiction: England

Commencement: 6th April 2023

Amends: Building Act 1984 (c. 55)
Mini Summary

This Building Act 1984 (c. 55) allows the Secretary of State to make regulations in order to:

  • secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of people in or about buildings, and of people who may be affected by buildings;
  • stimulate the conservation of fuel and power; and
  • prevent waste, over-consumption, misuse or contamination of water.

The Building Act 1984  also imposes a duty on local authorities to enforce the building regulations in their areas as well as a right of entry into buildings. It also provides for prosecution and enforcement proceedings against the perpetrators and owners of defective buildings and building work.

Local authority powers in relation to dangerous structures and demolitions are also included in the Act.

The  Building Act 2022 (“2022 Act”)  establishes the regulator (established under the Health and Safety executive) as the building control authority for higher-risk buildings* in England and designated local authorities as the building control authority in Wales. The duties and powers of the regulator in relation to higher-risk buildings are outlined in the 2022 Act.

*Buildings of at least 18 metres in height or with at least 7 storeys and contains at least 2 residential units.

Amendment

Minor technical changes are made to clarify that:

*Higher-risk building work means any work carried out on a building that:

This means that all higher-risk building work must be supervised by the building safety regulator.

Public body’s notice

Public bodies, or where appropriate, local authorities, must now cancel any public body’s notice (in whole or in part) that relates to higher-risk building work.

Public bodies must:

Schedule 4 (1C) sets out the process for appealing a cancellation notice.

A new public body’s notice must not be given for any building work previously specified in a cancellation notice.

Penalties

The building safety regulator may impose a penalty on a public body for non-compliance, in accordance with Schedule 4.

N.B. The building safety regulator must give notice of their intention to impose a penalty.

 

Link to full government text

 
  

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