Building A Safer Future

Following the Grenfell Tower fire the government launched an independent review of building regulations and fire safety. The final report of this review was published in May 2018, this made 53 recommendations to establish a new regulatory framework and achieve a culture change to create and maintain safe buildings.

The Government recently published “Building a Safer Future” which sets out their plans for implementing the review’s recommendations. These plans include creating a stronger and more effective regulatory and accountability framework for relevant buildings. This will include a stronger and more effective sanctions and enforcement regime.

There are plans to provide clearer building standards and guidance, as well as improving the rigour of the product labelling, testing and marketing process to ensure that people working on buildings use safe products.

The government intends to launch a consultation in the spring covering various issues including:

• the scope of the new regime and whether this should go further than the initial scope set out by the Review, to include other multi-occupied residential buildings where a significant fire or structural failure could put many people’s lives at risk;
• proposals for creating dutyholder responsibilities that will set out in law who owns and needs to manage building safety risks at different stages of the lifecycle of the buildings in scope;
• proposals for a stronger and more effective enforcement and sanctions regime for buildings in scope;
• making fire and rescue authorities statutory consultees in the planning process for multi occupied residential buildings of 30 metres or more (10 storeys or more) in advance of the establishment of the new regulatory framework;
• proposals for managing the provision of building control within the new regulatory framework and the role of Approved Inspectors in supporting duty holders for buildings in scope;
• options for a more effective regulatory framework to oversee the new regime, including the option of establishing a statutory Joint Competent Authority that would sit at the centre of a stronger regulatory framework for buildings in scope;
• proposals for a ‘digital by default’ standard of record keeping for the design and construction of buildings in scope and to ensure that this digital record is maintained throughout the occupation of buildings for buildings in scope;
• for all buildings, proposals to clarify and strengthen existing regimes to ensure that fire safety is adequately prioritised, and risks are addressed.

Full details of the implementation plan can be found on the Gov.Uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-a-safer-future-an-implementation-plan