The interim report of the Independent Review of
Building Regulations and Fire Safety led by Dame Judith Hackitt
was published on 18 December.
The independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety
is being led by Dame Judith Hackitt. Its purpose is to make
recommendations that will ensure we have a sufficiently robust
regulatory system for the future and to provide further assurance
to residents that the complete system is working to ensure the
buildings they live in are safe and remain so. It is examining the
building and fire safety regulatory system, with a focus on
high-rise residential buildings.
The work of the Review to date has found that the current
regulatory system for ensuring fire safety in high rise buildings
is not fit for purpose. This applies throughout the life cycle of a
building, both during construction and occupation, and is a problem
connected both to the culture of the construction industry and the
effectiveness of the regulators.
Dame Judith's principle finding that the regulatory system is
not fit for purpose chimes with the view that ARCH expressed at the
time the terms of reference for the Independent Review
were first announced at the beginning of August 2017 when we
said:"The latest in the series of fire safety tests by the Building
Research Establishment show that the buildings that have so far
failed these tests are owned by a range of different owners across
the country and not just local authorities. This would seem to
point to a systemic failure of the system of building
regulation…"
The Interim Report falls short of making specific
recommendations for change instead setting out the direction of
travel for changes to the regulatory system covering six broad
areas:
- Regulation & guidance
- Roles & responsibilities
- Competence
- Process, compliance and enforcement
- Residents' voice and raising concerns
- Quality assurance and products
For those landlords that may have been waiting for any
recommendations to emerge from the Review on the specific materials
to be used to replace ACM cladding and/or recommendations on the
retro-fitting of sprinkler systems and other specific fire safety
measures, the report is lacking in such specific
recommendations. However Dame Judith goes on to say:
"We know that many owners and landlords are taking
responsibility and initiating remedial work where required. But
even now I am aware that some building owners and landlords are
waiting for direction from this review on what materials should be
used to replace cladding that has been identified as inadequate. I
would urge them not to wait but to consider what materials have
already been identified and tested as safe. They must also take
steps to ensure that those whom they commission to carry out any
remedial works are competent to do the work and that the work is
quality assured"
Dame Judith has said her interim report is a"call to action for
an entire industry and those parts of government that oversee
it"and has invited comments and feedback on the interim report. She
has also announced the intention to hold a summit of key
stakeholders early in 2018 to discuss taking this work forward in
advance of producing her final report and recommendations later in
the year.
The ARCH Board will be considering the report at its meeting on
the 15 January and the ARCH Tenant Group will be asked to consider
in particular the issues identified in the report around
"Residents' voice and raising concerns" and how residents can be
reassured that an effective system is in place to maintain safety
in their home and a clear, quick and effective route for residents'
concerns to be addressed.
If any ARCH members have views and comments on the report that
they would like to feed into the ARCH response please forward these
to ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby (john.bibby@arch-housing.org.uk)