The government has published the terms of reference for the independent Review of
Building Regulations and Fire Safety that was commissioned
following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.
The Review will assess the effectiveness of current building and
fire safety regulations and related compliance and enforcement
issues, with a focus on multi occupancy high rise residential
buildings. This will include addressing whether the government's
large-scale cladding system testing programme identified any
potential systemic failures.
The Review's 2 key priorities are to develop a more robust
regulatory system for the future and provide further assurance to
residents that the buildings they live in are safe and remain safe.
The Review will cover the regulatory system for all buildings but
it will have a specific focus on multi occupancy high rise
residential buildings.
The Review will examine"the competences, duties and balance of
responsibilities of key individuals within the system in ensuring
fire safety standards are adhered to"The Review will also"assess
the theoretical coherence of the current regulatory systems for
buildings and how it operates in practice"and"compare this with
other international regulatory systems for buildings and regulatory
systems in other sectors with similar safety risks".
The Review is to be led by Dame Judith Hackitt, a qualified
engineer and former Chair of the Health & Safety Executive and
will draw on the experience of local government, industry, the fire
sector, international experts and MPs. She will also engage with
residents of multi occupancy residential buildings.
The Review will report jointly to Communities Secretary Sajid
Javid and Home Secretary Amber Rudd. An interim report will be
submitted in autumn 2017 and a final report submitted in spring
2018. The Review will co-operate fully with the Public Inquiry, and
Dame Judith Hackitt will review her recommendations in the light of
the findings of the Inquiry.
John Bibby, ARCH CEO comments:
"The results of the series of large scale fire safety tests
carried out by the Building Research Establishment on various
combinations of cladding systems 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
and the government's announcement of the review of Building
Regulations and Fire Safety is to be welcomed".