The Grenfell Tower fire highlighted failures in all areas of the UK construction industry, from building design to building approval. The UK’s reaction to the tragedy finds focus in the Building Safety Act which gained royal assent in 2022 but is only now coming into effect as rafts of secondary legislation are implemented. At the FPA’s recent FIRE Conference in London, one speaker stated that they hadn’t seen anything like it in 20 years as a practising solicitor and that it represented a ‘massive change’ to our previous approach. “About time too” many of us would undoubtedly agree.

As a result, a mass of reporting and registration requirements will come into effect, including mandatory reporting to a new Building Safety Regulator, mandatory registration of building inspectors/building control approvers, and mandatory registration of occupied high-rise residential buildings with the new regulator. The current situation – in which it is far too easy to set yourself up as an alleged expert without registration or qualifications – needs to change quickly.

The regulator will implement and enforce a new regulatory regime for residential buildings over 18m in height and will oversee the safety and performance of buildings; promoting competence among registered building inspectors. It will also set up committees on building advice and industry competence, along with a residents’ panel to shape its approach.

With their views having previously been overlooked, resident involvement should encourage adherence to new rules by increasing understanding, as resident adaptation of buildings – possibly well-intentioned but without appreciating the implications – can put lives at risk. The Act also rightfully eradicates the idea that residents/leaseholders should pay for historical safety defects.

Furthermore, the new national regulator for construction products within the Office for Product Safety and Standards will have the power to remove products from the market, and the Secretary of State will be able to place products on a statutory ‘safety critical’ product list. The testing conducted in recent years, and the use of products that are simply unsuitable in some scenarios, has shown how important this could be.

The introduction of the Golden Thread means that developers must create, hold, and maintain information so that the right people have the right information at the right time to ensure buildings are safe, and that building safety risks are managed throughout the building’s lifecycle.

The legislation references ‘managing buildings as holistic systems’, but my simpler take is that we need somewhere which contains everything (appropriate and proportionate) relating to the building; certifications, reported incidents, safety case reports etc. which is kept up to date, with responsibility clearly defined to ensure compliance and help gather data. The lack of information available from previous fires has been a significant barrier to progress so the building information required by the Golden Thread will improve our ability to learn from future fires.

Time will tell what impact the regulation changes can really have. Now the onus is on us to make better use of data to help the industry and government identify and respond to trends, and the Golden Thread is key to that journey at building level.

About the Influencer

David Williams is an experienced executive and non-executive director with over 30 years’ experience in insurance, having formerly held the position of Managing Director of Claims, Underwriting and Technical Services with AXA Insurance UK. He is a member of the FPA Board and between 2011-2022 was Chair of RISCAuthority, an annually funded research scheme which conducts research on behalf of the insurance sector and is administered by the FPA.

This article was originally published in the December2023 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.