Taking stock on Building Safety
The past few months have seen some of the major aspects of the Government’s response to the Grenfell tragedy making progress. The Building Safety Bill has been going through pre-legislative examination by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee. Work on fleshing out some of the new roles and competencies that will be required in the new regime has been the focus of the Industry Response Group, and its report Setting the Bar, and work being taken forward by the British Standards Institution. The Fire Safety Bill has been progressing through the Houses of Parliament, and has almost completed its course. There has also been a large consultation exercise on the Fire Safety Order, which will shape the way that fire safety is dealt with in future in all buildings. The Grenfell Inquiry Stage Two has also been interviewing the participants in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower to elicit the factors in the tragedy. And progress on the remediation of ACM cladding has continued despite the challenges of the pandemic.
There is still so much to do however, particularly on existing buildings, and what started as an issue about cladding has become a far broader concern about building quality and in existing buildings basic fire protection measures that are sub-standard or worse absent, and not just affecting high-rise residential buildings, but other types of building stock.
The best in class owners in our sector are alive to this and auditing their portfolios to understand what problems lie beneath the facia of their buildings. They are progressing this in a risk-based way, given capacity constraints for experts able to do the work. The sector is also finding that the market has moved to reflect the problems that may lay within buildings and in the residential sector, lenders, insurers and valuers have moved to reflect uncertainty over building safety concerns, causing significant issues for anyone wanting to transact flats, as they scramble to obtain an EWS form. An issue not helped by the scarcity of those able to sign off such forms, and their difficulties in obtaining PI Insurance.
It is worth reflecting on the Hackitt Review and its primary conclusion that failings in the broader building safety regime were systemic and therefore all parties in the building safety process have a role to play in reflecting on their practices and pursuing a culture that puts safety first. Those who feel they are, should consider signing up to the Building a Safer Future Charter. And its commitments to:
- Collaborate to spearhead culture change and be the voice of building safety across our sector.
- Be transparent in the interests of safety, sharing key information with residents, clients, contractors and statutory bodies in a useful and accessible manner in the design, construction and occupation phases of the process.
- Make safety a key factor of choice in who we work with, ensuring that building safety is placed at the centre of selection decisions without compromising quality or value for money.
- Ensure that the voices and safety of residents, visitors and employees are central in our decision-making process.
- Set out and communicate clear responsibilities within our organisation and with our partners, ensuring everyone with a stake in the building during design, construction and occupation understands their role and has the time and resources they need to achieve and maintain building safety.
Putting all the above together, along with the pressing issues of our time such as diversity and sustainability, building safety should be an item on the agenda at executive management and Board levels in all property-owning organisations at present. The defects that may lurk in buildings, how organisations are auditing and managing those risks, communicating with occupiers, and keeping on top of a shifting building safety regime (and the legislation that enacts its) are all really important. It is imperative organisations manage that well, for the sake of their investors, safety of their customers and their public reputations.
