In January, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, [announced a number of new building safety measures https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-to-improve-building-safety-standards] in light of the Grenfell Tower fire. Several of the measures announced have since been partially or fully implemented.
The measures originally announced – along with notes on subsequent developments – are as follows:
-
The Health and Safety Executive will establish a new Building Safety Regulator in “shadow form” ahead of it being fully implemented in legislation. The new regulator will “raise building safety and performance standards, including overseeing a new, more stringent regime for higher-risk buildings”. Dame Judith Hackett – who led an independent review of building regulations and fire safety in light of the Grenfell Tower fire – is overseeing the transition. Reports following the announcement suggest that legislation establishing the regulator as an independent organisation will come into force in 2021 at the earliest.
-
The Government-appointed Independent Expert Advisory Panel (IEAP) [clarified and consolidated advice https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-advice-for-building-owners-including-fire-doors] outlining what building owners need to be considering and what action to take to ensure that buildings are safe.
-
Additional advice has been provided in relation to fire doors, with the Association of Composite Door Manufacturers committing to work with building owners to deal with doors that have failed fire safety tests.
-
The Government will be appointing a construction expert to review what can be done to speed up remediating buildings with ACM (Aluminium Composite Material) cladding – a material that contributed to the spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower – in the private sector.
-
In May 2019, the Government had [announced a fund for the replacement of unsafe ACM cladding | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-sector-acm-cladding-…]. The Secretary of State said in his January 2020 announcement that the Government was looking into how to prevent costs from being prohibitive to improving building standards when dealing with cladding.
-
In March 2020, funding was announced for the [remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings].
-
Companies without a plan for remediating ACM cladding are now listed on [gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/guidance/aluminium-composite-material-cladding#corporate-entities-without-a-plan-for-remediating-unsafe-acm-cladding]. At the time of writing, five such companies are listed.
-
[Data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government https://www.gov.uk/guidance/aluminium-composite-material-cladding#acm-remediation-data] shows the broader picture for the remediation of buildings with unsafe ACM cladding. The most recent data release shows that as of 29 February 2020, 142 high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings in England had finished their remediation works to replace ACM cladding. However, there remain 313 buildings that are unlikely to meet current Building Regulations, of which the majority, 181, are private sector residential buildings.
-
The Government is [consulting on increasing the scope of the ban on combustible cladding https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-ban-on-the-use-of-combustible-materials-in-and-on-the-external-walls-of-buildings]. This includes consulting on:
-
lowering the height threshold for a building to be covered by the combustible cladding ban from 18 metres to 11 metres;
-
including hotels, hostels and boarding houses within the scope of the ban; and
-
banning the use of metal composite material with a polyethylene core (such as ACM) on all buildings.
-
-
A consultation on, amongst other matters, reducing the “trigger height” at which new blocks of flats must have sprinklers installed concluded in November 2019. Proposals are expected to reduce the current trigger height of 30 metres.
-
The January 2020 announcement referred to the Government’s intention to introduce a Fire Safety Bill into Parliament that would make it easier to take enforcement action against building owners that have not dealt with unsafe ACM cladding. This [bill has now been introduced into Parliament https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2019-21/firesafety.html], with its primary aim being “to ensure the Fire Safety Order is clear in that it applies to external walls (and anything attached to them which includes cladding and balconies) and flat entrance doors of a multi-occupied residential buildings” (as set out in its explanatory notes).
-
In the spring of this year, the Government plans to consult on whether any further changes are needed to the Fire Safety Order to implement the recommendations from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
If you would like any more information on the above or have any questions/ queries please contact us on 01473 232121 or development@prettys.co.uk.