UK Government to introduce new regulator to the construction industry

The UK government is to introduce a regulator of the construction industry, as part of new reforms to hold the sector accountable, off the back of the Grenfell tragedy, and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry reforms.

It has been said though that the government is not providing as much power to the regulator that the inquiry suggested should be granted. However, the government has been stated in taking decisive action to prevent a similar tragedy to Grenfell from happening again. The regulator will primarily be involved in all aspects of the building and fire safety standards across the construction industry, which is currently carried out by the Office for Product and Safety Standards. The regulator will not be responsible for any testing of construction products, the government stated that testing of products would be a conflict of interests across regulatory bodies. What this means is that testing of construction products will still be carried out by privately owned companies, there has been major criticism of this in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry report.

The Grenfell Inquiry report found the government was aware of the effects and risks that poor cladding might pose to developments but did not act on these findings. The report also found that the management company, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management was responsible for failings in the fire and safety management on the building.

A green paper released by the government suggests more stringent rules for manufacturers, and those using construction products, making manufacturers responsible for checking the safety risks of each product before any advertising, with any companies/individuals not following these new rules will be liable to civil and criminal charges.

The building safety minister, Alex Norris, was quoted as saying "The Grenfell Tower fire was a preventable tragedy, and the failings it exposed demanded fundamental change."

Alex went on to state "Our response today to the inquiry’s findings sets out a comprehensive plan to reform the construction sector, strengthen oversight and make sure that residents are the priority when deciding on building safety issues.

“We will continue working closely with industry, local authorities and the Grenfell community to make sure these reforms deliver real, lasting change and rebuild trust.”

We expect to see progress from the reforms reports to be available and published every quarter throughout the year, with public accessible recommendations also being included.

Earlier in the month the government announced that it has taken the decision to take Grenfell Tower down, but that it is expected to take two years and will be carried out sympathetically, respectfully and carefully, but not before the 8th anniversary in June of the tragedy.