The Government’s response to the Phase 2 report by the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry

At the end of February, the Government published its response to the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry Phase 2 Report from last Autumn (Report). That Report had looked at why the Grenfell fire happened and who was culpable. All 58 recommendations by the inquiry were accepted by the Government, 49 in full and 9 were accepted in principle with the Government making it clear how they will implement them.

Some of the key points from the Government’s response are as follows:

1) Definition of “Higher-Risk Buildings” (HRBs) to be reviewed

More details about this review will follow in the summer. Currently in England, HRBs are defined via 3 criteria and there is a slight difference in definition depending on whether the HRB is in the design/construction or occupation phase (care homes and hotels are excluded for the occupation phase definition but not from the design/construction phase). The 3 criteria are that building is to be at least 18 meters or 7 storeys in height, contain at least 2 residential units and not be expressly excluded. The Report has seen this definition as arbitrary in nature and stated that more relevant is the nature of its use, for example the presence of vulnerable people for whom evacuation may present difficulty. Any change to the current definition may result in your development being captured by the onerous HRB regime.

2) Super Regulator

A new single super regulator is to be created to carry out all the functions relating to the construction industry referred to in the Report. Noticeably, the super regulator will not undertake testing of construction products or issue certificates of compliance as this would create a new conflict of interest within the regulator. The Building Safety Regulator will most likely sit within the new super regulator.

3) Statutory guidance, in particular Approved Document B

The Building Safety Regulator is to continue its review of how any statutory guidance might be best structured to provide an up to date and coherent guidance to support designers in demonstrating compliance with the building regulations. Interim findings to be published in the summer of 2025 and a full list of recommendations in 2026. Any revised guidance is to include clear warning in each section that the legal requirements are contained in the building regulations and that compliance with the guidance will not necessarily result in compliance with them.

4) Fire safety strategy

In response to the recommendation that a fire safety strategy should be required for Gateway 2 (before building work starts/building control application) and Gateway 3 (when building work is completed), the Government stated that the Building Safety Regulator will consider how to make the current guidance as to what is required clearer to the applicants. The Government noted that a fire safety strategy is already required with a building control application.

5) Licensing for Principal Contractors

The Government will review the impact of the dutyholder regime in relation to HRBs and will work with the sector to determine how they can go further. Further changes may include introducing a licensing scheme for principal contractors wishing to undertake construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings, where a license may be granted based on criteria aligned with the dutyholder requirements and can be withdrawn for a failure to achieve compliance with the building regulations. The review is to occur from October 2025 and the findings published by Autumn 2026.

6) Construction Products Green Paper published

At the same time as publishing its response, the Government has published a new Construction Products Reform Green Paper which sets out proposals for reform of the construction products sector. We will provide some key points in our next newsletter.

There has been a huge amount of change in the way the industry deals with building safety since the Grenfell disaster, the Building Safety Act 2022 being one of them. It appears that more is to come and further significant changes are to be expected.