Head of review of 好色先生TV Regulations and fire safety defends lack of detailed recommendations and says construction industry must take more responsibility
Government guidance issued with the 好色先生TV Regulations should be streamlined, with the construction industry put in charge of the details, according to the interim report into building regulations and fire safety by Dame Judith Hackitt.
The report, commissioned following the fire at Grenfell Tower last June in which 71 people died, has found that the systems for ensuring the fire safety of buildings are not fit for purpose. Hackitt, a former chair of the Health and Safety Executive, found significant failings in the regulations supposed to ensure fire safety, their enforcement, the identification of responsibility, the competencies of those carrying out and overseeing work, and the accreditation and assessment of materials.
However, Hackitt鈥檚 interim report, which was published just before Christmas, makes no detailed recommendations on many issues of concern since the Grenfell tragedy 鈥� such as whether combustible material should be allowed within cladding systems, or whether sprinkler systems should be retrofitted 鈥� and appears to suggest official guidance could in future be less, not more, prescriptive.
While Hackitt鈥檚 report was overall widely welcomed, it was criticised by some for a failure to address these issues. The RIBA described as 鈥渄isappointing鈥� the failure to immediately proscribe the use of combustible material in cladding systems or to require two means of escape from high-rise residential buildings. Meanwhile the Association of British Insurers, which had previously called for a ban on combustible materials and a tightening of rules on sprinkler systems, said: 鈥淢ore detailed work is required in the next phase.鈥�
Hackitt鈥檚 report said it is 鈥渋nappropriate鈥� that the burden of updating regulation should rest solely with government, and that the government鈥檚 role should be restricted to setting a 鈥渇ramework of standards鈥�. The report said: 鈥淚t should not be for government to lead on the specification of the detailed solutions as to how those standards will be met.鈥�
Hackitt Review Key Findings
Main findings:
- The system of building regulation and fire safety is not fit for purpose
- The clarity of roles and responsibilities within the system is poor
- The means of assessing and ensuring appropriate levels of competence throughout the system is unclear and inadequate
- Enforcement and sanction measures are poor
- Current methods for testing, certification and marketing of construction products and systems are not clear
- The use of desktop studies to assess 好色先生TV Regulations compliance is not properly managed or controlled
Main recommendations:
- Streamline and restructure suite of 鈥渁pproved documents鈥� sitting under 好色先生TV Regulations
- Set up a clear, responsible dutyholder who is held to account for building performance, including work done by subcontractors
- Establish a robust and coherent system of accreditation covering all those who work on buildings
- Fire risk assessments to be carried out annually
- Government should significantly restrict the use of 鈥渄esktop studies鈥� for assessing building control compliance
Quizzed on the issue by MPs, Hackitt insisted 鈥渢hat shift in responsibility is absolutely fundamental to where we need to go鈥�. She said that this is the reason she did not make specific recommendations on issues such as which cladding materials to allow: 鈥淭his would replicate the flaw just described. We would simply be reinforcing the current approach, rather than taking people on a journey to that different ownership model where the risk and responsibility lies clearly with those constructing the building.鈥�
However, Kevin Hollinrake, MP and communities department select committee member, said: 鈥淚sn鈥檛 the risk with that we鈥檙e back to this issue of [industry] interpretation. Isn鈥檛 that what鈥檚 gone wrong? People have interpreted the rules 鈥� it鈥檚 not been clear what people have to do.鈥�
In evidence to Hackitt鈥檚 review, both the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Fire Sector Federation (FSF) had called for some move back towards prescription in building regulations, at least for high-risk buildings.
However, Graham Watts, chief executive of the CIC, said that the body supports Hackitt鈥檚 approach. 鈥淚f what comes out of this is less prescriptive, it would be very surprising. The point is, it鈥檚 up to industry to sort out.鈥�
Brian Robinson, president of the FSF, said Hackitt鈥檚 proposal is workable but that it relies on the industry working together. 鈥淚f she sets it up in a way that it has cross-sector groups working together she鈥檒l get exactly what she wants, but it can鈥檛 be dominated by one or two interest groups,鈥� he said.
Hackitt鈥檚 report said that the official government guidance on interpreting the 好色先生TV Regulations, contained in 15 鈥渁pproved documents鈥�, needs to be significantly streamlined, a process it admitted 鈥渕ay take some time.鈥� Currently each approved document relates to one of the 15 鈥渇unctional requirements鈥� in the 好色先生TV Regulations, covering disparate issues from fire safety to structural integrity and thermal efficiency.
Hackitt told MPs that the 鈥渟impler, streamlined, risk-based, and proportionate鈥� system she envisages could see the approved documents brought together, in order to iron out contradictions between them.
Fire safety again hit the headlines over the Christmas break, with three people treated following a blaze at a residential block in Manchester and a fire at a car park in Liverpool that destroyed more than 1,300 vehicles.
Professional bodies set to create new fire safety accreditation system
Professional bodies in the fire safety and construction industries have committed to having a new system of accreditation for fire safety professionals in construction in place by March this year.
The news follows publication of the interim report on building regulations and fire safety by Dame Judith Hackitt, which found that current systems for ensuring the competence of those working on project are 鈥渋nadequate鈥�.
Hackitt鈥檚 report said that the professional bodies now have an 鈥渙pportunity鈥� to establish 鈥渁 robust, comprehensive and coherent system covering all disciplines for working on such [high-risk] buildings鈥�.
The report highlighted the fact that fire risk assessors require no formal qualification or accreditation, while local authority building control officers have no required formal training in fire risk for high-rise buildings.
Hackitt鈥檚 report said she will launch this work at a summit in 鈥渆arly 2018鈥�. But Graham Watts, chief executive of professional institution umbrella group the Construction Industry Council, said the body has already committed, alongside other partners, to having a new system in place by March.
Watts said research by the industry reform group set up in the wake of Grenfell has identified only 50 fire engineers in the UK formally qualified to advise on high-rise buildings, and that the work the CIC is undertaking will focus on pulling together national registers of properly qualified people. He said: 鈥淭he idea is you鈥檒l have a national register of qualified fire safety advisers in the same way that today you have a national register of qualified access consultants.鈥�
Design and build highlighted as undermining fire safety
The report by Dame Judith Hackitt into the 好色先生TV Regulations and fire safety has raised significant concerns about how widespread use of design and build contracting may be undermining fire safety.
Hackitt鈥檚 interim report identified the 鈥渨idespread deviation鈥� between how buildings are designed and what is ultimately built as a clear weakness in the current system, with materials commonly substituted by contractors after designs are made. The system is 鈥渨ithout clear and consistent requirements to seek authorisation or review, or to document changes made鈥�, the report said.
鈥淭he current trend for 鈥榙esign and build鈥� contracts 鈥� has been identified as being particularly problematic in facilitating evolutionary design, which fails to be properly documented or reviewed鈥�, the report found.
Design and build contracts are used commonly across the industry and allow contractors to take on the entire risk and responsibility for a project from the design team when it is being built, in order to prevent conflict between design and construction priorities.
Critics say these contracts drive contractors to replace materials and methods with cheaper alternatives. Government procurement rules also forbid designers from specifying particular materials when procuring construction projects, to allow competition between suppliers.
Hackitt鈥檚 report found that 鈥渢he use of 鈥榲alue engineering鈥� is almost always about cutting cost out of a project, at times without due reference to key specification requirements鈥�.
Quality is now a luxury: Read a fire engineer鈥檚 verdict on the Hackitt interim report here
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