Hackitt report calls for change in UK fire safety culture

An independent review of fire safety following the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster has called for radical changes in building regulation and fire safety risk management in the UK. The much-anticipated final report on The Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety calls for the creation of a new regulator and increased responsibilities for occupiers of buildings. The report focuses on fire safety in high-rise buildings, but the principles could be extended to other buildings. The independent review led by Dame Judith Hackitt was triggered by the 2017 fire at the Grenfell Tower in West London, which killed more than 70 people after external cladding allowed the fire to spread rapidly. Dame Hackitt’s interim report published in December found “deep flaws” in building regulation, construction industry practices and fire safety culture. “In my interim report published in December 2017, I described how the regulatory system covering high-rise and complex buildings was not fit for purpose. In the intervening period, we have seen further evidence confirming the deep flaws in the current system,” states Dame Hackitt in the final report. It falls short of banning combustible cladding, a measure called for by insurers. However, it identifies systemic failings that led to the Grenfell tragedy. These include “ignorance” of regulation and a culture of “indifference” towards safety, as well as inadequate regulatory oversight and lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities. “The above issues have helped to create a cultural issue across the sector, which can be described as a ‘race to the bottom’ caused either through ignorance, indifference, or because the system does not facilitate good practice. There is insufficient focus on delivering the best-quality building possible, in order to ensure that residents are safe, and feel safe,” Dame Hackitt adds. In her final report, Dame Hackitt calls for “cultural” and “behavioural” change around fire safety and risk management. She also talks of the need to address fire safety throughout the lifespan of a building, not just during construction. “At the heart of this report are the principles for a new regulatory framework, which will drive real culture change and the right behaviours. We need to adopt a very different approach to the regulatory framework covering the design, construction and maintenance of high-rise residential buildings, which recognises that they are complex systems where the actions of many different people can compromise the integrity of that system,” Dame Hackitt states. UK health and safety law enshrines the principle of risk being owned and managed by those who create it, notes Dame Hackitt. However, this principle should also “extend to the safety of those who live in and use the ‘products’ of the construction industry”, where the risk of fire exposes residents to danger, she adds. “This review concludes that there is a strong case for the full effect of the key principle of risk ownership and management to be applied alongside building regulations,” Dame Hackitt notes. In particular, the review recommends the creation of a new regulator, the so-called Joint Competent Authority (JCA), to oversee fire safety across the lifespan of a building, from design through to occupancy. “This report recommends a very clear model of risk ownership, with clear responsibilities for the client, designer, contractor and owner to demonstrate the delivery and maintenance of safe buildings, overseen and held to account by a new Joint Competent Authority,” states Dame Hackitt. “The new regulatory framework must be simpler and more effective. It must be truly outcomes-based (rather than based on prescriptive rules and complex guidance) and it must have real teeth, so that it can drive the right behaviours,” she adds. According to the report, the JCA would comprise local authority building standards, fire and rescue authorities and the Health and Safety Executive, to oversee better management of safety risks in buildings across their entire lifecycle. The report also calls for a “clear and identifiable dutyholder” to be responsible for building safety. The dutyholder would have “rigorous and demanding” roles and responsibilities, to ensure a stronger focus on building safety. There would also be a requirement on the dutyholder to present a safety case to the JCA at regular intervals to check that building safety risks are being managed so far as is “reasonably practicable”. “The dutyholder during occupation and maintenance should maintain the fire and structural safety of the whole building, and identify and make improvements where reasonable and practicable,” the report notes. Its recommendations focus largely on residential high-rise buildings in England, however Dame Hackitt makes it clear that her findings should have wider implications. “The ideas proposed in this report have broader application to a wider range of buildings and to drive change more broadly. We must find a way to apply these principles to the existing stock of complex high-rise residential buildings as well as new builds,” she writes.

Hackitt report calls for change in UK fire safety culture

Want to read this article?

Read Next

Munich Re reorganises P&C underwriting in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Claims likely to increase as vessels remain stranded in Baltimore

Climate change to cause ‘massive economic damage’

Two-paced upstream energy market falls in favour of buyers

Energy insurer Paratus launches brokerage division

Munich Re reorganises P&C underwriting in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Claims likely to increase as vessels remain stranded in Baltimore

Climate change to cause ‘massive economic damage’

Two-paced upstream energy market falls in favour of buyers

Energy insurer Paratus launches brokerage division

Want to read this article?

Read Next

Munich Re reorganises P&C underwriting in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Claims likely to increase as vessels remain stranded in Baltimore

Climate change to cause ‘massive economic damage’

Two-paced upstream energy market falls in favour of buyers

Energy insurer Paratus launches brokerage division

Related Articles