It’s interesting in light of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry that the government has said that it needs to urgently address the Building Safety Crisis, with newly elected Kensington MP Joe Powell saying it MUST be at the top of their agenda. Also, at the top of their agenda is building houses (1.5 million new homes by 2030) at an extraordinarily fast rate. We really hope they will be able to do both well and are keen to see where the shortage in the labour market will come from in order to meet these targets.
With the 400 plus days of evidence given in the inquiry concluding last week, the lead KC was astonished at the level of ‘buck passing’ in our industry. Richard Millet KC said the inquiry “ought to have provoked a strong sense of public responsibility…but many core participants appear simply to have used the inquiry as an opportunity to position themselves for any legal proceedings…to minimise their own exposure to legal liability.” After the inquiry the cases for criminal prosecutions will begin, unlikely to be before 2027 though.
I heard years of Grenfell testimony. Here’s why the disaster could have been prevented – BBC News
With expectations to build like never before, houses, prisons and other public facilities, there will be a huge pressure and focus on the construction industry, not only to perform but to perform under great scrutiny and with serious consequences for any non-compliance.
According to David Frise, the Chief Executive of BESA (Building and Engineering Services Association) the New Building Safety Act should “if properly enforced, leave no hiding place for people looking to cheat the system – or who can’t be bothered to do their jobs properly.”
Lack Of Competence Behind Grenfell ‘Buck Passing’ (thebesa.com)
Mark Reynolds, the industry chair for The Construction Industry Council (CLC) – a panel of industry representatives selected and administered by the government’s Department for Business & Trade, thinks we are moving in the right direction. A report has been published this week issuing reassurances that the industry is moving apace to make changes and that going forward the public can have confidence in the construction industry.
Construction industry gets its Grenfell defence in first (theconstructionindex.co.uk)
However Reynolds concedes this, “We must…be honest with ourselves that change is still required to deliver an industry which is accountable and trusted by the people that live, work and spend their time in the buildings we construct.”
Many rules may have changed in the construction industry but not everyone in the game is playing by these new rules.
So it remains to be seen if real change has been implemented and there will be Interesting times ahead for the construction industry. Yes, there will be plenty of rewards to reap but serious consequences for failures… Another Grenfell is simply unimaginable and unacceptable.
