The Review, chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt, has identified systemic failings in the way construction projects are designed, delivered and managed.
Dame Judith Hackitt commented: “I said in the report there is a lack of competence throughout the system and that is in all areas. In the construction industry, whilst there are clearly many competent people, the system for identifying and differentiating those who are competent from those who are not is ineffective.”
She also urged the industry to take a lead on improving its procedures and not wait for the Government to tell it what to do.
BESA welcomed the fact that the Review had resisted the temptation to make headline grabbing specific prescriptive demands, but was instead focused on overhauling the whole process, which would have more profound and far reaching consequences.
BESA’s head of sustainability, David Frise, said: “Dame Judith’s vision of an outcome-based model for our regulations is a significant and extremely positive change. The current ‘tick box’ regulatory approach stifles innovation and encourages the industry simply to design for compliance with a system that is poorly enforced anyway. Moving away from that could fire up the culture change the Review is seeking.”
The Review has identified a major failing in that construction regularly starts before building control has signed off the design, or is too far advanced for recommended fire safety work to be incorporated. The building’s quality is then further undermined by the lack of meaningful penalties for anyone found to be in breach of the regulations.
“Changing to output-based regulations means that it will no longer be about what you promised to deliver, but what you actually deliver that counts. This should be reinforced by financial (and sometimes criminal) penalties that are far greater than the benefits you can get from cutting corners,” said Mr Frise.
He added that the industry already has a range of third party accredited competent person schemes in place that can support Dame Judith Hackitt’s call for a more robust method of establishing professional competence.
BESA said that it had contributed a detailed submission to the Hackitt Review and would continue to work with it and push for higher standards right across the sector before the full report is published in the spring.
BSRIA is similarly supportive of the Review. Julia Evans, BSRIA chief executive, said: “BSRIA gives full and unqualified support to this interim report and sees this as the time to make recommendations as a catalyst for change and a change in culture.
The work of the review to date has found that the current regulatory system for ensuring fire safety in high-rise and complex buildings is not fit for purpose. This applies throughout the life cycle of a building, both during construction and occupation and is a problem connected both to the culture of the construction industry and the effectiveness of the regulators.
Indeed, this interim report provides the findings to date and direction of travel for the review, ahead of a final report expected to be submitted in spring 2018, and BSRIA notes that Government is keen to continue to engage with all stakeholders.
BSRIA has been working closely with such stakeholders – especially the CIC (Construction Industry Council) – and creating further work to scrutinise the culture change necessary and the recommendations crucial for behavioural change, and is supporting its work on skills, procurement, planning and building regulations, design and specification, on site and management in use.
BSRIA calls on its members and industry to remain as one to back the next phase of this critical work.”