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The creation of a single construction regulator, reporting to a single Secretary of State responsible for fire safety, is one of the key recommendations of the long-awaited final report of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The inquiry’s phase two report says regulation of the construction industry had become ‘too complex and fragmented’.
It recommends that the proposed regulator’s responsibilities include
- Regulation of construction products
- Certification and testing of the reaction to fire of materials and products intended for use in construction
- Regulation and oversight of building control
- Licensing of contractors to work on Higher-Risk Buildings
- Monitoring of the Building Regulations and statutory guidance and advice for the Secretary of State on the need for changes
- Exchanging information with fire and rescue services on matters affecting fire safety
- Accrediting fire risk assessors
- Maintaining a publicly available library of test data and publications
- Carrying out research on matters affecting fire safety in the built environment
- Collecting information, in the UK and abroad, on matters affecting fire safety.
The report recommends that the proposed regulator report to a single Secretary of State with oversight of all building fire safety functions, which are currently split between the Home Office, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The inquiry says the Building Safety Regulator, established in the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster, falls short of what is necessary to draw together responsibility for the construction industry’s ‘dispersed’ functions.
