The fire at Grenfell Tower in June of last year exposed systemic failures in the building regulation system, which Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations and fire safety subsequently made ambitious recommendations to address. It is right that we seek to correct these failures, to prevent a fire like the one at Grenfell tower from ever occurring again.
We have submitted responses to the questions in the consultation document, which are detailed in the next section. However, given that the document is not very detailed on particular key issues, we have also set our own, over-arching proposal for building safety reforms which can be found in the full reponse.
Reform needs to be outcomes-focused. Government must put forward a clear proposal for which outcomes the new regulatory framework hopes to achieve and how it will determine whether they have been met.
In developing these reforms consideration needs to be given to whether the approach is the best way of delivering the outcomes. There may be a need, as costs and practical details become clearer, to consider whether it is possible to deliver the desired outcomes by strengthening the existing regulatory system. Government therefore must commit to a regulatory impact assessment before finalising any proposals.
Download the full response
LGA Response to MHCLG consultation on Building a Safer Future: Proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system - July 2019