Building Safety

The Hackitt Report

In September 2017, government commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to review the Building Regulations and Fire Safety. CPA were instrumental in the creation of the work, with submissions of evidence, and with Peter Caplehorn chairing the contributing working group on ‘Regulations and Guidance’ and contributing to the working groups on ‘Golden Thread’ and ‘Quality Assurance and Products’.

On 17 May 2018, the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Final Report (Hackitt Report) was published. Though the review focused its recommendations on high rise residential buildings (HRRBs), the recommendations set to bring on full culture change across the construction industry. The report calls for:

• Greater clarity around duty holders
• New regulatory body(ies)
• A new regulatory framework
• Tighter rules around product testing and disclosure of product information
• Clearer and more responsive framework for residents’ concerns
• A new competence framework
• Digitalised information exchange (a.k.a Golden Thread)

The response from government was to fully support all 53 recommendations of the Hackitt report, recognising that a radical systemic overhaul was required and promising to bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to carry out the necessary forms.

The CPA plays a crucial role in achieving these systemic changes, collaborating to bring forward new proposals on the product sector, new digital approaches, clarity around a new competence framework and a regulatory system and Approved Document clarifications. CPA also helps bring oversite through the Industry Response Group (IRG) as well as promoting a cross-industry, non-siloed approach.