INTERVIEW | DAME JUDITH HACKITT A WAKE-UP CALL TO SAY QUALITY MATTERS With new Building Regulations coming into force on 1 October, Dame Judith Hackitt warns that those wedded to traditional ways of working risk falling foul of the law, and says a new generation of engineers have the chance to sweep away unacceptable practices. She tells Alex Smith why she wont stop working until change happens Dame Judith Hackitt was made an Honorary CIBSE Fellow in July Y oung engineers are in the ideal position to challenge dangerous and outdated ways of working in the construction industry, according to Dame Judith Hackitt, who was made an Honorary Fellow by CIBSE last month. The author of Building a safer future: Independent review of Building Regulations and fire safety says: This is a really great time for young people to be entering the sector and challenging the old and outdated practices in the industry. Most people come into the industry to improve the lot of society. Young people driven by purpose and the moral imperative of wanting to do the right thing can drive this culture change. In her review, which looked at building safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, Dame Judith concluded that the current system is not fit for purpose and that a culture change was required to support delivery of safe buildings. The reports recommendations form the bedrock of the Building Safety Act, which has resulted in the biggest overhaul of Building Regulations in a generation. Last month the government announced secondary legislation for the Building Safety Act, which included new regulations for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) and major changes to the Building Regulations, focusing on required duties and competencies. These come into force on 1 October (see Competencies and duties on page 16). The newly formed Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will oversee the safety and standards of all buildings from April 2024, help the built environment industry improve competencies, and lead the implementation of a new 18 September 2023 www.cibsejournal.com regulatory framework for HRBs. Young engineers can turn to the BSR if they are concerned about unsafe practices. What the new framework does is create space for young people to challenge the old and unacceptable practices they see in industry and say I dont think we should be doing it like that any more, says Dame Judith. A confidential reporting system aimed at structural safety has been extended to cover fire safety, and can be used by anybody to report incompetence and poor practice. The Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK (Cross-UK) publishes examples of bad safety practice anonymously, so lessons learned can be shared widely. In her review, Dame Judith found that poor practice around fire safety was endemic. What I regard as standard practice in any other sector isnt being followed in construction, she says. It really, really surprised me the extent to which things are done on the hoof. There is no proper record of whats been changed and why, making it impossible for anyone managing a complex building to know what they are working with. She is clear on the main reasons for the fundamental failure lowest-price procurement and the lack of responsibility for the project outcome. Buildings are done on the cheap, so the whole procurement process is set up in such a way that whatever is built probably doesnt have sufficient funds allocated to do the job. Whoever wins the contract on the lowest price is looking to cut corners from the outset. A diffuse system of responsibility means no-one feels accountable for a project outcome, adds Dame Judith. People come in, do their work and leave. The overall sense of who is responsible for providing a building that is fit for purpose is missing. She is concerned that the industry will not be ready for the legally enforceable changes due on 1 October. This includes the registration of occupied high-rise buildings, which will be managed by the BSR (see panel,