The government says it wants to go further on built environment professional standards than the reforms recommended by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced in December that it will implement the inquiry’s recommendation for a single construction regulator, to reduce ‘fragmentation and complexity’.
The inquiry also recommended strengthening the regulation and accountability of specific roles responsible for safety-critical functions: building control, fire engineers, fire risk assessors, principal contractors and principal designers.
However, in a consultation document setting out the prospectus for the new regulator, the government says it must go further than the areas highlighted by the inquiry, and take a ‘holistic view of regulation, competence and culture across all those operating in the built environment sector’.
A new long-term strategy for the building professions, including wider trades and occupations, will be published, the document says. This will set out a ‘clear, unified’ plan for regulatory and non-regulatory reform at government, industry and individual level, and will sit alongside parallel reforms to Building Regulations and construction products.
This strategy will ‘simplify the current patchwork’ of regulation, and establish a central oversight function focusing on a ‘clear and coherent set of standards, expectations and outcomes’.
There may also be scope for the new construction watchdog to go further than the Building Safety Regulator’s current remit to regulate higher-risk buildings, and raise the safety standards of all buildings by ‘setting clear behavioural standards and providing uniform foundations for enforcement’, the consultation document adds.
The government’s interim chief construction adviser, Thouria Istephan, says: ‘This prospectus is the starting point for reform that delivers on the Grenfell Inquiry’s call for systemic change.
‘The creation of a single construction regulator will replace a fragmented system with one that prioritises safety, accountability and clarity, integrating oversight of buildings, products and professions.’
The consultation will run until 20 March and a full response is due to be published this summer.
