The 2020 Building Safety Bill is the most significant proposed change to the Building Regulations and their regulatory system since their introduction in 1965 , the subsequent development of the “Functional Requirements” and their support by the Approved Documents written in normal English and augmented by diagrams in 1979. This process has been updated, modified and revised on many occasions up to present day with the intention of providing greater clarity but has actually reintroduced levels of complexity and misunderstanding that was their intention to avoid.
The Grenfell Tower disaster has been a very unfortunate but opportune catalyst to awaken this widespread complacency to regulatory expectations, fire design, statutory approvals, construction, maintenance and management. The Building a Safer Future report in May 2018 set 54 recommendations as to how this systemic failure could be remedied and the government signed up to them all. Apart from taking some immediate action on fire doors and cladding, revising diagrams, and more recently sprinklers, the Functional Requirements and Approved Document structure has remained largely unchanged.
The Building Safety Bill is primarily intended as an enabling Act to remedy many of these issues and the ensuing malaise that has permeated the construction industry. The government announced that it will “Put in place new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products, and ensure residents have a stronger voice in the system.”
The RIBA are implicitly involved in this process and still have the opportunity to influence final outcomes in parallel with the ongoing Grenfell Public Enquiry. This webinar is intended to keep members appraised of developments over the next 1-2 years, helping to bring concerns to the attention of the government.
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