Our building safety experts provide you with a useful reference guide to help think through the implications for you and your business.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry (the “Inquiry”) Phase 2 Report (the “Report”), whilst being a significant milestone on the building safety journey, is not the end of the road.
Indeed, as anticipated, whilst the Report provides clarity in some respects, in many ways it asks as many questions as it answers. To us, that is not surprising: the limitations of the Inquiries Act 2005, the further limitations of the terms of reference – and indeed the enormity of the underlying issues the Inquiry uncovered – necessarily meant that the Report would only be able to go so far.
What has also become readily apparent in the immediate fall-out from the Report is that the likelihood of change being driven by government is low, certainly in the short to medium term. Whilst the government has committed to looking at enacting the recommendations in full and said that it will respond within six months, in our view at least, all that confirms is that nothing will change for six months.
If anything, it probably slows matters further, as the likelihood of progress on outstanding secondary legislation needed to fix problems with the Building Safety Act 2022 (the “BSA 2022”) is now presumably lower. Looking at the wider legislative agenda, and all signals made as to this Autumn’s budget, it is also hard to see from where the necessary funds and resource will come to enact the recommendations in any event.
As a result, those operating in the built environment / building safety space – be it designers, manufacturers, suppliers, installers, construction professionals, insurance professionals, legal professionals etc. – will in all likelihood continue to operate in something of a ‘limbo state’ for some time yet.
In the absence of legislative-driven change, there has been a lot of ‘noise’ post the Report as to what the industry might or should do to enact change in the interim. How much of that comes to fruition will ultimately depend on the conviction of individuals and organisations. There is certainly an opportunity here and it is our great privilege at Weightmans to work with so many fantastic clients who are looking to pioneer the way forward.
A particular metaphor has remained relevant throughout the life of the Inquiry: when it is foggy, you can only navigate as far as the fog lights shine. The Report has shone light into the next part of the journey, foggy as it may be, and we look forward to working with clients, old and new, to navigate the next stage.
At 1,700 pages, the Report is not easy to digest. In this paper, our team of building safety experts – drawing on our professional risk, construction, regulatory, public sector and corporate resilience specialisms – set out what we hope will provide you with a useful reference guide to help think through the implications for you and your business.
For support and guidance on any building safety issues, contact our construction solicitors.
