The Royal Institute
of British Architects (RIBA) has raised serious concerns over the direction of
the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, led by Dame
Judith Hackitt, commenced in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.
The RIBA’s Expert
Advisory Group on Fire Safety, set up following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower,
has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government Sajid Javid MP, urging an immediate consideration of the
recommendations laid out by the RIBA before the final report is due in May.
In the letter to
Sajid Javid the RIBA welcomed the suggestions in Dame Judith’s interim report
that there should be clearer definition and allocation of statutory duties,
increased independent oversight of construction quality and better building
control enforcement. However, the Institute raised significant concerns that
key changes to ban flammable cladding, require sprinklers to be fitted and
ensure there is a second means of escape for high rise residential buildings
seem to have been overlooked.
The chair of the
RIBA’s Expert Group and the Institute’s Immediate Past resident Jane Duncan
expresses worry that the current set of proposals under consideration by Dame
Judith Hackitt will not provide clarity for professionals or deliver assurance
for the public.
The RIBA has made
four key recommendations for baseline prescriptive requirements to provide
clarity for professionals and protect the public:
- External walls of buildings
over 18m in height to be constructed of non-combustible (European class
A1) materials only
- More than one means of
vertical escape from new multiple occupancy residential buildings over 11
metres high, consistent with current regulations for commercial buildings
(which are arguably lower risk)
- Retro-fitting of sprinklers /
automatic fire suppression systems to existing residential buildings above
18m from ground level in height as “consequential improvements” where an
existing building is subject to 'material alterations'
- Sprinklers/automatic fire
suppression systems in all new and converted residential buildings, as
currently required under Regulations 37A and 37B of the Building
Regulations for Wales.
Immediate Past
President of RIBA and Chair of the RIBA’s Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety,
Jane Duncan says:
“The RIBA has
engaged closely with Dame Judith and her Review and we welcome many of the
suggestions made in her interim report to strengthen the building control
system.
"However, we
fear that the current set of proposals under consideration overlook simple but
critical changes that would provide clarity for professionals and most
importantly, would help protect the public.
"Sprinklers, a
second means of escape and a ban on flammable cladding for high rise
residential buildings are common-sense recommendations, and a basic requirement
in many other countries.
"We have
written to the Secretary of State making clear that there must be a thorough
re-writing of the building regulations and guidance on all aspects of fire
safety, to avoid continuation of the regulatory failings that lead to the
Grenfell Tower fire.”
