Adrian Smith is one of the UK construction industry’s leading experts on passive fire protection, recently becoming the first contractor to qualify with the Level 3 Certificate from the Institution of Fire Engineers.
Founded in 1946, ISD Solutions has grown to be the UK’s leading contractor in the design, installation, and maintenance of composite panel-based structures.
Two years after the tragedy at Grenfell Tower in London and the repercussions continue to develop, in a bid to avoid such desperate loss of life from ever repeating itself in similar circumstances.
What is becoming apparent is that, despite the clear shortcomings of the cladding design and installation on the building, culpability is hard to identify because of a lack of accountability for fire safety.
Some residents of Grenfell Tower are starting a lawsuit against three US firms who they believe may have been at fault. Others feel such a case detracts from pursuing justice closer to home.
However some estimates reckon that more than 300 different companies had some involvement in the £10m refurbishment of the tower, which saw the new cladding installed. This makes identification of one or more responsible parties incredibly challenging.
In the meantime, residents all over the UK are having to foot the bill themselves for upgrades to unsafe cladding and insulation, or see their properties rendered worthless. It’s entirely unsatisfactory.
So, looking forward, it’s therefore welcome to hear news that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is looking to bring into law those recommendations, made by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review into the tragedy, that ‘dutyholders’ are appointed to monitor and manage building fire safety.
Who exactly these people will be is yet to be decided, but it should be welcomed that they will be responsible for the ‘golden thread’ of safety information during the entire lifespan of a building.
At ISD Solutions we are keen to see a change in culture throughout the construction industry, whereby contractors are held to task for the quality and safety of the work they do.
Too often a contractor, or subcontractor, is concerned purely with the bottom line impact of the job –getting in and getting out while potentially compromising safety, not only of their work but of others involved earlier in the process.
Giving accountability to a dutyholder (with potential for enforcement action if the individual fails in their responsibility), combined with the renewed scrutiny from the building safety regulator, should result in more rigorous performance standards by all involved.
I also welcome moves to provide a full-scale technical review of Approved Document B (the building regulations guidance on fire safety), so that the industry has clarity and ease of access to the regulations. With due respect to many sub-contractors, legalese is not their forte. So while not wanting to excuse any negligence, anything which spells things out simply and effectively is to be welcomed.
As the managing director of a company in the construction industry, I am of course aware of the pressures of profit margins and the need to conduct work as efficiently as possible.
However, I believe it is short-sighted and ultimately unsustainable for any business to place immediate profits higher up the ladder of importance than quality and safety.
The cultural shift that Dame Hackitt called for in her enquiry two years ago can be driven by legislation but it must be adopted with willing by developers and contractors, which need to recognise the ethical and business benefits of doing so.
Society in general is moving to one which demands that the needs of people are placed above corporate profit. One can argue the debate about the benefits and shortcomings of capitalism until the cows come home. But the Grenfell Tower tragedy draws into stark focus the fact that, with the responsibility we have as construction professionals, it’s unacceptable to place public lives in danger by cutting corners.
I want to see the UK construction industry becoming one which prides itself on technical competence and excellence in safety standards, so that all parties involved buy into the mission of making buildings of which we can be confident and proud.
