The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has, today, published its final phase of the report to examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower on the night of 14 June 2017. The report highlights significant deficiencies in the current building safety regulations and is likely to have a major impact on the construction industry, manufacturers and property owners. Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s findings, which were damming, included the following points:

• all deaths were “avoidable”;

• the manufacturers of the cladding products were “by far the largest contributor” of the fire and were found to have “deliberately concealed” fire safety risks;

• the companies involved in the refurbishment of the tower block bore “significant” responsibility;

• the fire brigade, the local authority and the government all faced criticism; and

• the report concluded that building safety management in England and Wales is “seriously defective”.

The report recommends the introduction of a single construction regulator, as well as a single secretary of state, to oversee building safety. It also recommends the introduction of a legal requirement to submit a fire safety strategy to Building Control for “higher risk buildings”. A link to the full text of the report is below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/publication-of-the-grenfell-tower-inquiry-phase-2-report

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