The Act, which came into force as a response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, was described by a leading contractor as “a tool for government to bring in other regulatory changes” that go beyond safety and are designed to fundamentally reshape the industry’s culture.
Nick Mead, technical director at Laing O’Rourke and chair of the BESA Building Safety Act Advisory Group, told the Association’s latest ‘Behind the Built Environment’ podcast that there were “masses of changes” in the pipeline including myriad revisions to the Building Regulations, which affect every building in the country – not just the higher risk ones (HRBs) specifically targeted by the Act.
He said some people were still claiming that the changes did not apply to them despite the emergence of procurement bills, new fire regulations, and a new Architects’ Bill among other changes.
“All these things are coming through on the back of the Act…it’s every building we build, every structure,” Mead told podcast host and BESA chief executive officer David Frise.
He added that he did not expect the new government to make any changes to the way the legislation was being implemented and enforced, so it would still be the responsibility of the industry to ensure the measures in the Act were adopted.
“The Hackitt Review always said it was industry who would have to drive change, and they’ve got to,” said Mead. “They’re the people with the skill set. The civil servants and the government [are] not contractors, and builders, and building services engineers. They write a standard [and that’s] guidance, which points you in a direction.”
However, he urged the industry to embrace the ‘culture change’ because it would lead to widespread improvements and help “give us back our pride in what we do”.