Hackitt reforms: a clarion call to ‘get your house in order’

With the construction industry on the cusp of major reform amid anticipated changes to building regulations, it’s never been a more pressing time for key players to heed the clarion call and ‘get their house in order’. Here Dave Allen, Business Unit Director at Bureau Veritas’ Construction Division, explains how, given the heightened climate, a greater focus on best practice is the way to go.

It’s certainly no exaggeration to say that the development and construction industry is in the midst of the most unprecedented change it has seen in decades.

As expected, last year’s ‘Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety’ by Dame Judith Hackitt shed light on industry-wide shortcomings around the design, construction and management of buildings in relation to fire safety. This included a lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities and excessively complex regulatory oversight and enforcement that has been accused of spurring a “race to the bottom” in building safety practices.

As such, the report put forth a comprehensive list of 53 recommendations, which the government is currently in the process of enacting in its entirety. These include a new regulatory framework for buildings over ten storeys tall, a clear and identifiable dutyholder, introducing three ‘gateway’ points in compliance, as well as more rigorous enforcement in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The construction and fire safety sectors will also be required to demonstrate more effective leadership and oversight of building safety, which will be monitored through the creation of a new building safety regulator.

Indeed, since the Hackitt report was published in May 2018, four separate consultations have already been released on how to improve the fire and structural safety of high-rise residential buildings.

Most recently, last June saw the publication of Building a Safer Future which, in addition to incorporating the points above, goes further in not only seeking to give residents a stronger voice when it comes to raising fire safety concerns but also applying any changes to multi-occupancy residential buildings 18m (six storeys) and above rather than the original ten storeys.

The 192-page document also adds weight to Hackitt’s ‘golden thread’ notion, in which she called for the original designer to be involved throughout the construction process, supported via the introduction of five dutyholder roles as well as a more robust audit trail of information.

While such changes are of course a welcome step forward in raising building safety standards, the sheer scale and pace of reform facing building regulations certainly represents a huge challenge for the industry.

There’s no hiding from the fact that this proposed overhaul is not only complex but will undoubtedly change the way we operate as a sector for decades to come – yet we still don’t know the exact timeline of the reforms or how they will work in practice.

Despite this uncertainty, for many businesses, including those operating in building control and fire engineering, the need to heed this clarion call and ‘get your house in order’ has never been more urgent.

Therefore, taking the time now to implement best practices in all aspects of design, construction, maintenance and certification of buildings is vital to getting ahead of the new regulations.

A clearer duty for dutyholders

One of the most significant proposals to come out of the latest consultation is a new dutyholder regime that spans the life cycle of the building. The dutyholder will be ultimately responsible for managing building safety and providing reassurance to residents. The government is recommending five dutyholder roles aligned to construction, design and management.

These include the client, principal designer, principal contractor and designer, as well as a contractor at the design-and-build stages and an “accountable person” during the occupation stage – which mirror he Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations 2015 to avoid any confusion.

This will be further supported by the introduction of a building safety manager (BSM), who will help the accountable person to fulfil their duties in managing fire and structural risk. The BSM will also be required to have specific competencies, the details of which have yet to be determined.

Essentially, it will mean a dutyholder will have to present a safety case at regular intervals to the yet-to-be-formed buildings safety regulator, encouraging greater transparency, accountability and collaboration throughout the different stages of development.

For many in the industry, it will mean becoming well-acquainted with their own role within the new hierarchy and understanding subsequent ramifications it will have on the way they work.

Three ‘gateways’ to building safety

Another core Hackitt recommendation is that the current inspection regime for High-Rise Residential Buildings (HRRBs) should integrate three key gateways that align with the three significant phases of project delivery – at the planning stage, just before construction starts and handover.

These are defined as the following:

  • Gateway 1 – during the planning stages the proposed building/scheme must be prove that it is accessible by the fire service before progressing to the next stage
  • Gateway 2 – before construction starts the dutyholder must demonstrate that the building sets out a plan to manage key building safety risks and ensure that there is full building regulation approval in place
  • Gateway 3 – After construction, the building safety regulator must be satisfied that the signed-off design has been followed before occupation can start

In terms of building control, the Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors (ACAI) has recommended1 that the duty holder would have to appoint the building control body prior to Gateway 1 and would not be able to replace them with mutual agreement. As such, to assist with the delivery of building control on HRRBs over 18m organisations can use Tier 1 and Tier 2 Approved Inspectors.

For architects, in particular, such measures are backed by the Royal Institute of Architects (RIBA), which in September 2018 unveiled its Plan for Work for Fire Safety, a fundamental update to its famed process bible for architects, developers and the wider construction industry.

Incorporating many of the Hackitt Review’s recommendations, it sets out a clearly defined programme of fire safety considerations to be embedded from the start by involving Building Control, the Fire and Rescue Authority, building managers and tenants more closely from an early stage.

Hence, in the interim, as the government directives become formalised, RIBA’s revised Plan for Work and CIC’s recommendations offer immediate guidance on adopting a best practice framework through all seven stages of a project – and we would encourage all those that haven’t done so already to understand and implement their suggestions.

Building a safer future

Looking ahead, making the transition to a post-Hackitt world will no doubt be a daunting process, fraught with complexity, difficulties and potential delay – with many in the industry already considering the impact on their business, the potential benefits and how they will respond to the new regulatory environment.

There is no question about it; the construction industry is entering a new era of competency and compliance – one centred on best practice and public safety. What’s more, rather than waiting for changes to building regulations to come into force, now is the time to take swift tangible action in order to ensure we implement new better ways of working. So the question is, what are we waiting for?