Government response to the Grenfell final report spells major reforms for the UK built environment

The UK government has issued its formal response to the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Final Report, which was which was published in September last year some seven years after the fire. Of the 58 recommendations, the government has confirmed that it will adopt 49 of them in full and accept the remaining nine in principal.

Professionals in the construction and built environment sector should be aware of a range of significant developments that will follow the government's much-anticipated response.

Implementation timeframe

The industry can expect changes to be brought in as part of a phased approach, with the initial stage focusing on delivering the current programme of regulatory reform. From 2026 to 2028, proposals will be developed to deliver recommendations and wider reform, including through legislation. From 2028 onwards, the government will implement these reforms.

The government will publish quarterly reports on its progress and update Parliament annually, as well as establishing a publicly accessible record of progress made against all of the Inquiry's recommendations.

Review of the definition of higher-risk buildings

Further plans for the ongoing review of the definition of higher-risk buildings (HRBs) under the Building Safety Act will be set out this summer. The government hopes this will help identify whether the current list of buildings subject to enhanced regulatory oversight and requirements is sufficient.

Mandatory accreditation and greater regulation of building safety professionals

Measures will be taken to improve the competence and professionalism of those involved in building safety, including fire engineers, fire risk assessors and building control professionals.

This will include greater regulation and certification requirements, such as requiring fire risk assessors to be certified and introducing new requirements for principal designers.

Consideration will be given to a licencing scheme for principal contractors on HRBs and to the regulation of the fire-engineer profession.

Review of current statutory guidance

As previously announced, a reform of statutory guidance to the building regulations is already underway, particularly approved document B. Interim findings will be published in summer 2025 and a full list of recommendations in 2026.

Bringing fire safety under a single secretary of state

The final report raised concerns that "arrangements under which the construction industry was regulated had become too complex and fragmented". It recommended a more unified approach to fire-safety compliance by bringing these responsibilities under a single government department.

As such, the government has said it will move fire safety-related functions from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which already overseas the National Regulator for Construction Products.

Building control supporting statements

The government intends to introduce a statutory requirement that senior managers of principal designers provide a statement to confirm, in their application for building control approval, that they have complied with their existing duties. The government will also consider whether this requirement should apply to all building control, not just HRBs.

Construction regulator and chief construction advisor

A single construction regulator and a chief construction advisor to the government will be created.

The regulator will deliver most of the functions recommended in the report, which are detailed in a full list. These include regulation, oversight and accreditation. This encompasses the regulation of construction products, licensing of contractors working on HRBs, accreditation of some professionals and monitoring of Building Regulations.

Research and development will also focus on developing testing methods, conducting fire safety research, and maintaining a library of test data and information and collaboration will involve the collection and exchange of fire safety information from the UK and abroad.

Two of the inquiry's recommendations as to the functions of the regulator will not be adopted by the government: it will not undertake testing and certification of construction products nor will it issue of certificates of compliance.

The government has stated in Parliament that bringing those two functions within the regulator's remit would risk a conflict of interest, where it would set the rules and police its own compliance. However, this is likely to be a controversial decision, with concerns already having been voiced that this means testing and certification will remain a function carried out by private companies, despite major criticism of this system in the Inquiry's report.

Independent building control sector panel appointed

An independent panel will be established to review the building control sector and whether the function should be performed by a national authority. The panel will also recommend which bodies should carry out particular functions.

Residential personal emergency evacuation plans

A new residential personal emergency evacuation plan policy will be implemented to improve the fire safety and evacuation of vulnerable and disabled residents in high-rise and high-risk residential buildings.

Construction products regulation system reform

The construction products regulation system will also be reformed. New debarment powers under the Procurement Act 2023 will be used to investigate a number of firms to decide whether they should be debarred from the public procurement regime, preventing them from bidding for or working on public sector contracts.

The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, also announced the new green paper on reforms to the construction product safety regime on 26 February.

The consultation seeks comments on a range of proposals for reform, including proposals that address the Grenfell inquiry's recommendations. It also serves as the government's response to the independent review of product testing and certification (the Morrell-Day review). 

Green paper proposals

The main proposals include a general safety requirement to capture the two-thirds of construction products that currently sit outside of the existing regulations.

They also look to make all manufacturers responsible for assessing safety risks before marketing them, with civil and criminal penalties for manufacturers who mislead buyers or neglect their responsibilities and improved legal routes for individuals to seek redress for defective products;

Alignment with the revised European Union Construction Products Regulation to ensure consistency and support trade is also proposed.

Requirements for clear, accessible labelling and product information also include establishing a library for construction products. This will provide a central repository for vital information on construction products and, potentially, "digital product passports "to provide information about products

Regular audits and inspections of third-party certification schemes by the national regulator are also proposed to evaluate their adherence to the proposed standards.

The regime will not be nationalised, as recommended by the Inquiry, to avoid any conflicts of interest. Responses to the construction product-safety consultation are sought by 21 May 2025.

Osborne Clarke comment

There will be broad support from the industry for the government's recommendations, as it was recognised that reform was needed. However, the industry will be concerned about the impact, particularly in terms of delay, that further regulation will have on future projects.

The industry is currently reeling from significant delays at the Building Safety Regulator in determining "Gateway 2" applications with the regulator taking significantly longer than the 12-week period envisaged by the regulations.

Delays in excess of 26 to 30 weeks (or more) are consistently being reported. This is already having an impact on the deliverability of schemes, as programmes are pushed out and costs increase. Developers of HRBs are left in limbo for significant periods of time with little certainty about when they can start construction.

In turn, this will have a knock-on effect for the construction industry, which already reported a significant fall in construction activity in January. There are also concerns this will reduce investor appetite in the sector as investors switch to less complicated and more certain sectors.

If the delays at Gateway 2 are replicated when projects reach "Gateway 3" there are fears that completed buildings face being mothballed and unoccupied for significant periods of time whilst developers wait for Gateway 3 certification. The knock-on effects of delays at this point in time for investors, developers, contractors and operators are significant, but this also has an impact on the public waiting to move into these buildings, a number of which will be affordable housing.

The industry needs the government to focus on properly resourcing the Building Safety Regulator to deal with the current (and expected) volume of work before it extends its reach further or adds to its workload. An overstretched and under-resourced regulator is not what the industry, or the government, needs. Without this, the government's plan to create 1.5 million new homes is looking increasingly out of reach.