Before the disaster at Grenfell Tower, the unsafe practices in the built environment including midand high-rise buildings had been increasing for years with respect to fire safety. Even with new legislation and the will of developers to design and build safe residential buildings, it will take years to get back to a place where our buildings are of a high standard that goes beyond the minimum regulations.
The Protection Policy and Reform Unit was set up post-Grenfell by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), with two streams of work as their focus.
The Building Safety Team are focused on making buildings safe now and in the future. They assist the Home Office and the Ministry of Communities and Local Government in remediation and identifying buildings and provide NFCC capacity to deal with new and emerging demands. They are involved in the Fire Safety Bill, the Fire Safety Order consultation, and the Building Safety Bill, which will lead to the Building Safety Regulator, the body which will set the standard for the future to ensure that another tragedy like Grenfell never happens again.
The Service Delivery and Improvement Team are focused on the longer-term role of protection for the fire and rescue service. They are looking at how the new legislation will impact on business as usual for the fire service including aspects such as risk-based inspection plans and competency of enforcing officers.
Fire safety and cladding
Replacement of the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding following Grenfell is now written in policy and is a direct result of how badly a certain type of ACM burned on the building. However, people get confused and think that all ACM and Metal Composite Material (MCM) present a significant fire risk.
Of course, the cladding installed on Grenfell should not have been put on a building of that height, so it is a race against time to find out what other buildings have used the same materials. However, there are lots of components to the different ACM and MCM systems, so it is not straightforward to say whether a building using ACM or MCM is dangerous or not.
This issue is compounded because past record-keeping has been sloppy at best. Often, there is no paperwork on what type of cladding is on a building or what type of insulation it has. Progress is, therefore, slower than was previously hoped. We are still finding buildings today that have unsafe cladding and probably will be for some time.
Issues also arise around where you draw the line on safety, particularly when making that decision on buildings with only partial cladding, types of cladding that present a comparatively lower risk, or where there are combinations of different cladding systems on the same building. It can be particularly challenging to identify some types of systems without testing them, and this becomes compounded where a mixture of systems has been used on one building.
The individual components might have all been independently tested, but not as a combination. Decisions, therefore, have been made on whether to instruct to take it all off, regardless. It might be that certain types of ACM could have remained on buildings, but because of the confusion around combinations, a risk-averse approach has been taken. There may be long-term consequences of that blanket decision. If the industry can get testing regimes and certification right in the future, we can move to a more practical world, where safety is the priority alongside a pragmatic approach to cladding.
The protection board
Minister for Fire, at the time Nick Hurd commissioned Roy Wilsher, the then Chair of NFCC, to chair a new protection board. This was to provide assurance on high rise buildings in terms of safety for the public by the fire and rescue service. This was also to ensure that those responsible for buildings over 18m would consider what was on their external wall. There was a perceived risk because of the media coverage around costs and temporary housing of residents that some of those responsible for these buildings would not want to check because of the cost implications.
Whether we see these as practical or not, everyone in the industry needs to make sure the new framework is practical and workable.
The protection board was set up to ensure that all over 18 metre buildings would be inspected or assured by the fire and rescue service. Despite the recent pandemic, fire and rescue departments are on schedule to finish this assurance process by December 2021.
The biggest impact all this will have on the construction industry is the seemingly conflicting measures. One arm of the government is encouraging more building, and another is promoting safety as the priority. ‘Build them safe’ and ‘build them quick’ could be seen to be in conflict – safety should be paramount.
The Building Safety Regulator
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) might be the beginning of an answer to this. Although they are starting with a small set of new buildings and gateway processes, they will eventually impact the whole of the industry on how they build in the future. Dame Judith Hackitt said that good and safe practices should be seen through the whole built environment. The BSR will have a big role in continuing to push for improvements in safety on construction sites, including the Golden Thread of accountability and traceability.
The key to all of this coming to fruition is collaboration and the Building Safety Regulator has laid out a framework that it wants to operate in with three gateways:
“…the cladding installed on Grenfell should not have been put on a building of that height, so it’s a race against time to find out what other buildings have used the same materials.”
Collaboration for safety
Collaboration will make sure sites are safe so work can continue. The ‘hard-stop’ that Dame Judith Hackitt mentioned will certainly be challenging. It may be difficult to get everything on a site completely finished and signed off before occupation, but a joined-up approach between developers and regulators will ensure that business models use regulations as a minimum standard, not just something to aspire to.
When it comes to the sale of residential apartments, developers need to sell on points of safety, like they do on other consumer products such as cars and not just how attractive they are. As an industry we need to look to ensuring high standards of safety even without the government having to mandate it – it should be seen as a given.
A change of attitude needs to occur throughout the industry, that includes how we improve buildings. Cladding was too often more about environmental impact rather than safety and changes should be made based on an improvement to high quality and safety, not just to not making things worse.
“When it comes to the sale of residential apartments, developers need to sell on points of safety, not just how attractive they are.”
CONTRIBUTORS
Glen Pritchard
Pre-Construction Manager at Sapphire Balconies Ltd
Glen has spent twenty years in the construction industry and the last six years specialising in balcony design. He has worked as a technical designer, project manager and consultant on a range of large projects.
Gavin Besley
General Manager at Valcan
Gavin is involved in the research and development of new products as well as heading up the Technical team at Valcan with a focus on non-combustible A1 and A2 rated rainscreen cladding systems. The role includes ensuring materials meet the requirements of the building regulations as well as wind and fire testing.
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Sean Wilkins
Technical Manager at Brick Development Association
Sean comes from an architectural background and has worked in house building for the last ten years. His role in BDA is to ensure the technical accuracy of BDA publications while making sure they are practical and accessible.
Aneira Beament
Group Head of Marketing at Ash & Lacy
Aneira has been working in the façade industry for 8 years and is part of the team that designed the Mechslip system. She is responsible for Ash and Lacy’s marketing strategy across the group businesses, including construction.
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Ken Davie
BArch (Hons), RIBA, RIAS, ARB
Director at Krozen Design and Consultancy Ltd
Ken is a registered architect and has been in the industry for almost forty years. His MMC work includes single living quarters for the Ministry of Defence and a police headquarters with a prefabricated armoury. Since 2018 Ken has been part of the Supply Chain Sustainability School creating educational material for the construction industry.
Tristan Parsons
Group Managing Director at ATW Group
Tristan is at the forefront of business leadership and growth at the ATW Group. His vast knowledge of MMC and balcony design comes as a result of his extensive experience acquired over the past 20 years.
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Ryan Simmonds
Pre-contracts Director at Sigmat
Ryan has worked for more than 20 years in the construction industry, specifically specialist materials distribution and manufacturing. Passionate about MMC and offsite construction, Ryan has spent the last 10 years specialising in Light Gauge Steel Framing and brings with him extensive experience of leadership and business development.
Laurence McBeth
Sales & Commercial Director at Alumet Systems
Laurence has over forty years’ experience in commercial management and sales of specialist cladding products and has worked extensively in product and system supply across three continents.
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Darren Brown
Pre-construction Manager at Techrete
Darren has a wealth of experience in sales and estimating for the architectural precast façades industry. He is particularly interested in problem-solving with clients to assess project suitability and ensuring best fit for production capacity and clients programme.
Dr Derek Russell
Technical Director
Derek joined Techrete in April 2018 as Head of Engineering & Design and was promoted in 2021 to Technical Director. He is responsible for our large team of Engineers and Draughtsman across Ireland and the UK. He is an accomplished Civil and Structural Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in his field.
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Olav Felgendreher
Project Manager – Component Design at Katerra
Olav is a key member of Katerra’s Mass Timber component design team. He brings 40 years of construction to the team, along with more than 20 years of involvement in mass timber projects throughout Europe, Canada, and the US. These projects have ranged in sizes from single family residential to large, very complex, commercial structures. Olav was instrumentally involved in North America’s first CLT projects, including the Pallas Residence in Revelstoke, the Dowling Residence in Vancouver, and the AGF INC. Head Office in Montreal.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Jamie Parr
Founder and Consultant at BD Solutions
Jamie founded BD Solutions in 2017 after spotting a gap in the market for impartial, honest and agnostic advice on Offsite & Modern Methods of Construction. With the drive to do things ‘better’, he draws on his experience and lateral thinking skills to unlock complex issues and simplify them for his clients. With over 14 years of construction sector experience in a technical & commercial capacity for built environment focused organizations, including an Offsite manufacturer.
James Allen
MIConstME
Glass Safety and Security Risk Consultant at AITCo Consulting James is the Glass Safety and Security Risk Consultant for AITCo Consulting. He has 20 years’ experience in risk assessment and safety and is an expert in glass regulations and the physical hazard glass can cause.
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Elston Gurr
Strategic Accounts & Frameworks Manager at Sapphire Balconies
Elston joined Sapphire Balconies in 2017 moving into the sales team from a past career in finance. From a background in hospitality supply and refurbishment, Elston’s priority is to build lasting relationships with customers.
Kevan Brelsford
M.Eng(Hons) MIFireE
Fire Safety Specialist Kevan currently works as a Fire protection specialist. He has over 25 years of service with several Fire and Rescue Services as a Fire Engineering Officer. For the last three years, Kevan has been involved in large-scale engineering projects. He is a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers and about to finish his masters.
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Dr Harem Hussein
PhD, CEng, MIMechE, MIFireE, MSFPE
Fire Safety Engineer at Efectis Harem is a Fire Safety Engineer at Efectis UK/Ireland with a BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering and PhD degree in Safety Engineering (jet fires). Harem has performed numerous fire testing, façade fire safety and Passive Fire Protection investigations through his work at Efectis.
Geoff Wilkinson
Managing Director at Wilkinson Construction Consultants
Geoff is both a chartered surveyor and a fire engineer. He has over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry and is the spokesperson for the Association of Consulting Approved Inspectors.
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Paul Doman
MICWCI
Institute of Clerks of Works and Construction Inspectorate of GB Inc.
Paul has worked in the construction industry for 48 years. He is a partner at the calfordseaden as Clerk of Works and is the Chairman and CPD Lecture Secretary of the South London Chapter of ICWCI.
Nick Haughton
Head of Marketing at Sapphire Balconies
Nick is Sapphire’s resident balcony expert. He works tirelessly to understand the key themes and topics relating to balconies to help educate and assist specifiers and construction professionals from around the UK, Ireland and Canada. Nick’s expertise helps guide specifiers to approach balconies the correct way to make sure the decisions they make are well informed and safe, whilst carefully considering other important aspects like cost and carbon.
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Shane Ryan
MSc AIFireE
Associate Director at BB7 Fire Shane is a fire engineering consultant and manages fire engineering projects liaising with clients and writing fire strategies for a wide range of buildings. He has worked on a range of residential and commercial design projects throughout the world.
Duncan Alabaster
Technical Manager at Polyseam
Duncan has 30 years’ experience in the fire stopping industry, including technical sales and specification for the construction industry. He has been involved in product development, fire testing and product approvals for National and International bodies and is now technical manager for the Protecta Firestop range at Polyseam.
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Christopher Hall
External Affairs Director at Siderise Group
Chris has been in the construction industry for 44 years, 40 of which he has been involved in all aspects of insulation. He has used his expertise around the world, most notably in the Far and Middle East for 5 years and has held posts in technical and commercial sales roles often at director and board level. His work at Siderise is with external stakeholders to improve product design and installation in the industry.
Carlsson Elkins
Sertus
As someone who is passionate about the construction industry and ensuring life-safety standards are upheld, Carlsson spends most of his time educating construction and fire safety professionals on the principles of smoke ventilation systems.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Simon Hill
Product and Marketing Manager at Schöck Ltd UK.
Simon has a background in structural engineering and has been working in the field of construction for 20 years. He has worked for Schöck for six years in different managerial positions.
Toby Cambray
Building Physicist, Engineer and Director at Greengauge
Toby is the founding director of Greengauge and leads the building physics services in the company. His work involves assessing whole-building energy efficiency, component performance and moisture risk assessment and his specialism is in thermal bridging. He holds a BEng in Acoustical Engineering and an MSc in Theory and Practise of Sustainable Design and is currently undertaking a PhD at University College London.
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Eugene Korch
Technical Director at F.A.T Facades
Eugene has been Technical Director of FAT Facades since 2012. He has delivered over 100 façade design projects from concept to construction.
Andrew Parsons
Founder and Technical Director at Sapphire Balconies
Andrew has been in the construction industry for over 40 years. He founded Sapphire in 1992 as a balustrade company and has continued to develop the company into the market leader in balconies Sapphire is today. Andrew was involved in the development of British Standard 8579 and lends his expertise to improving industry standards and promoting best practice.
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Chris Lister
Commercial Manager for Farrat Structural Thermal Breaks
Chris Lister is the Commercial Manager for Farrat Structural Thermal Breaks. Having studied both Engineering and Architecture, he has worked exclusively in the construction and building product design sector in senior technical and commercial roles. Chris is a dedicated father, diehard Rugby player and fair-weather motorcyclist.
Mark Taylor
Technical Director at Allies and Morrison Architects
Mark is responsible for technical design and quality at Allies and Morrison. He was Chair of BSI panel for BS8579 and is a member of BIBA Regulations and Standards Committee.
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Troy Geddes
Quality Process Engineer at Warren Services
Troy trained as a mechanical technician works in quality and tech, working with customers on quality checks and to solve technical issues.
Karl Pallister
Quality Manager at Sapphire Balconies
Karl manages Sapphire’s Quality, Environment and Safety team and runs the balcony Passport system. He has a background in quality management and Lean manufacturing having worked in the print and automotive industries.
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George Stevenson
Chair of BIM4Housing and Managing Director of Active Plan.
George has been an information management professional and passionate promoter of BIM for many years. He is a founding member of the UK IAI (BuildingSmart) and former chair of the FM group. He spends much of his time working on asset management to ensure information is available to run safe buildings and is a collaborative working champion for Constructing Excellence.
Johnny Furlong
BIM Strategy Lead at L&Q Housing Association
Johnny has over a decade of experience of BIM in construction and has implemented BIM and digital strategies on large scale projects ranging in value from £20m to £500m.
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Tom Cannon
MCIAT
Group BIM Manager at Hill Group UK Tom oversees all BIM projects throughout Hill Group and has created a BIM strategy to ensure the correct BIM documentation is used on each specific project, and to ensure that each discipline through the supply chain is collaborating accordingly. Outside of Hill, Tom leads the construction group at BIM4Housing, is a part of the BIM4HousingAssociations Working Group and is also a member of the new golden thread initiative. He has a first-class honours degree in Architectural Technology, and is a full chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (MCIAT).
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CONTRIBUTORS
David Philp
Director - Digital Strategy and Innovation at AECOM
David is a chartered construction manager and has worked for 27 years in the industry in both main contracting and consultancy, with a focus on information, digital and BIM. He has worked for the cabinet office as head of BIM implementation, Chair of the Scottish BIM programme and the Construction Innovation Hub as Digital Impact Director. With his role at AECOM, he helps clients across the globe implement digital solutions in the built environment.
Alistair Lewis
BA (Hons), DipArch, PgDip, MSc, ARB, RICS Certified BIM
Head of Technology at Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt Architects Allister leads the implementation of BIM, supporting innovation in Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt. His role covers all elements of BIM, process management, hardware and software requirements, training and research and development. The aim of this is to promote efficiency and high quality architecture for their clients.
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Andrew Gamblen
Digital Manager at Willmott Dixon
Andrew looks after effective implementation of the latest technologies, processes, and BIM throughout Wilmott Dixon London and East. His background is in Structural Engineering, with deep experience gained from the heavy refurbishment of existing assets in Central London. Project management, logistics, and workshop management for these types of projects showed him the power of a collaborative work environment, and how visualising in 3D can help communicate complicated schemes.
Dr Nimrita S. Bassi
Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent and Director of Marketing Essentials Lab
Leading a data-led marketing agency, Nimrita is an expert in how digital tools can be used to improve efficiency and quality in construction. She is a part-time lecturer in strategic marketing at the University of Kent and founder of ‘The Post,’ a crowdsourced media company focussed on Millennials.
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Tony Ball
Managing Director at C3 Alliance
Tony has over 25 years’ experience and his development management and consultancy business works with landowners and operators from early stage land acquisition and manages the process of developments through Planning, Design, Construction and Sales. His background is in residential developments and has worked as both a main contractor and residential developer. Since then, he has held several senior management positions including Commercial Director at Berkeley Homes for 10 years.
Luke Haughton
Managing Director at Sapphire Balconies
Luke has been with Sapphire since 2006 and uses his wealth of experience in the sector to build strong and lasting relationships with the UK’s top house builders and developers.
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Adam Reeve
Operations Director at Durston Group
Adam has worked in the scaffolding industry for over 13 years and has risen the ranks from labourer to operations director. He has worked on all sizes of scaffolding projects, including residential buildings, hotels and Damhead Creek Power Station. He has also managed the scaffolding packages on Battersea Power Station and 52 Lime Street (The Scalpel).
Kenneth Farnon
Msc Bsc ICIOB
Director at Cooley Construction Services Ken studied civil engineering, construction management and construction law and has been in the construction industry for twenty years. He has worked at director level since 2003 and at Cooley leads a team offering solutions for clients in terms of procurement routes, supply chain recommendations and construction strategies focused on offsite solutions.
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David Ackerley
Senior Consultant at Arup
David is a chartered health and safety professional who has been working in the construction industry for many years. In recent years he has been chairman of IOSH Construction Group and his work with Arup involves the recladding and alterations to buildings following the Grenfell enquiry.
Brian Hooper
Managing Director at Dantaag
Brian has been in the construction industry for over forty years and has been at Dantaag since 1994, where they hold the speed record of 44 balcony installations in one day.
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Joseph De Klerk
Partner at Stace LLP.
Joseph is a Partner with a Chartered Quantity Surveying background. He is experienced in managing and providing a wide range of pre-, and post-contract cost management services for a variety of clients in the mixed-use residential, commercial, hotel and leisure sectors, both in the UK and overseas.
Richard McMullan
Head of Business Development at MyDek Aluminium Decking
Richard has over 10 years’ experience in the high-rise building sector and is the advisor to architects and technical teams on the design and specification of external terraces and balconies.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Jonathan Davies
MCABE CSSW
Façades Manager at Premier Guarantee Jonathan has been with the business for 9 years, following a career in Local Authority and private building control. He has held several positions at MDIS Group covering London and the Channel Islands and he is now Facades Manager, focusing on high-rise for the business.