‘Residents in unsafe buildings for longer amid regulator’s unacceptable delays’

Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, said: “Any delay in the post-Grenfell drive to protect residents living in unsafe buildings is uncomfortable for us all, particularly those residents.

“But it is unfair to lay the blame at the door of The Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

“Both the BSR and government have been quick to begin making the changes that are needed to keep people safe.

“For example, by creating 100 additional roles at the BSR by the end of the year.

“Yet these are similar roles to those that have been unfilled by Local Planning authorities across the country due to a national shortage of staff in this discipline.

“Also, the government’s ambitious plan to build 1.5 million homes over this Parliament has been hit, not by the BSR, but by planning approvals falling to a 13-year low earlier this year.

“This is due to delays experienced by local authorities that provide planning applications for new houses.

“It’s not the fault of the BSR that the level of building applications it has received has been so low.

“Indeed, Dame Judith Hackitt, chair of the Building Control independent panel, told the Lords Committee she felt the regulator hadn’t defended itself strongly enough when presenting “just how poor some of these applications have been”, having regularly seen applications with “significant building safety issues.”

“The BSR has pointed to the high proportion of applications that do not comply with legal standards and suggested that some parts of the construction industry “appear to be struggling to discharge their new responsibilities.”

“The government was quick to commit to the first recommendation from phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, which was to create a single construction regulator to tackle complexity and fragmentation in the regulatory system.

“Safety must be the cornerstone of every aspect of the construction industry and followed by large and small operators alike.

“The early actions of both the government and the BSR have been needed to bring about a much-needed culture change within the industry.

“But cultural change will take time, and capacity and skills need to be built into the system and driven by all.

“We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that this is about safety.”