Building safety

A Dagenham building badly damaged by fire during cladding remediation works is set to be demolished, Construction News can reveal. More than 80 people were made homeless when fire ripped through the Spectrum Building, a seven-storey mixed-use building in Dagenham, in August. The building was in the process of having…

Construction firms need a deeper understanding of new building regulations and guidance, a specialist industry group has warned. Just days before the new standard of building design and fire safety is formally published, the Business Sprinkler Alliance (BSA) said there remained “widespread misunderstandings” on applying regulations. The group, which represents…

The new post-Grenfell dutyholder regime could cause insurers to slash professional indemnity insurance (PII) coverage, a Construction Leadership Council (CLC) lead has warned. Insurers may carve out more exclusions within PII coverage as new obligations for the principal contractor (PC) role create uncertainty over liability, insurance veteran Samantha Peat told…

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will take a “harder” stance on building control applications to tackle delays, one of its directors has said. The regulator had engaged in too much conversation with applicants on their submissions in its first few months of operation, which then delayed other applications, BSR deputy…

Contractors have been urged to look out for new guidance on keeping homes safe from fire. An updated British Standard will be published on 27 November that will, three days later, supersede the current version. BS 9991:2024, ‘Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings’, was finalised…

A subsidiary of a sanctioned firm has been appointed to provide services for high-risk buildings (HRBs) under a Building Safety Regulator (BSR) framework. LB Building Control was appointed to the framework until 2027, according to a statement released by its parent company, Assent BC. The statement, posted last Tuesday (12…

The government has sent initial warning letters to 49 organisations involved in the Grenfell Tower tragedy, including firms that ministers want to ban from public sector work. In September, responding to the phase two report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, prime minister Keir Starmer told MPs that the government would…

Safety chiefs have warned that clumsy cladding remediation work is leaving critical building fire-response systems unable to do their job. Built environment body Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures, known as Cross UK, has issued a red safety alert regarding smoke vents. The group said it had received “several reports” of…

Stalling developers, building safety regulator issues and squeezed social landlord finances mean the government is on track to miss its 2035 target for remediating dangerous cladding, according to a spending watchdog. A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) said work to remove the most dangerous aluminium composite material cladding…

A high-profile Parliamentary committee has announced a probe into the government’s progress in remediating high-rise buildings with dangerous cladding. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it would summon senior officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Homes England to give evidence. Its inquiry will delve…