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Leader of government review wanted to ‘get rid of building regulations’
The leader of a previous government review of building regulations, Sir Oliver Letwin, said before Grenfell he wanted to “get rid of building regulations”.
Sir Oliver, who is also currently leading a government review into build-out rates, allegedly made the comments at the start of the ‘Red Tape Challenge’.
This was a government initiative spearheaded by Sir Oliver in 2011 as part of an attempt by David Cameron to reduce regulation and bureaucracy. It covered, among other things, building regulations.
Mike Leonard from the Modern Masonry Alliance said at a recent seminar hosted by the Fire Protection Association earlier this month that Sir Oliver told him in a meeting at the start of this scheme that “if he had his way, he would get rid of building regulations”.
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A source with knowledge of that conversation told Inside Housing: “It was a throwaway comment, but it was in the spirit of wanting to deregulate industry. That’s what the Red Tape Challenge was all about, taking off regulation that was seen as a cost to industry.”
Listen to a podcast on the failure of building regulations here:
When contacted by Inside Housing, Sir Oliver did not deny making the comments.
He added: “It has been my view for a long time – now borne out by the Grenfell Tower tragedy – that the current system of building regulation is still too focused on process and too little focused on ensuring the safety and durability of construction.
“I think we should look again at a system of strict liability that makes the builder absolutely liable for the outcome. I believe that would do far more than the present system to focus minds on safety and durability.”
A document from government archives released by the Red Tape Challenge indicates that the scheme resulted in changing three parts of building regulations.
The document states: “These three sets of regulations were simplified, through amendments to the technical elements and the building control system, so that they were less burdensome on business, producing annual savings of £48.8m.”
Among the specific changes this document refers to are a minor alteration relating to the testing of flame spread across materials used on buildings.
Sir Oliver’s review added a paragraph intended “to reduce the testing burden on manufacturers”.
It suggested that certain materials could be used without testing as long as they were sufficiently similar to materials that had been tested.
This is an issue that has come under public scrutiny after cladding helped spread fire across Grenfell Tower. The cladding was certified ‘Class 0’ by the British Board of Agrément, a certificate which convinced many in the industry it was permitted for use on high-rise buildings. A Class 0 rating relies primarily on the surface spread of flame.
The Paper Trail: The Failure of Building Regulations
Read our in-depth investigation into how building regulations have changed over time and how this may have contributed to the Grenfell Tower fire:
