OPEN DOORS Grenfell ….. 6 years on It is now over 6 years since the Grenfell fire tragedy, which claimed the lives of 72 people. Since then, dhf has been very active in contributing in any way possible to make the built environment a safer place; for example, being involved in WG12 of the Competence Steering Group which published the White Paper on Construction Products Competence in October 2022. At last, we are now seeing things starting to happen such as the Construction Product (Amendment) Regulations in July 2022 which enabled a new National Regulator for Construction Products to be established by the Office for Product Safety and Standards. Another important development was that, in January 2023, The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force. In residential buildings of multiple occupancy taller than 11 metres, like Grenfell Tower, the new regulations require quarterly checks on fire doors in communal areas and annual checks on flat entrance doors. So, progress is being made but there are still some important ‘loose ends’ which should be reviewed. In the case of the above, how will it be determined that the person undertaking the fire door checks has been properly trained and is competent to undertake the inspection? A ‘Certificate of Competency’ for a Fire Door Inspector may have been issued by the training body but has that resulted from, say, a one-day online training course or a training course that took some months to complete and covered much more detail? A regular comment column, brought to you by Bob Perry, CEO, Door and Hardware Federation For more information, please visit www.dhfonline.org.uk THE door industry journal summer 2023 Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Bob Perry, dhf CEO “This really was something of a ‘landmark’”, says Michael. “The BSR is becoming the building control authority for work on higher risk buildings in England; previously, this was the local authority in most cases. According to government: the Building Safety Regulator’s approach to formal enforcement and sanctions will serve the public interest and will be undertaken in a fair, equitable and consistent manner, targeting, and taking firm action against those who repeatedly offend, act irresponsibly, or whose actions could cause serious harm. It promotes the principle that those who create the risk are responsible for managing that risk and are held accountable when they fail to do so.” In April of this year, an independent review of the construction product testing regime (a follow-up to Dame Judith Hackitt’s report “Building a Safer Future”) was published. Named “Testing for a Safer Future”, the review identifies potential weaknesses in the system and makes recommendations for improvement. “We are yet to receive a response from UK Government. This could affect the existing intentions for conformity marking of construction products and safety critical products; the official response will be important,” explains Michael. “This will affect testing and certification requirements for manufacturers of construction products. “Looking ahead, we expect the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Final Report, as well as legislation on competence requirements (provided for in Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022) which will potentially affect any building activity subject to building regulations approval in England. In addition, the Golden Thread of information: Part 3 of the Building Safety Act Amends the Building Act 1984 to allow building regulations to make provisions regarding creating, obtaining, storing, and transmitting information and documents. Part 4 imposes duties on Accountable Persons to manage such information and documents, subject to regulations to be made by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The necessary regulations have not yet been published but guidance about implementing the regulations and obtaining and handling the data is also expected. Once in place, information provided by manufacturers and installers of construction products will assume greater importance.” www.dhfonline.org.uk Have you liked our Twitter pages yet? We post news everyday! www.twitter.com/DoorIndustryJnl
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