UK Sets Out Reforms to Address Failures in Grenfell Tower Fire
The UK set out a raft of reforms designed to improve building safety, as it aims to clamp down on failures that contributed to the Grenfell Tower fire.
The government is planning tougher rules on construction product safety, backed by a “strengthened regulator,” according to a statement published on Wednesday [Feb. 26]. It said it would investigate seven organizations named in last year’s report on the disaster using new procurement powers and bring in “enhanced protections” for social tenants.
“The final report exposed in stark and devastating detail the shocking industry behaviour and wider failures that led to the fire,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said. The government said it will act on all 58 of its recommendations.
Ghosts of Grenfell Disaster: No Penalties for UK Firms That Used Flammable Cladding
In the early hours of June 14, 2017 a fire broke out in the kitchen of Flat 16 of Grenfell Tower, a high-rise residential building in North Kensington, west London. The blaze, which ordinarily should have been contained and extinguished within the confines of the apartment, escaped into the cladding wrapped around the building. Within 20 minutes a vertical column of flame had reached the top of the building, eventually killing 72 people.
A long-awaited final report published last year said the blaze was a result of a litany of failures by government and the construction industry. Failures by the policymakers, contractors, local council and fire brigade all contributed to the extent of the disaster, it said.
“We are acting on all of the Inquiry’s findings,” Rayner said in the statement. She vowed to “drive change and reform the system to ensure no community will ever have to face a tragedy like Grenfell ever again.”
Photograph: Grenfell Tower in London. Photo credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
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