RIBA calls Hackitt review into question

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has called into question the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, led by Dame Judith Hackitt.

The RIBA Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety – established in response to the tragic Grenfell Tower fire last June – has urged the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, to take into consideration its own recommendations ahead of the final report’s publishing next month.

In a letter addressing Mr Javid, RIBA welcomed Dame Judith’s interim report which called for “clearer definition and allocation of statutory duties, increased independent oversight of construction quality and better building control enforcement”. But the institute went on to raise serious concerns – core changes that would prohibit flammable cladding, make sprinkler systems mandatory and ensure a second means of escape for high rise residential buildings were not addressed in any meaningful way.

Consequently, RIBA has made four key recommendations for baseline prescriptive requirements which will give greater clarity to professionals and better protect the general public:

1. External walls of buildings over 18 metres in height must be constructed of non-combustible (European class A1) materials only.
2. More than one means of vertical escape for new multiple occupancy residential buildings over 11 metres high, consistent with the current regulations for commercial buildings.
3. The retrofitting of sprinklers or automatic fire suppression systems to existing residential buildings standing 18 metres above ground level as “consequential improvements” where an existing building is subject to ‘material alterations’.
4. Sprinklers or automatic fire suppression systems in all new and converted residential buildings, as currently required under Regulations 37A and 37B of the Building Regulations for Wales.

Immediate Past President of RIBA and Chair of the institute’s Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety, Jane Duncan was on-hand to explain more: “RIBA has engaged closely with Dame Judith and her review and we welcome many of the suggestions made in her interim report to strengthen the building control system. However, we fear that the current set of proposals under consideration overlook simple but critical changes that would provide clarity for professionals and most importantly, would help protect the public.

“Sprinklers, a second means of escape and a ban on flammable cladding for high rise residential buildings are common-sense recommendations, and a basic requirement in many other countries. We have written to the Secretary of State making clear that there must be a thorough re-writing of the building regulations and guidance on all aspects of fire safety, to avoid continuation of the regulatory failings that lead to the Grenfell Tower fire.”

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