FIRE SAFETY | REGULATORY PROPOSALS THREADS OF RESPONSIBILITY Government proposals to improve building safety call for a golden thread of information to be passed between accountable people at every stage. Alex Smith looks at how industry is responding to the challenge of recording and retaining robust and reliable information T he governments plans for reforming the building safety regulatory system are extensive and ambitious. Published last month in Building a Safer Future, the proposals build on the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitts independent review of regulations and fire safety. Insome cases, they go further. For example, the government is proposing the scope of the regulations is residential buildings above 18-metres high, rather than 30 metres, as stated in the Hackitt report. Under the proposals, the construction industry will have to consider fire safety at every stage of the building life-cycle from planning and design to construction and occupation. Failure to do so may prevent projects from being signed off by a building regulator. There will be ahuge amount of stress for the developer and occupier if the building cant be occupied until the regulator signs it off, says Miller Hannah, partner and principal of fire engineering at Hoare Lea. It will be for their own good, but there might be delays. The consultation document proposes making people accountable for fire safety during the building life-cycle. Five dutyholder roles are proposed in the design and construction phase client, principal designer, principal contractor, designer, and contractor with safety responsibilities set out in law. During the occupation phase, an accountable person must appoint a building safety manager to carry out functions in accordance with the requirements of the building safety certificate and the safety case, which is the evidence showing that life-critical risks are being proactively managed. There are three key points at which the dutyholder must demonstrate they are managing building safety risks appropriately before they can continue to the next stage of development. The first of these gateways occurs before planning permission is granted, the second before construction begins, and the third before occupation. The proposals refer to a golden thread that runs through the whole life of the building. This involves making sure the design works and that the products procured support the design ethos. These products 18 July 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE July19 pp18-20 Grenfell.indd 18 21/06/2019 15:32