Key Facts

• The Committee meetings are scheduled for September and October.
• Witnesses include Sir Ken Knight CBE QFSM, Independent Expert Advisory Panel; National Fire Chiefs’ Council.
• Maria Miller declares her interest due to her husband's involvement in a law firm representing clients in the building industry.
• The Building Safety Regulator is central to ensuring capability and competence throughout the sector.
• Dan Daly welcomes the Bill as an important step change but suggests broadening its scope at appropriate points.
• Australia's approach, particularly Victoria’s single regulator model, addresses a much smaller scale of buildings compared to the UK (2,300 vs 12,000 high-rise residential buildings in the UK).
• Sir Ken Knight supports the mixed economy approach proposed by Dame Judith Hackitt but emphasizes the need for a level playing field in terms of competency and assurance.
• Height is currently used to determine the threshold of buildings in scope, with a starting point of 18 metres or more than six floors.
• The Building Safety Regulator has discretion to broaden the scope beyond height-based criteria to include other risk factors such as care homes and hospitals.
• There are concerns about market overreaction leading to undue financial burden on leaseholders.
• The Building Safety Bill aims to improve knowledge of building conditions.
• The Fire Safety Act 2021 grants enforcement authority to fire and rescue services for buildings with multiple occupancies.
• Richmond House in Worcester Park was evacuated due to fire risks, highlighting the need for comprehensive safety measures.
• The Bill allows for secondary legislation to address issues not covered by primary law.
• Buildings with existing planning permission under the current system may still be constructed and need reassessment.
• Modern methods of construction like timber-frame and modular techniques require robust competency measures throughout their lifecycle.
• EWS1 forms have been misused, adding unnecessary costs for leaseholders.
• The Fire Safety Act 2021's external wall assessment will potentially replace EWS1 forms.
• Leaseholders should not bear the cost of historic building defects.
• The Building Safety Bill includes provisions for a new construction products regulator.
• Modern methods of construction bring precision in pre-forming and pre-making, but require built-in fire safety elements.
• The Bill is seen as a step forward from the draft version but not a panacea to ensure building safety.
• The Building Safety Bill's detail is left largely in secondary legislation.
• Key elements like the golden thread and gateway process are not on the face of the Bill.
• Mandatory registration for principal designer, principal contractor, building safety manager roles is needed.
• The Bill extends the Defective Premises Act 1972.
• Housebuilders and developers have put up £500 million already.
• The Grenfell evidence revealed scandalous integrity in marketing information for construction products.
• Implementation of the conformity assessed mark has been postponed by a year.
• Graham Watts expresses concern about the unintended consequences of the Act, particularly regarding the insurability of roles such as building safety managers.
• There is a recommendation for codicils like “so far as reasonably practicable” in certain requirements to prevent uninsurability.
• The importance of independent scrutiny of construction work is highlighted, with a reference to the traditional role of clerks of works and architects supervising site work.
• Maria Miller thanked the witnesses for a 'really excellent evidence session'.
• The session was ordered to be adjourned until later that day.