Earl of Lytton

Combustible materials in and on the external walls of new residential buildings higher than 18 metres were banned in 2018.

The Building Regulations 2010 set functional requirements for fire safety, including the need for internal linings and structural elements to inhibit fire spread and maintain stability.

More broadly, in 2021, the Government appointed the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) as the National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP) to regulate construction products placed on the UK market. The NRCP and local authorities have powers to enforce the law where products do not comply with the Construction Products Regulations 2013. The regulator has prohibited the supply of construction products including certain insulation, toughened glass, and plywood. Following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's report, the Government has committed to bringing forward reforms to ensure that all construction products supplied in the UK are safe.

Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires that building safety risks in Higher Risk Buildings are assessed, managed and controlled. The assessment must be suitable and sufficient and all reasonable steps must be taken to manage and control the building safety risks.

The Act does not set out specific standards that should be used. However, standards and guidance relevant to other regulatory regimes such as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and BS 9792:2025 Fire Risk Assessment. Housing. Code of Practice will be relevant. Assessors can also refer to the published criteria used by the Building Safety Regulator for Building Assessment Certificate applications.

The assessment of ‘life critical fire safety defects’ does not form part of the Act. It is instead a feature of the Developers’ Remediation Contract and the Responsible Actors Scheme, which encompass a wider range of buildings.

For over two years, the Department has been examining under 11m buildings on a case-by-case basis where leaseholders have raised cladding safety concerns to us. To date, three under 11m buildings have been identified where remediation is needed to make the building safe. Because life safety fire risk is also related to building height, the risk to life from historic cladding fire safety defects is usually lower in buildings under 11m and we expect there to be very few cases of such buildings with unsafe cladding that presents a high risk.

Of the 35 cases seen by the department, where a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall (FRAEW) conducted in accordance with the latest PAS 9980 guidance has recommended remediation, our audits have found that lower-cost mitigations like a fire alarm or significantly scaled-back works were a more proportionate response to the risks presented by the building’s external wall. The risk to life is generally proportionate to the height of buildings. This position is supported by the guidance produced by the BSI for external wall assessors, on which the starting presumption is that low-rise buildings ought normally to be placed in the low-risk category with a more stringent fire safety performance specified for buildings over 18 m in height.