We believe that one of the single biggest challenges facing the industry is the issue of trust. The public’s confidence in the industry in relation to building safety has been seriously eroded as a result of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The Charter, created by the industry itself, is one of the key ways in which it can improve building safety practice, effect the required cultural change, and in doing so, help to build and grow public trust.
The industry recognises that it needs to work hard at trying to reassure the public and regain their confidence and trust in the safety of buildings, both in how they are built and also how they are managed. In order to support that building of trust, and effectively demonstrate progress, there is a need for an effective system of benchmarking and independent, third-party verification in order to stand up to public scrutiny.
The Charter’s approach to verification is currently under development so that it is relevant to likely future changes in regulation. It will also be a mechanism to reassure companies committing to the Charter that what they state they are doing in relation to the safety systems and processes they have in place, is actually happening.
In April 2020, the UK Government published its response to the Building a Safer Future consultation. Its response – ‘A Reformed Building Safety Regulatory System’ encourages the built environment industry, and in particular Accountable Persons, Duty Holders and those responsible for producing Safety Case Reports, to support the Charter and to become Registered Signatories, as a minimum.
The following are encouraged by UK Government to be Registered Signatories and to share learning and best practice on the Building a Safer Future Charter Learning and Excellence Hub:
• Accountable Persons
• Duty Holders
• Those who may be involved in producing or contributing to Safety Case Reports.
