Matt Hodges-Long 
The new building safety case regime forms a major plank of Dame Judith Hackitt’s post-Grenfell building safety reform agenda. Building safety cases are enshrined in the Building Safety Bill which is proceeding through Parliament right now. Safety cases were first recommended by Dame Judith in May 2018, agreed in principle by Government in December 2018 … Read more
I’m immersed in the Building Safety Crisis full time and a self-confessed Governance, Risk and Compliance nerd. So it won’t surprise you to learn that I believe in the importance of facts. The way we determine facts is by looking for evidence. If a statement cannot be evidenced, at best it’s a belief or an … Read more
Last week, the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) Golden Thread Working Group published a document approved for release by the MHCLG Golden Thread policy unit. This gives us a clearer insight into the Government’s intent about digital management of Building Safety information. This post summarises the 9 Golden Thread principles published in that document and … Read more
Get ready for the Premises Information Box “I therefore recommend that the owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be required by law: a. to provide their local fire and rescue services with up-to-date plans in both paper and electronic form of every floor of the building identifying the location of key fire safety … Read more
“Boss, the FSB has just passed. This brings external walls, flat entrance doors and GTIP1 recommendations into scope of the FSO. We’ll need PIBs for our FRAs and PEEPs. And we’ll need to make our EWS, AOV and lift test records available to the FRS and residents.” This could be dialogue from the next series … Read more
The draft Fire Safety Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday night (17 Nov 2020) The content of the new Fire Safety Bill is fairly well known across the property management sector. In most cases, the impact on day to day operations (not external wall assessments) was thought to be … Read more
What is the Building Safety Crisis? The Grenfell Tower fire revealed shortfalls in building and fire safety for high rise buildings. This raised questions of what was deemed safe, not only for residents living in those buildings but for insurers and lenders. As a result, many leaseholders in high risk buildings are now being faced … Read more
Despite repeated promises from the past three Secretaries of State for Housing that “we will learn from the Grenfell tragedy”, there is still a distinct lack of progress. The intention is to create the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), under the direction of Dame Judith Hackitt and the HSE. However, I remain overwhelmingly cynical that any … Read more
The Problem I have observed the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Hackitt Report, Phase 1 Inquiry from both human and professional perspectives. I have got to know some of the survivors and their advocates very well. I have spoken at events such as The Tall Building Fire Safety Conference; and the Housing Quality Network Digitising Governance and … Read more
Every high-risk building needs a Digital System of Record (DSoR) On the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, we still await decisive action to prevent a recurrence. Despite the solemn commitment of the UK government to act, little progress has been made. Fire safety in high-risk buildings and the regulatory environment that governs them … Read more