The Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, which occurred on June 14, 2017, claimed the lives of 72 people and injured many more. It was the worst residential fire in the UK since World War II. Given the gravity of the tragedy, the UK government immediately announced that a public inquiry would be held into the causes of the fire.

That public inquiry has been chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick and has been divided into two phases: Phase 1 focused on the immediate events surrounding the fire, whilst Phase 2 delved into the broader issues of building regulations, fire safety, and social housing. The Phase 1 Report was published in October 2019 which we reported on here Fire safety in high-rise buildings - next steps?.

The Grenfell Phase 2 report was published on 4 September 2024. It runs to seven volumes, or nearly 1700 pages, and is a comprehensive report providing a detailed analysis of:

  • the historic development of building regulations and fire safety standards;
  • the nature of testing and marketing of construction materials and products and the wider fire testing regime;
  • the management of fire safety at Grenfell Tower, including the roles of those involved in the design and procurement of the re-cladding works undertaken at Grenfell Tower; and
  • the identification of the individual victims and the individual circumstances leading to their deaths.

The report concludes by making some 58 recommendations. These include:

  • the establishment of a single independent body, headed by a Construction Regulator with reporting obligations to the Secretary of State. In making this recommendation, the Inquiry noted that even under the Building Safety Act, responsibility for a wide range of functions remains disbursed and that the recommendation is for the Government to draw all of these under a single regulator;
  • the definition of a "Higher Risk Building" (HRB) should be reviewed and not defined only by reference to the height of a building, but rather to take into account the use of the building and the nature and vulnerabilities of occupants of the building;
  • that Approved Document B be reviewed and updated to provide all information necessary to ensure that buildings are designed to be safe in the event of a fire;
  • that new testing methods should be developed, as the existing methods (including BS:8414 tests) do not provide sufficient information to assess the risk posed by fire spread in any particular construction;
  • to make Fire Engineering a profession recognised and protected by law (in similar way to the role of an architect);
  • that Contractors wishing to take on the construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings be subject to a new licensing scheme; and
  • that applications for building control approval for HRBs (Gateway 2) be supported by a statement from a senior manager of the principal designer (see Building Regulations in England – new dutyholders) that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that on completion the building will be as safe as is required by the Building Regulations.

The construction industry will need to await a formal government response to understand the extent to which these recommendations may be implemented in practice, and the timescales for this. However, it is clear that further significant change may yet result from the Inquiry's final report, with a focus on ensuring that such a tragedy cannot be repeated.

Over the coming months, the dedicated Building Safety team at Gowling WLG will be reviewing the Phase 2 report in detail and monitoring any legislative or other developments that may flow from the report, including to potential changes to the Building Safety Act (BSA). In the meantime, should readers wish to review the Phase 2 report for themselves, then the link to the Inquiry page is Phase 2 report | Grenfell Tower Inquiry

To discuss the findings and recommendations from the Grenfell inquiry, or for more information on building safety, please contact Sue Ryan, Gemma Whittaker, or Sean Garbutt.