Grenfell: Barratt says fixing widespread cladding issues will take up to five years

Barratt has said there is a shortage of qualified fire engineers who are able to refit buildings to reliable safety standards in light of the Grenfell tower disaster.

“We recognise that this will take another three to five years to work through to resolution,” chief executive David Thomas said in the company’s full-year results. “There are resource constraints, an example would be fire engineers.”  

Barratt said it had found another 26 buildings that might need remediation in the year to June, while 42 were either successfully refitted or found to not need additional changes.

The Grenfell Tower disaster led to the identification of thousands on buildings throughout the UK in need of changes to their cladding.

The risk of these buildings was shown again by a fire at a block in Dagenham last week.

Further changes for the construction sector

Barratt’s comments come as The Grenfell Inquiry’s phase two report, out this morning, recommended widespread change in the construction sector.

It recommended the establishment of a single construction regulator to take control of overall regulation of the construction industry, including issuing construction products certificates, as well as the appointment of a chief construction advisor.

The report also said there should be a licensing scheme for principal contractors wishing to undertake the construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings.

“Change on this scale… needs to be led by those of us working in the sector,” Thouria Istephan said.

“If you work in the construction industry and you do not feel the weight of responsibility for keeping people safe, you are in the wrong job,” she added.

‘Wide and far reaching’ effects on the industry

While the new changes will take a few years to come into effect, it is likely they will have a significant effect on the way the sector operates.

Andrew Mellor, Partner at PRP, and technical advisor on building regulations to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, said: “The recommendations for change and improvement are wide and far reaching. If adopted, many of the recommendations will bring significant change, but implementation could take years.

“[The recommendations are] huge and impacts both current responsibilities and those planned for various government departments. While it’s a sensible proposal, it will require a lot of resources to implement. I anticipate it will take at least two years before it can become operational.”

Gill Hancock, head of technical content at the Association for Project Management (APM) said: “The competence framework for managing projects in the built environment, which APM helped to create, is a good step on the journey to ensuring a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again.”

Group Chief Executive of Clarion, Claire Miller, said: The publication today of the phase two report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry marks an important moment.

“The findings and recommendations from this phase will undoubtedly continue to shape the future of fire safety and building regulations across the country.

“We will monitor these developments closely and align our actions with any new legislation or guidelines that emerge. However, I want to be clear that we will not wait for the Government’s response to act where improvements can be made early. Our priority has always been, and will continue to be, the safety and well-being of our residents.”