What is the Future of Façade Remediation
The publication of Grenfell Tower Enquiry Report: Phase 2 last week made very sobering reading and reminds us in the façade industry, if indeed we needed reminding, that the fire safety of individuals must come before anything else. We are all acutely aware of the issues that surround the remediation of unsafe buildings and the need to push forward with this work.
At present, the Government reported number of buildings that require remediation is growing every month as further investigation is carried out.
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, formerly the DLUHC, there were 4,630 residential buildings, 11 metres and over, identified as having unsafe cladding at the end of July 2024. Of these, only 1,350 have completed remediation works with 949 started. That leaves 2,331 buildings reported with no work yet begun. And these are just the buildings with known problems.
The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have both recently stated that the work of refurbishing these buildings must speed up. We wait to see how they are going to achieve this acceleration, very welcome as it will be to the leaseholders and residents of these apartments.
Publication of this report is an opportunity to improve fire safety, and we need to look to how we react to it. We in the façade industry can all contribute to fire safety in the future by taking on the challenges of the Building Safety Act, embracing the new regulation and designing, manufacturing and constructing to the required standards. We have great professionals in our industry, we are getting hold of this and it’s not that difficult.
Indeed, at our next Façade Focus event on October 17th, we will be continuing the theme of fire safety and recladding, focussing more on what the industry now needs to do, working within the Building Safety Act, and the progress of fire remediation works.
Last, but not least, we are thrilled to welcome John Neale of DMWR Architects to our team this month.