Committee hears from building control and construction products authorities
The Industry and Regulators Committee is continuing its inquiry into building safety regulation by hearing from building control authorities and the Office for Product and Safety Standards, which regulates construction products. In its first panel on building control, the Committee will discuss the impact of the Building Safety Regulator’s regulation of the building control profession, and consider how the BSR’s approval of higher-risk buildings fits in with other forms of building control for lower-risk buildings. The Committee will also ask whether there are sufficient skilled staff in the sector for the BSR to recruit in-house expertise without impacting on other building control approvers.
In its second panel with the Office for Product and Safety Standards, the Committee will ask what consequences there have been for companies that have dishonestly marketed unsafe construction products, and how the construction sector has responded to the introduction of the OPSS as a construction products regulator. The Committee will also consider how the OPSS works with the BSR to ensure safe construction products are used in higher-risk buildings, and how this might change during the transition to a single construction regulator.
Meeting details
Possible questions include:
- How has the BSR’s regulatory framework impacted the delivery of new buildings and homes, and the maintenance and improvement of existing high-rise buildings?
- Has the culture of the construction sector has improved since the Grenfell Tower fire?
- What actions have been taken to improve enforcement of construction product regulations?
- What powers and resources do construction products regulators need to ensure that the behaviour that led to the Grenfell Tower fire cannot happen again?