The Royal Institute of
British Architects (RIBA) has given evidence to the Housing, Communities and
Local Government’s Select Committee, in response to the consultation on the
Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety led by Dame Judith Hackitt.
The RIBA has also
today published a detailed response to the Hackitt Review’s consultation.
RIBA Executive
Director of Practice, Adrian Dobson says: “The RIBA very much welcomes a number
of the Hackitt Review's findings and looks forward to working with Government
and the construction industry to improve the regulatory system in order to
assure quality and life safety.
"However, the
Institute remains extremely concerned by the absence of the simple, clear
baseline prescriptive standards that we have consistently maintained would
deliver much-needed clarity for the construction industry and, most
importantly, provide protection for the public.
"There is no
recommendation in the Review to ban combustible materials in external wall
construction on high rise buildings and extend the use of sprinklers, nor for
the provision of alternative means of escape, and desktop studies are retained
as “assessments in lieu of test.”
The relaxation of
baseline requirements and an over reliance on unreliable processes, including
desktop studies to assess fire performance, have been key factors that have led
to the regulatory and systemic failures that prompted the Independent Review.
"We are calling
on Government to radically overhaul the Approved Document guidance to include
clear baseline prescriptive requirements for fire safety. It is vital that guidance is absolutely
clear with no room for ambiguity.”
