The Construction Products Association has released a fuller response to the Government’s call for manufacturers to provide a significant financial contribution to the cladding crisis.
After initially welcoming the letter from Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove, the CPA’s chief executive has now written back to the minister committing the association and its members to pushing for a wider culture change within the industry as a whole.
But Peter Caplehorn also highlights the importance of ensuring that construction products are not routinely substituted from the original specification of a project and also that they are correctly installed. He maintains that this remains key to improving building safety.
In the letter to the CPA, the Secretary of State asks cladding and insulation manufacturers to agree to:
- make financial contributions this year and in subsequent years to fund remediation of unsafe cladding on 11-18 metre buildings. This is alongside the financial contributions the Secretary of State has requested separately from the residential property developer industry to cover cost to remediate unsafe cladding on 11-18 metre buildings, currently estimated to be £4 billion.
- provide comprehensive information on all buildings over 11m which have historic fire-safety defects to which these companies have supplied products or services.
Mr Caplehorn says the CPA understands the need for industry to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in an open and transparent way to address the need for remediation on buildings that are over 11 metres.
“We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your officials to clarify how this can best be achieved prior to a wider meeting involving both CPA members and relevant non-members,” the letter to Mr Gove states. “We are keen to help you and your officials ensure you have all the information on the entire sector that we have at our disposal.
“In addition to helping to meet the near-term needs of existing buildings, both ourselves and our members are fully committed to changing the practices and culture within our sector and the wider construction industry that will be just as critical in the longer-term.
“In particular, we have:
- Assisted and fully supported Dame Judith Hackitt in her Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, including with your officials and the Industry Response Group.
- Designed, developed and are now on the eve of launching the Code for Construction Product Information which we believe will prevent misleading marketing information about products being produced in future.
- Developed a competence process to raise the bar for all who work with construction products, including architects, builders, and manufacturers.
- Contributed to your team working on the new regulations and supporting Publicly Available Specification (PAS) documents.
- Continued to help across a wide range of activities, be that through the Construction Leadership Council, Building Regulations Advisory Committee, the British Standards Institution, Industry Safety Steering Group, and now with the Office for Product Safety & Standards.
- Developed with others a digital information process to ensure construction product information is reliable, clear and available to those who need it.
- Worked with colleagues through the CLC in respect of the current insurance issues that affect the whole sector, because in order to process the remediation work we need solutions in that area.
“The CPA has invested a considerable proportion of the Association’s time, resources and financial support, and will continue with all these activities to achieve the necessary reform and culture change.
“Your primary concern is understandably with the stock of existing buildings that have been identified as unsafe, and the appalling consequences for occupiers and home owners. We will help to the best of our ability. In addressing the key issues, it is important that the response is proportionate as you stated clearly in the House of Commons. Products can be incorrectly procured, installed and maintained by the builder/contractor in such a way as to make the building as a whole unsafe. Products are also routinely substituted by the builder/contractor without clear records, again making the process of ensuring the building is safe difficult and protracted.”
