The Construction Leadership Council’s Standards and Regulatory Alignment Group have produced an initial response to the Independent Review of the Construction Product Testing Regime – Testing For A Safer Future led by Paul Morrell OBE and Anneliese Day KC.
The purpose of that Review was to identify any potential weaknesses in the system and
to make recommendations for improvement.
The industry response to the Morrell/Day review analysed the recommendations contained and set out which are for industry, which are for Government and which are for all parties to take forward.
It focused on the following areas:
- Existing construction product regulatory landscape;
- Current understanding and guidance;
- Testing methodologies and standards;
- Testing and certification providers; and
- Can technology help?
The Standards and Regulatory Alignment Group has been looking at the changing area of construction products especially since the UK’s departure from the EU and considering the implications for industry across a wide range of areas and key topics.
“Certification and testing of construction products in the UK have been a considerable issue for the sector, made further so since the Grenfell Tower tragedy,” said Peter Caplehorn, Chief Executive of the Construction Products Association and Chair of the CLC Standards and Regulatory Alignment Group.
“The Grenfell tragedy and other significant failures in the construction industry have given rise to significant concern over the development, marketing, testing and application of construction products and in particular those with a direct effect on life safety.
“The independent review is an extremely thorough piece of work examining and explaining the many aspects of this area, including the complex, intertwining of regulations, standards formal and otherwise, customs, practices and commercial realities. All have a bearing on the industry operating in the UK today.
“It is understood while industry’s response was in preparation, the previous government was preparing its own response to the review and intended to reference a number of other related topics around the building safety certification and testing area, together with various reforms that have been discussed for some time involving products in the built environment.
“While that work from the new government is eagerly awaited, we believe that through this response the industry is lending its voice to what needs to be done, and demonstrating how it can help. It is hoped this will be helpful to industry and government alike.
“We will continue to look at the industry feedback in the group and develop a follow[1]up where appropriate or use this body of work to develop practical answers.”
All interested parties are encouraged to read this initial step in responding to the pioneering report from Paul Morrell and Anneliese Day and we look forward to taking the work forward in due course.
The industry response can be found here.
