The Building Control Independent Panel (BCIP) has called for the removal of developer choice in building control oversight and laid out a suggested framework for a single regulatory system.
The executive summary states: “The panel’s view is that if we were designing a system from first principles, we would not introduce a system where dutyholders can choose their regulator.
“Our recommendation for the long-term building control model is for choice to be removed.”
The BCIP was formed in 2025 in response to a recommendation from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to scrutinise commercial interest in the system and whether all functions should be consolidated and overseen by a centralised national authority.
Single regulatory system
The report also sets out a conceptual framework for building control, a single regulatory system made up of “fewer, larger, publicly accountable” so-called “Building Control Bodies”.
The panel acknowledges that the model will “take time to deliver” and that the recommendations could add further complexity to the system. “However, this is a broken system which leaves consumers at risk from buildings which have not been effectively regulated,” the executive summary concludes.
The report’s publication comes the day after the Metropolitan Police announced it had submitted evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the fire which killed 72 people in June 2017. It includes details of 57 individuals and 20 companies.
