The government has announced plans to set up a regulator for construction materials that will have the power to remove products from the market that present a significant safety risk.
The regulator will also be able to prosecute companies that flout the rules on product safety.
The creation of the regulator, announced by housing secretary Robert Jenrick, follows testimony to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry that uncovered what the government called “dishonest practice” by some manufacturers of construction products, including attempts to “game the system” and “rig” safety tests.
The new regulator will sit alongside the new Building Safety Bill and a new Building Safety Regulator that is already up and running in shadow form.
It will operate within the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) which will be expanded and given up to £10m in funding to establish the new function. It will work with the Building Safety Regulator and Trading Standards to encourage and enforce compliance.
Jenrick said: “The Grenfell Inquiry has heard deeply disturbing allegations of malpractice by some construction product manufacturers and their employees, and of the weaknesses of the present product testing regime.
“We are establishing a national regulator to address these concerns and a review into testing to ensure our national approach is fit for purpose. We will continue to listen to the evidence emerging in the Inquiry, and await the judge’s ultimate recommendation – but it is already clear that action is required now and that is what we are doing.”
Chair of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety Dame Judith Hackitt said: “This is another really important step in delivering the new regulatory system for building safety. The evidence of poor practice and lack of enforcement in the past has been laid bare. As the industry itself starts to address its shortcomings, I see a real opportunity to make great progress in conjunction with the national regulator.”
Meanwhile, the government has also commissioned an independent review to examine weaknesses in previous testing regimes for construction products, and to recommend how abuse of the testing system can be prevented.
It will be led by a panel of experts with regulatory, technical and construction industry experience and will report later this year with recommendations.
