Persimmon Homes and Clarion Housing Group have been singled out by Dame Judith Hackitt as ‘exemplar’ organisations that are showing ‘leadership’ on building safety.
Speaking at the annual Sir James Wates lecture, organised by CIOB, Hackitt was widely critical of the construction industry’s resistance to behavioural change since the 2022 Building Safety Act and this year’s Grenfell Inquiry report.
But Hackitt, who authored the 2018 post-Grenfell report Building A Safer Future, said that while an “appalling attitude continues to prevail”, it is not universal.
“I know that there are many of you who are already doing the right thing,” she said at the lecture, titled ‘In Search of the Leaders’.
“I’ve spoken to companies large and small, who do ‘get it’, and who have sought and gained the full support of their boards to do the right thing. In some cases, we’re talking about companies that have made provisions of millions of pounds. They are thinking very differently, and I applaud them for what they’re doing, and feel very much that they deserve greater recognition for their leadership.
“I want to single out two who I’ve spoken to recently. Persimmon Homes and Clarion Housing Group are exemplars of that leadership that we are looking for, with that true commitment from the very top. They shouldn’t be out there alone blazing the trail.”
Clarion was one of the first housing organisations post-Grenfell to embrace digital technology to plan its asset management and create fire safety reviews.
Persimmon was shortlisted at this year’s Digital Construction Awards for its quality app, The Persimmon Way, which aims to enforce consistent standards across 30 regional operating companies and more than 250 construction sites.
