In a brand-new episode of Assembly Point, RIBA past president, Jane Duncan OBE, explores why fire safety must be taken seriously, and what action still needs to be taken to ensure tragic events such as Grenfell are never repeated.
Jane is the Chair of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety formed shortly after the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. Its work is based on two key principles:
- To be visible and transparent in their discussion and output.
- To spend time in the public eye talking to government, members, and industry.
impact of the Grenfell fire
Road map to embrace all building types, including schools, needs to be considered
Howard and Jane talk about why the impact of the Grenfell fire has been so all-encompassing and how it is a major driver to bring about change to embed fire safety into all stages of building design. Jane describes the aftermath of the fire as Pandora’s box of revelations as the Grenfell Tower Inquiry continues its work.
There is agreement on the topic of the Building Safety Bill, where both the FPA and RIBA argue that it is too narrow in its scope. For a once in a generation change to building safety to take place, a road map to embrace all building types, including schools, needs to be considered by the government.
role of duty holders
Moving on to talk about competence, Jane and Howard consider the Building Safety Bill and the role of duty holders and consider whether there is enough known about how this will play out given the amount of secondary legislation yet to be drafted.
Jane shares the work that RIBA has started recently to look at whole-life learning for architects with its report called The Way Ahead. It is intended to provide a pathway for professional development and the core competencies required for all architects. The first stage on the pathway is about health and life safety, including fire.
right products and systems
FPA is particularly interested in how architects can ensure they specify the right products and systems
The FPA is particularly interested in how architects can ensure they specify the right products and systems to maximize fire safety in a building. Jane talks about a safe specification and what it should include to create a safe building.
She starts with the need for a clear set of building regulations that enhance the safety of people. Jane argues that Approved Document B, guidance on fire safety should be changed: “So that you can’t game the system anymore.” There needs to be a comprehensive overhaul of guidance relating to building regulations that is clear and unambiguous. She adds: “We need good, basic regulations.”
Sufficient detail about products
Architects also need sufficient detail about products as well as their safety regime. “We have to rely on the construction product industry to get it right to assure us that we can rely on them.”
She concludes her discussion with Howard in this fourth podcast in the series by saying that since Grenfell, fire safety is no longer a big sell to clients, it is very much in their consciousness from the start of the design process.
