Looking at regulatory, structural, and operational aspects of building safety, the institute has issued a list of recommendations for “evidence-based change”
With the official government response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report due in March 2025, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has set out a number of key recommendations in support of the Inquiry’s findings.
RIBA chair of board, Jack Pringle, said of the response: “The full findings of the Inquiry’s report make a clear case for further regulatory, structural, and operational change, alongside a fundamental shift in culture and behaviours – and we remain fully committed to playing our part.”
The RIBA recommendations include a review of the definition of a higher-risk building, with an extension of the definition to include assembly buildings and temporary leisure establishments, as well as the broader use of sprinklers in both new and converted buildings where vulnerable occupants are present.
In residential buildings over 18 metres, RIBA recommends that both staircases should be required to function as fire-fighting staircases in new builds. In existing single staircase buildings where a second staircase cannot be retrofitted, it calls for alternative safety measures including evacuation lifts and better fire alarm systems.
It also calls for an urgent holistic review of Approved Document B to be undertaken and for any safety critical guidance to be made freely available.
As reported by Housing Today, RIBA gave its backing to a number of other recommendations already raised in the Phase 2 report, including that fire safety functions are brought under the responsibility of a single Secretary of State; that a single statutory body be formed to ensure a comprehensive competence system for construction professionals, along the lines of the Engineering Council; and that Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) are developed for all people who need one, in residential buildings of 11 metres or higher.
Pringle explained the progress RIBA has made to date, saying “As the professional body for architects, we have taken significant steps since June 2017 to enhance training and education, including but not limited to our mandatory Health and Safety test and our Principal Designer Register. As recommended, we are reviewing these measures, ensuring our members maintain the highest standards of professional competence.”
Operationally, he said that RIBA “supports the Inquiry’s call for independent research and development to restore faith in product testing standards. We also believe that the role of contracts and procurement processes in defining the obligations and agency of the different members of the client, design, and construction teams should be reviewed”.
In his summing up of the response, Pringle explained:
“The long-term efficacy of the construction sector hinges on making these evidence-based changes. It remains our duty to drive meaningful reform at all levels to deliver a built environment in which the public has complete confidence.”