{"id":133557,"date":"2023-10-18T11:55:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T10:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=133557"},"modified":"2023-10-25T15:17:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T14:17:07","slug":"building-safety-risks-grenfell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/building-control-news\/building-safety-risks-grenfell\/133557\/","title":{"rendered":"Failure to address building safety risks could cause ‘Grenfell-scale tragedy’, warns ex-civil servant"},"content":{"rendered":"

A resignation letter by a senior civil servant highlights how the government is not adequately addressing potentially catastrophic building safety risks<\/h2>\n

Concerns over a potential ‘Grenfell-scale tragedy’ are being downplayed by the government, according to a resignation letter from a civil servant acquired by The Guardian.<\/p>\n

Building safety minister Lee Rowley received a reminder about the government’s safety obligations after his office responded to civil servants’ requests to assess building collapse risks, suggesting that one possible approach could be to ‘do nothing’.<\/p>\n

According to The Guardian, a senior civil servant called on Rowley last December to investigate the concrete used in schools and public buildings, also used in the Ronan Point collapse in 1968,<\/a> which killed four people.<\/p>\n

Over 150 schools faced disruption over RAAC<\/h3>\n

News of Rowley’s neglect comes after pupils and staff from over 150 schools have suffered disruption and closures after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found in several schools.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

This disruption led to many last-minute classroom closures, disrupting the start of term for thousands of pupils.<\/p>\n

The senior civil servant also called on the department to remind homeowners of houses built from the 1960’s onwards using large panel systems to conduct structural surveys and strengthening works.<\/p>\n

Concerns of ‘potentially catastrophic life-safety implications’ were ignored<\/h3>\n

The senior civil servant expressed their concerns over \u2018potentially catastrophic life-safety implications\u2019 however a spokesperson for the DLUHC responded by saying the ‘do nothing option’ is ‘standard practice in policy development to understand the impact of a potential action compared with the status quo.’<\/p>\n

Despite facing criticism, the DLUHC has said:\u00a0“Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the government introduced some of the toughest building safety regulations<\/a> in the world through its landmark Building Safety Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe act also introduced a new building safety regulator to assess the safety and standards of all buildings, as well as monitor and investigate any potential risks or changes that may affect residents\u2019 safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a resignation letter by a senior civil servant, potentially catastrophic building safety risks are not being adequately addressed by the government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[306],"tags":[568,172800,811,753],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-133557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-building-control-news","7":"tag-building-regulations","8":"tag-building-safety-act","9":"tag-concrete","10":"tag-safety"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFailure to address building safety risks could cause 'Grenfell-scale tragedy', warns ex-civil servant<\/title>\n<meta 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