Despite welcoming plans by the Government to ban the use of combustable cladding materials on new high-rise buildings, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said the ban must also apply to existing buildings and residential homes, hospitals, student accommodation and hotels.
A new report by the Committee outlines several conflicts of interest that exist in the construction industry, with particular concerns raised over how builders can appoint their own inspectors who may have a commercial interest in not reporting bad practice to the local authority. In addition, manufacturers are able to choose the most lenient testing bodies for their products.
The Committee has also called for the Government to prohibit the practice of Fire Rescue Authorities acting as the enforcement authority where their commercial trading arms are providing safety advice.
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Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Committee, said: "The industry is riven with conflicts of interest at every turn, with manufacturers choosing the most lenient testing bodies for their products.
"It just cannot be right that builders get to choose who marks their homework and urgent action is needed to make sure this does not continue. Fire Rescue Authorities should not be able to pass judgement on the work of their own commercial trading arms."
Committee MPs have also recommended extensive changes be carried out to building regulations following the publication of the Final Report of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, set up after the Grenfell Tower fire in June last year.
The report recommends to fit sprinklers, where feasible, in all high-rise residential buildings to provide an extra layer of safety and for the Government to release funding for installation in council and housing association-owned buildings.
In addition, the report says it is clear that the ownership and responsibility of privately owned buildings is often complex and recommends that the Government conducts an urgent review into responsibility and liability of such building to ensure the necessary work can be carried out for the safety of residents, which is paramount. The Government should then produce further subsequent guidance for building owners.
MPs have also urged the Government to introduce a low-interest loan scheme for private sector building owners, to ensure that remedial work is carried out as quickly as possible and that costs are not passed on to leaseholders.
Clive Betts MP said: "The current complicated web of building regulations is compromising safety and putting people at risk in their own homes. It desperately needs both simplifying and strengthening and the Government must act now before more lives are lost."
(LM/MH)
