The Grenfell tragedy rightly saw demands for better, safer buildings.<\/p>\n
But the resulting new regime for high rise buildings has been drawn-up with no practical consideration for how construction actually works.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s hardly a surprise when rules are written by civil servants who only talk to trade bodies rather than real construction people for industry input.<\/p>\n
The lack of joined-up thinking is mind boggling.<\/p>\n
The Government keeps promising to boost house building while the inability of\u00a0 its own safety regulator to grant Gateway 2 approvals has seen a 14% fall in build-to-rent construction starts.<\/p>\n
The other main brake on building is labour shortages while training is still left in the hands of the hopelessly inadequate CITB.<\/p>\n
Developers and contractors are left banging their heads on an (unbuilt) brick wall while banks are now shying away from the sector \u2013 put off by the regulatory shambles.<\/p>\n
The construction industry wants to safely build the new homes the country needs.<\/p>\n
It is painfully obvious that the Building Safety Regulator cannot and will not be able to cope with the volume of work created by the new rules.<\/p>\n
The Government must think again about the whole approval process or a vital sector of the industry could come to a complete standstill.<\/p>\n
If the dunderheads in charge of this mess are serious about finding a solution they should talk to the industry with a proper survey via the Enquirer<\/em> to find out how they can get out of this regulatory maze.<\/p>\n Sadly they will probably just launch another round of trade body talking shop nodding heads while the industry stalls.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n