Grenfell Phase 2 report published

The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was published on Wednesday 4 September 2024. As expected, it has attracted attention and comment from various stakeholders in the construction and building industry.

The report highlights the inherent failings that appear to have caused the tragic deaths of 72 people in London in 2017. The report pulls no punches and describes the incident as a “horrific and entirely preventative disaster”, and highly criticises a range of individuals and companies. As with other public inquiries that we have seen, the report publicises the names of those involved.

In response to the report, the government promises “to stop Grenfell firms from future public sector work.” Prime Minister Kier Starmer will be writing to all companies named and shamed in the report, putting them on notice that they will be barred from taxpayer-funded contracts. This will result in commercial and reputational consequences for those involved.

The report cites a long list of criticisms; most of those are towards the project teams involved in the original construction and maintenance of the building. The report is 1,700 pages long and its findings, in particular the 58 recommendations, can be found here.

The 58 recommendations released in the report yesterday will significantly impact the construction industry if accepted by the government. Ministers are not obliged to implement the findings of public inquiries and we have seen previously that some have failed to do so.

The main recommendations that will make this impact are:

• New overreaching construction regulator and responsibility for fire safety under a single minister
• Licencing scheme for principal contractors with the Director or Senior Manager of the principal contractor making a personal undertaking to “take all reasonable care” to ensure that the building is legally safe on completion
• The appointment of a Chief Construction Advisor
• Product regulation
• A fire strategy requirement for the construction or refurbishment of any high-rise building.

These recommendations have been made to prevent tragedies like this happening again; the public inquiry heard masses of evidence around the fact that there are still many high-rise buildings around the country with cladding and fire stopping deficiencies.

Companies have been slammed for “systematic dishonesty”; manufacturers knowingly misleading the market in relation to combustible construction materials. “Incompetence” and a “casual approach” to contractor relations are said to have been instrumental in this disaster.

What will now follow?

Throughout the past several years of the inquiry, there have been indications that criminal prosecutions will follow. For some time, victim groups have been campaigning for criminal prosecutions as a result of this incident. The Metropolitan Police will be working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, looking at the incident and focusing on whether the deaths were the result of criminal acts.

The Metropolitan Police Chief states that it will take around three years to bring charges in relation to this incident. The police will undoubtedly be looking at offences including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence, manslaughter, fraud and health and safety offences. We are told there are currently 27,00 lines of enquiry.

The Crown Prosecution Service say that “due to the sheer volume of evidence and complexity of the investigation, we will need to take the necessary time to fully evaluate the evidence before providing final charging decisions”.

That means that, despite being seven years after the incident, we may not have charging decisions until 2026.

The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement saying “Our Police investigation is independent of the Public Inquiry. It operates under a different legal framework and so, we cannot simply use the report’s findings as evidence to bring charges. To secure justice for those who died and all those affected by the fire, we must examine the report, line by line, alongside the evidence from the criminal investigation”.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that it will be investigating 19 companies or organisations and 58 individuals.

We are told that 50 people have already been interviewed as suspects under caution but that these people may have to be re-interviewed and further witness interviews and evidence gathering will likely be required.