Grenfell Tower, Phase 2 Report

Arriving shortly after the seventh anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017 when 72 residents lost their lives, the government inquiry into the tragedy has now published its long-awaited Phase 2 Report.

The damning conclusion is that the Grenfell Tower fire was a result of “systematic dishonesty” and endemic institutional failure to address building safety risks at government, regulatory and industry level, including a failure to learn lessons from historical fire tragedies.

The Phase 1 Grenfell Tower Report

By way of background, Phase 1 of the inquiry reported in October 2019. The Phase 1 Report included an overview of the events of the night of the fire and its immediate aftermath. Along with tributes to those Grenfell Tower residents who lost their lives, the Phase 1 Report set out recommendations including that those responsible for high-rise buildings with similar cladding systems to those installed at Grenfell Tower should immediately review fire and safety risks, and that cladding panels with polyethylene cores on the exterior of high-rise buildings should be replaced.

There was also advice for owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings to provide information to emergency services, and to carry out lift inspections. For all residential buildings, urgent fire door inspections were recommended.

The Phase 1 Report advised that emergency services should improve communications between themselves, receive relevant training, and develop more effective policies to better manage the transition from “stay put” to “get out” advice where comparable fires arise.

Much has occurred since the 2019 Phase 1 Report. Between 2020 and 2022, hearings for the Phase 2 stage of the inquiry took place and new statutes have been enacted including the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the significant Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022 which introduced direct new law and a raft of secondary legislation including that which revised existing laws.

The BSA 2022 has reformed the previous building safety legal regime including, as it applies to tall residential buildings of the Grenfell Tower kind, with extended requirements, sanctions and liability periods. There are new expectations for the construction and property sector as to what is expected by way of building safety.

Steps have also been taken towards ensuring that those responsible for building safety issues are the ones that pay to put issues right. However, while all such major legal reforms take time to implement and to have effect, despite all that has passed since the fire in June 2017, there is much more that needs to be done.

Phase 2 Report – recommendations

Along with the damming indictment of the product manufacturers, professionals and local authority involved in the fateful refurbishment project at Grenfell Tower, the Phase 2 report has proposed 58 recommendations. These include that there should be a consolidation of all current building regulatory bodies, with the introduction of “Chief Construction Adviser”. The aim is to reduce the risk of a repeat of the events of 14 June 2017.

For those who actually lived in Grenfell Tower and who were impacted by the fire, the pursuit of reform of building practices and for accountability for the loss of life has been frustratingly slow. That frustration will be all the more heightened given the conclusion of the Inquiry that the 72 deaths at Grenfell were “avoidable”.