Building Safety Regime: progress made, but more work remains

4 Min Read

Following the release of the interim Chief Construction Adviser’s end-of-term report calling for continued improvements in standards, John Powell, our Managing Director at Frankham Risk Management, reflects on the current building safety regime – and how the next chapter of reform must focus on industry behaviours.

There is no question that significant steps have been taken since Grenfell. Greater emphasis has been placed on competence, accountability and the responsibilities of those involved in the design, construction and management of buildings. However, many of the underlying challenges facing the sector remain, particularly when it comes to embedding better behaviours and decision-making throughout the entire project lifecycle. This latest report serves as a reminder that regulation alone will not deliver the cultural change the industry desperately needs.

Dame Judith Hackitt’s Building a Safer Future review warned against a culture driven by doing things “as quickly and cheaply as possible”, arguing that this lack of ownership and accountability “is facilitating a race to the bottom.” This remains an embedded psyche and therefore challenge for parts of the industry today.

One of the most important areas requiring further attention is procurement. The big focus in procurement currently is on social value – particularly around job creation and skills enhancement with the recently announced changes under PPN 026. That focus remains important, but these decisions have a direct impact on building safety outcomes through the selection of competent organisations, the allocation of responsibility and the standards expected throughout project delivery.

Building safety starts long before construction begins. The decisions made at procurement stage have a direct influence on project outcomes, the competence of those appointed and ultimately the safety of the people who will occupy and use the buildings. If the sector is serious about improving standards, procurement processes must evolve to reward competence, experience, quality and demonstrable commitment to good building safety practices with higher weighting – not simply the lowest bid.

Despite widespread recognition that building safety, quality and long-term performance should be prioritised, we continue to see projects procured primarily on cost due to constrained budgets and cost pressures across the sector. This is even despite recent procurement reform pushing the industry towards the ‘Most Advantageous Tender’ (MAT) model – value over cost.

If a client has a limited budget, even with the MAT model, lowest cost becomes a core driver in a decision. And with that lowest cost, it becomes significantly harder to achieve the standards, collaboration and accountability the industry is striving for.

In short, if construction services continue to be procured primarily on lowest cost, the industry will continue to experience the very race to the bottom that Dame Judith Hackitt’s review identified. Procurement should instead be designed to reward competence, collaboration, quality, and whole-life safety performance.

That’s why the Competence Framework for Procurement in the Built Environment in England was developed by an industry working group, being published officially in 2025. This framework explicitly acknowledges the influence procurement professionals have on building safety outcomes. There has been encouraging evidence that consultants and contractors are embracing the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (SKEB) principles, but there seems to have been much lower levels of adoption within procurement functions despite also having a critical role to play in embedding these principles.

There should be equal focus on the role procurement plays in shaping safety outcomes. Clients, funders and procurement professionals all have significant opportunity to drive positive change by ensuring these elements are truly embedded within decision-making from the outset. Building safety requires a whole-lifecycle approach, from project inception and procurement through to occupation and ongoing management, with clear accountability at every stage.

The next Chief Construction Adviser is yet to be appointed, but they will have an important role to play in maintaining momentum and making sure the conversation continues. New regulations and strides forward in the building safety regime over recent years mark significant progress, but the real success will be measured by influencing behaviours, procurement practices and decision-making across the sector.

That’s where lasting cultural change will be achieved – and where the greatest improvements in building safety will be delivered.

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