The Building Safety Bill will be in the news over the next few months as it proceeds through Parliament. The Government says the Bill is intended to implement the recommendations of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, commissioned in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. The extent to which it does that, and the extent to which it will help building owners and leaseholders who need to improve building fire safety, is highly controversial.
Barristers at 4 Pump Court are involved in the Grenfell Inquiry. We are involved in many pieces of litigation about fire safety which have arisen from inspections carried out in the aftermath of that disaster. We specialise in construction disputes and in particular claims by and against developers, contractors, architects, engineers (including fire engineers) and sub-contractors of all sorts – including cladding and façade designers and installers. We understand the issues that arise in relation to pursuing such claims, including limitation, insolvent defendants, insurance claims, and seeking to act for leaseholders.
As the Bill passes through Parliament we will blog about relevant legal issues. The Bill is concerned with fire safety but it is not limited to that. It seeks to enact major changes to the law on limitation, the regulation of safe building and how the construction industry is managed. The passage of the Bill, and the way in which it is finally enacted, will be of interest to all involved with the construction industry: developers, contractors, subcontractors, professionals, solicitors, insurers and claims consultants. Do bookmark this page, follow us on Linkedin, and stay in touch for the latest news on this important Bill.
Michael Gove MP lays down the Gauntlet to Developers and Construction Product Manufacturers
As presaged in our previous note[1] the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, gave an updating statement to the House of Commons in relation to building safety on 10 January 2022. Six steps were identified: Reviewing Government schemes and programmes, such that there will be “commercial […]
14th February 2022
The 3rd Reading of the Building Safety Bill on 19 January 2022
The Building Safety Bill passed the third reading in the House of Commons on 19 January 2022. This was somewhat overshadowed by the surprise announcement on 10 January 2022 by Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Housing, that developers will be forced to pay an estimated £4 billion to remediate unsafe cladding on residential […]
Limitation, Defective Premises Act, Retrospective Extension of Limitation, Politics
27th January 2022
Building Safety Bill in January 2022: New Year, New Minister…New Plans?
The Building Safety Bill inched its way through the Committee stage of the Commons in September – October 2021 with no significant amendments, but much discussion of the fact that leaseholders are still on the hook for remedial works. Perhaps the most important political change was that Michael Gove MP is now the secretary of […]
10th January 2022
Remedying High Risk Cladding: The Australian Approach
In the post-Grenfell landscape, one of the tasks now faced by owners and leaseholders of multi-storey residential buildings is to ensure that the same (or a similar) tragedy is not repeated. There is however an obvious, yet difficult, question: how do owners and leaseholders – an often large and amorphous group – go about rectifying […]
7th September 2021
2nd Reading Preview
The Building Safety Bill will have its 2nd reading in the House of Commons on 21 July 2021. The 2nd reading stage involves the following: Debate on general principles of the Bill Second reading is the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the Bill. It usually takes place no sooner than […]
20th July 2021
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