In the wake of the Grenfell Inquiry, the Government is currently consulting on establishing a Single Construction Regulator. To understand more, CECA held a roundtable discussion with Graham Watts from the Construction Industry Council who has been involved in setting up the new regulator.
In this short write-up, Ben Goodwin, CECA’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs, reflects on the key discussion points from the session.
The Single Construction Regulator is being created to break down the fragmented nature of the way in which the regulatory system across construction and the broader built environment currently operates.
It’s important for CECA members to understand the purpose and remit of the new regulator as it will cover construction practices and products used in the infrastructure sector, including for example in energy and transport.
The Government’s consultation runs until 20 March and it hopes that when the regulator is established it will deliver the following outcomes:
- Buildings and built environments are safe, high-performing and deliver a healthy, accessible, secure, and sustainable environment for occupants.
- Companies and individuals are enabled to thrive when they operate in the interests of current and future building users.
- Products for building are fit for their purpose and users are provided with accurate product information.
- The building system is trusted; users have confidence the system will act to prioritise the safety and needs of occupants.
In his opening remarks Graham, who serves as a member of the advisory board for the new regulator, focused on each of these four aspects and set out a series of questions that the Government is grappling with as part of its consultation, including:
- What works well in the current system and should be retained?
- What is not working well and should be stopped or minimised?
- Who can we learn from (in the UK and overseas)?
- What needs to be introduced to improve the system?
- What should we strive for in our long-term goals?
CECA would welcome thoughts on these questions from members and would subsequently feed these into government.
The roundtable discussion itself focused on several aspects. These included the need for ongoing impact assessments to be undertaken to understand the cost of the new regime and where this will fall, alongside building an understanding of what impact the introduction of the new regulator will have on parallel economic regulatory systems across the infrastructure sector.
Other contributions focused on the potential for environmental and climate related matters to be covered under the new approach.
The key takeaway was that the establishment of the Single Construction Regulator is something that licensed contractors working in the civil engineering space will need to get up to speed with as the current direction of travel points towards the professions and services contained within it to come into scope in the future.
Over the coming weeks and months, CECA will be hosting other roundtable discussions on subjects including the Railways Bill, infrastructure pipeline development and the impact of water sector reform. If you would like to know more, get in touch at enquiries@ceca.co.uk.