Monday promised to be a significant day for those living in high rises across England.
The Building Safety Bill, which has been sold by the government as the biggest change to building safety in a generation, was published in its final form before it goes through parliament.
Introduced more than four years after the Grenfell fire killed 72 people, the Bill is aimed at ensuring a similar catastrophe never happens again. But will it succeed?
The 208-page document includes wide-ranging measures that will overhaul building safety regulation exposed as wholly inadequate by Grenfell, as well as significantly change the way in which high-rise buildings are designed, built, managed and lived in.
New dutyholders will be required at each stage of design, development, and occupation, and a ‘golden thread’ of information that links them all will become a requirement to ensure crucial safety information is not lost — as was the case at Grenfell.
Accountable persons will be required for all occupied buildings and be responsible for ensuring standards are met and held culpable if they are not.
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