{"id":685869,"date":"2023-01-30T09:43:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T09:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=685869"},"modified":"2023-01-30T10:21:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T10:21:20","slug":"grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous","title":{"rendered":"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In interviews<\/a> over the weekend, Gove said ambiguity in Approved Document B \u2013 which sets out how to comply with Part B of the Building Regulations \u2013 regarding cladding safety had led to exploitation of the system.<\/p>\n

His statements are a marked a change from the evidence given to the Grenfell Inquiry in 2021<\/a> by a lawyer acting for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.<\/p>\n

The lawyer had insisted<\/a>: \u2018The department\u2019s view is that the meaning of the regulations, and of Approved Document B, read together with the regulations, was sufficiently clear at the time of the refurbishment of the tower that no competent professional, acting in good faith, should have misunderstood or misapplied the statutory requirements.\u2019<\/p>\n

He had added: \u2018A competent professional would have taken appropriate advice in case of uncertainty, not least where the issue involved fire safety.\u2019<\/p>\n

But, speaking to The Sunday Times<\/em><\/a>, Gove said there had been a \u2018system of regulation that was faulty\u2019.<\/p>\n

He went on: \u2018The government did not think hard enough, or police effectively enough, the whole system of building safety. Undoubtedly.<\/p>\n

\u2018I believe that [the guidance] was so faulty and ambiguous that it allowed unscrupulous people to exploit a broken system in a way that led to tragedy.\u2019<\/p>\n

Before its amendment in 2019, Approved Document B suggested that cladding products with a Class 0 rating would comply with a requirement not to have combustible external walls. However, Class 0 is measure of surface fire spread, not of limited combustibility. The aluminium composite panels that were primarily responsible for fire spread at Grenfell Tower had a Class 0 rating due to their aluminium surface but their plastic core made them highly combustible.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Gove, speaking to the BBC\u2019s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg<\/em> programme, added: \u2018Nobody needs to tell me how desperately important it was to deal with all the issues that were provoked by the fire at Grenfell Tower.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u2018It was a horrendous tragedy. A tragedy for everyone involved, the people who lost their lives and people in that community but it also had ramifications that have gone on for years not been properly addressed.\u2019<\/p>\n

Part of the government\u2019s drive towards \u2018righting the wrongs\u2019 of the past is a new six-week deadline handed to developers to sign legal agreements committing them to pay to repair unsafe buildings.<\/p>\n

These contracts will apply to companies that have developed or refurbished buildings 11m tall or above in the past 30 years.<\/p>\n

Legislation will be brought forward in the spring, giving the secretary of state powers to prevent developers from \u2018operating freely in the housing market\u2019 if they fail to sign and comply with the remediation contract.<\/p>\n

Gove said: \u2018Too many developers, along with product manufacturers and freeholders, have profited from these unsafe buildings and have a moral duty to do the right thing and pay for their repair.<\/p>\n

\u2018In signing this contract, developers will be taking a big step towards restoring confidence in the sector and providing much-needed certainty to all concerned.\u2019<\/p>\n

He concluded: \u2018There will be nowhere to hide for those who fail to step up to their responsibilities. I will not hesitate to act and they will face significant consequences.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In interviews over the weekend, Gove said ambiguity in Approved Document B \u2013 which sets out how to comply with Part B of the Building Regulations \u2013 regarding cladding safety had led to exploitation of the system. His statements are a marked a change from the evidence given to the Grenfell Inquiry in 2021 by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915,"featured_media":685925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[2746,4541,3661,3116],"yoast_head":"\nGrenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Housing secretary Michael Gove has become the first minister to admit the government\u2019s building regulations were faulty and unclear before the Grenfell Tower fire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Housing secretary Michael Gove has become the first minister to admit the government\u2019s building regulations were faulty and unclear before the Grenfell Tower fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-30T09:43:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-30T10:21:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/01\/30095222\/shutterstock_1454643785-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Waite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/waitey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Waite\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous\",\"name\":\"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-30T09:43:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-30T10:21:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/c098c74851864737ad4fa4e50861cf8c\"},\"description\":\"Housing secretary Michael Gove has become the first minister to admit the government\u2019s building regulations were faulty and unclear before the Grenfell Tower fire\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News & Buildings\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/c098c74851864737ad4fa4e50861cf8c\",\"name\":\"Richard Waite\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/6cbf1402fe078387b47481c6908418f8\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/878d48df5d368e765aebd777e26b5be3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/878d48df5d368e765aebd777e26b5be3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Waite\"},\"description\":\"Richard Waite is news editor of the Architects' Journal\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/waitey\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/richard-waite\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019","description":"Housing secretary Michael Gove has become the first minister to admit the government\u2019s building regulations were faulty and unclear before the Grenfell Tower fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019","og_description":"Housing secretary Michael Gove has become the first minister to admit the government\u2019s building regulations were faulty and unclear before the Grenfell Tower fire","og_url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous","og_site_name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","article_published_time":"2023-01-30T09:43:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-30T10:21:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/01\/30095222\/shutterstock_1454643785-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Richard Waite","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/waitey","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Richard Waite","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous","name":"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-01-30T09:43:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-30T10:21:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/c098c74851864737ad4fa4e50861cf8c"},"description":"Housing secretary Michael Gove has become the first minister to admit the government\u2019s building regulations were faulty and unclear before the Grenfell Tower fire","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/grenfell-tragedy-gove-admits-cladding-guidance-was-faulty-and-ambiguous#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grenfell tragedy: Gove admits cladding guidance was \u2018faulty and ambiguous\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/","name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","description":"Architecture News & Buildings","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/c098c74851864737ad4fa4e50861cf8c","name":"Richard Waite","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/6cbf1402fe078387b47481c6908418f8","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/878d48df5d368e765aebd777e26b5be3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/878d48df5d368e765aebd777e26b5be3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Richard Waite"},"description":"Richard Waite is news editor of the Architects' Journal","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/waitey"],"url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/richard-waite"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685869"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/915"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685869"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":685888,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685869\/revisions\/685888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}