Simon Shaw is a senior associate at Mayer Brown
On 17 May 2018, Dame Judith Hackitt stated that the Building Regulations program in the UK was “not fit for function”. Following this, there haveactually been a number of cases and legal modifications relating to fire-safety matters for the market to absorb. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is due to release its last report on 4 September and, in advance of that, here’s a summary of 5 secret messages from the courts and parliament from the past coupleof years.
1. The end of the ‘lemmings’ defence
The “Bolam” test for examining neglect refers to the requirement of the generally proficient member of the occupation as the appropriate criteria. In the veryfirst cladding judgment because the Grenfell Tower catastrophe in 2017, Martlet Homes Ltd v Mulalley & Co Ltd [2022] EWHC 1813 (Technology and Construction Court), the TCC cautioned that this test did not offer a “get out of prison totallyfree card” just because it might be revealed that “everyone else was doing it” at the appropriate time.
2. Worth the paper they are composed on?
In Martlet, the court likewise discovered that British Board of Agrément buildingandconstruction item certificates were merely “an help to develop the viability of a product for usage for a particular function”, as opposed to a “guarantee” or “passport” to compliance. In St James’s Oncology SPC Ltd (Project Co) v Lendlease Construction (Europe) Ltd and another [2022] EWHC 2504 (TCC), building-control certificates were explained as not “conclusive proof” of compliance.
3. Looking back
The modifications made to the Defective Premises Act 1972 (DPA) through the Building Safety Act 2022 had negative ramifications for those who defined or authorized the usage of hazardous cladding items, and will continue to do so for numerous years to come thanks to the intro of a 30-year retrospective restriction per