On the 26th of February 2025, the government issued a response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report. Included in the response is the acceptance of 49 of the report’s recommendations with plans to act on all 58.
The recommendations and actions include sweeping reform for construction, building and fire safety – let’s look at how this could impact the testing and certification industry.
Significant Deficiencies in Testing & Certification
The Inquiry’s report highlights significant deficiencies in the testing and certification of construction products, particularly combustible cladding materials. It criticises the lack of rigorous testing and the failure to identify issues because of bad testing practices.
As a result, the government’s response and plans include:
Enhanced testing protocols: Test laboratories will be required to adopt more stringent testing methods to accurately assess product safety.
Increased accountability: There will be greater scrutiny of testing processes, with potential civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance or misleading practices.
Regular audits and oversight: Test laboratories can expect more frequent inspections to ensure adherence to updated safety standards.
Full transparency: Ensuring that test history of products is easily accessible, honest, and evidenced.
To support these actions, the government has committed to establishing a new single construction regulator. The aim is to improve standards in the industry and ensure those responsible, including testing laboratories, are held to the highest of standards. The single regulator will be responsible for the regulation of construction products, building control and the licencing of contractors to work on higher-risk buildings. However, testing and certification of construction products will continue to be the responsibility of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs).
Being a part of the solution
United Kingdom Testing & Certification was established as part of the response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy in the wake of calls for greater testing and certification availability for construction products in the UK. Our team, working from our UKAS accredited testing laboratory, continues to be committed to ensuring life safety by delivering market-leading testing solutions for passive fire product manufacturers.
Our rigorous-approach to testing and industry-leading report times has seen many of the UK’s leading passive fire product manufacturers trust UKTC with their testing programmes.
Andrew Hutchison, Head of Technical at United Kingdom Testing & Certification, commented: “Whilst testing and certification bodies like UKTC play a vital role in assessing product performance, our influence is limited to testing and certification. Holding CABs responsible beyond this remit is inaccurate and risks undermining public trust.”
“Rather than assigning blame, we urge the government to integrate the insights of CABs into the regulatory framework to strengthen oversight and safety standards.”
“UKTC remains committed to working alongside regulators, manufacturers, and industry bodies to help ensure such a tragedy never happens again.”
Construction Product’s Green Paper
Included in Phase 1 of the government’s plans is the Construction Products Reform Green Paper with a consultation period of 12 weeks. According to the government response, the paper “is the first important step in making sure that we deliver a comprehensive package of measures to reform the construction products sector.” The paper will also look to address key failures highlighted in the Inquiry’s report including the bad testing practices.
We encourage individuals and organisations to respond to the Green Paper before the 21st May deadline by completing the online survey form which can be found here.
If you want to discuss how the recommendations could impact your testing plans, talk to us today by clicking here.
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