Building regulations still need 'more teeth' post Grenfell, London fire chief warns

The blaze in Dagenham proved that regulations still need strengthening, London fire commissioner Andy Roe says


London Fire Brigade Fire Commissioner Andy Roe, at the scene in Dagenham last month
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Noah Vickers

Regulations to improve fire safety in high-rise buildings since the Grenfell Tower tragedy are still “not good enough”, the capital’s fire chief has warned.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) commissioner Andy Roe told a City Hall meeting on Tuesday that while “very important” changes have been made, there is still need for more “teeth” for authorities enforcing the rules, and greater “alignment” between authorities.

Speaking at a meeting of the London Assembly’s fire committee, the commissioner pointed to the recent fire in Dagenham as proof that regulations still need strengthening.

“It’s not good enough yet,” said Mr Roe, pointing out that the building in Dagenham is only seven floors high, with the fire service aware of who the managing agent and building owner are. The building’s cladding was also in the process of being removed ahead of the fire.

With all those factors considered, the commissioner said the fact that a fire “as catastrophic as that” still occurred, showed that high-rise building regulations are still not working as they should be.

The committee’s discussion came a week after the Grenfell Inquiry published its Phase Two report into the 2017 fire, which claimed 72 lives.

Since the publication of the earlier Phase One report in 2019, Mr Roe said there had been “some very important changes, some very important principles and bodies set up”.

He added: “But they still don’t have enough teeth, from my point of view, and they need better alignment, because we have powers, the building safety regulator has powers, the local authority has powers, the Secretary of State themself has powers - [but] we all need to be working together in one system.”

The commissioner also admitted that the LFB could still face a situation where it struggles to handle the volume of calls it receives during a major incident, as happened on the night of the Grenfell fire.

“There is not a control room in the country that would, on its own, be able to hold that volume of calls, as currently structured,” he said.

He added however that LFB control staff had performed well during recent major incidents, such as the July 2022 wildfires, which saw the brigade face its busiest day since the Second World War.

“[There were] thousands of calls, in a very compressed period… so we’ve demonstrated that we can do it,” he said, while cautioning that the organisation is “never relaxed”.