Coalition of five nations announced to provide guidance on fire safety design following Grenfell Tower Inquiry

As the seismic impacts of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry progress, designers and their insurers must continue to take note of the changing landscape for fire safety design and claims. 

To coordinate and standardise fire safety design guidance for architects across Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland a coalition has been announced comprising the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW), the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) in Northern Ireland, and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), known as the Belfast Group.

In September last 2024, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report made a number of recommendations for future action including urging change as regulatory arrangements had become “too complex and fragmented”. In the Inquiry's view, statutory guidance available was unfit for purpose and did not provide the information needed to design fire safe buildings. The Inquiry noted such guidance will require overhaul and regular review.

For architects in particular, the Inquiry found that the evidence available indicated there could be a “widespread failure” across the profession to “investigate properly or understand the nature of the materials being chosen” as part of a fire safety strategy for high-rise buildings. The Inquiry acknowledged that the Architects Registration Board and RIBA had already commenced work on improving the education and training of architects at the time of publication of the Phase 2 report.

This work now includes a coordinated approach to the Phase 2 report and guidance for architects across the five nations.

In announcing the Belfast Group RIBA stated that:

“The coordinated body will work to ensure that fire safety standards go beyond national boundaries and that architects working in all jurisdictions are equally competent to design buildings that conform to the highest levels of fire safety and life protection.”

This coalition will be of interest not only to architects but those who insure them, as the industry begins to return to a paradigm of cautious coverage for fire safety design. Any guidance published by the Belfast Group is likely to have a significant bearing on the duties and obligations of architects and designers working to design buildings post-Grenfell. Failing to follow or demonstrably consider the guidance published will at the very least need to have a rational, and recorded, reason.

If you have any questions on what the formation of the Belfast Group means for your business or your clients, please get in touch with your usual contact in Brodies’ Professional Risk team or otherwise Alisdair Matheson or Rachael Jane Ruth.