New Regulator established to ensure construction products and materials are safe

The introduction of a Construction Products Regulator (“the Regulator”) has been announced by the government to ensure that construction products are properly tested, certified, labelled and marketed.

Following evidence already heard at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry that manufacturers covered up safety issues, it will be the job of the Regulator to make sure that homes are built only from safe materials.

The Regulator is set to operate within the existing Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) which has been given an additional £10m of funding to incorporate this role.

The Regulator will have the power to:

—  conduct its own product-testing when investigating concerns;

—  remove any product from the market that presents a significant safety risk; and

—  prosecute any companies who flout the rules on product safety.

The Regulator will also work with the Building Safety Regulator and Trading Standards to encourage and enforce compliance.

In addition, the government has also commissioned an independent review to examine weaknesses in previous testing regimes for construction products, and to recommend how abuse of the testing system can be prevented.  It will be led by a panel of experts with regulatory, technical and construction industry experience and will report later this year with recommendations.

Our Regulatory and Construction teams have combined specialist knowledge to advise you on a range of health and safety issues pertinent to the construction sector. If you would like to discuss the potential impact of the new regulator and any other issues, please do get in touch.