The Government’s Third Progress Report on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Recommendations

As outlined in our previous blogs, The Government Responds to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Final Report and The Government’s second progress report on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Recommendations, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report made 58 recommendations (the “Recommendations”), 49 of which were accepted in full and nine in principal by the Government, across the following themes:

• the construction industry;
• fire and rescue services;
• response and recovery; and
• vulnerable people and Phase 1 recommendations.

In its most recent quarterly progress report, Progress report: summary update, the Government provided the following updates on implementation of the Recommendations and confirmed completion of five further Recommendations since its September 2025 progress report.

Single Construction Regulator

In November 2025, the Government laid a statutory instrument before Parliament transferring building safety functions from the Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”) into a newly created arm’s length body.

It has since formally made The Building Safety Regulator (Establishment of New Body and Transfer of Functions etc.) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/20) which come into force on 27 January 2026. These Regulations establish the Building Safety Regulator (“BSR”) as an independent body corporate and provide for the BSR to replace the HSE as the building safety regulator for the purposes of the Building Safety Act 2022.

In addition, on 17 December 2025 the Government published the Single Construction Regulator Prospectus: Consultation Document with further detail on delivery of the single construction regulator and confirming the intention to go beyond the Recommendations “through a long-term, system-wide approach to regulatory reform”.

Higher-Risk Building Definition

The BSR has carried out an initial review of the definition of higher-risk building (“HRB”) and recommended that the current definition remains as is at this time, stating it “appropriately reflects the available evidence on risks to individuals from the spread of fire and structural failure”. One must also ponder if the backlog of Gateway 2 applications might be a factor in the decision, especially given that the BSR will continually review the definition.

Machinery of Government

The Government announced that it had gone further than the relevant Recommendation by transferring the entirety of fire functions, and not just responsibility for fire safety, to the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (“MHCLG”):

• From 1 April 2025, ministerial responsibilities for all fire-related functions transferred from the Home Office to MHCLG.
• On 1 July 2025 all relevant Home Office staff transferred to MHCLG.

Fire Engineers

The Fire Engineers’ Advisory Panel was established in April 2025 to advise the Government on the fire engineering profession. The priority was drafting an authoritative statement defining the role, responsibilities, and expected standards of the fire engineering profession following which a regulatory system can be proposed.

The authoritative statement was published on 17 December 2025 and defines fire engineers as “professionals who develop and deliver engineering solutions that protect people and mitigate harm to the built and natural environment in the event of fire.” Fire engineers perform activities including planning, designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting, directing or supervising, delivering and managing buildings through the application of fire engineering principles with the goal of safeguarding societal benefit such as life, health, property, economic interests, public welfare, or the environment.

In addition, the Panel published a next steps paper setting out how the authoritative statement fits within wider reform, including plans for regulation of the profession.

Building Control

The Building Control Independent Panel, an independent expert panel advising the Government as to whether (i) it is in the public interest for building control functions to be performed by those with a commercial interest in the process, and (ii) all building control functions should be performed by a national authority, will publish its final report in the coming months.

Wider Reforms

The Government also provided an update on the wider reform of the higher-risk regime to ensure that it is proportionate while upholding building safety and quality standards.

Recognising that applicants faced challenges in obtaining BSR approval for routine yet essential types of building work to existing HRBs, and that the disproportionate time and cost requirements of the building control process could prevent essential and other safety-critical works being carried out, the Government will consult this year with residents, the industry and the BSR on proposals to streamline procedural requirements.

Finally, the Government stated that it remains on track to deliver all Recommendations within four years.

As before, the latest progress report does not necessarily provide full details of upcoming changes; nevertheless, it is useful to have an idea of the updates that can be expected over the year ahead. We will continue to review and report on relevant updates.

If you have questions about the Building Safety Act and/or building safety issues, please contact Zoë Deckker, Brenna Baye or any other member of our Building Safety and Cladding Team.