Changing the culture of construction

The Local Authority Building Control – the body that represents all local authority building control teams in England and Wales – is calling for the building industry to work together to change its culture.

The call came at a recent fire safety seminar, organised by RIBA by the not-for-profit organisation’s commercial director, Martin Taylor. Martin has been closely involved in the Hackitt Review sitting on two working groups: the design, construction and refurbishment group and the ‘Golden Thread’ group.

This group focused on ways of preserving the original design intent throughout complex and high-risk building projects and making sure any changes go through a formal review process.
Martin explained: “Dame Judith Hackitt has challenged the industry to change following the dreadful Grenfell Tower fire. Our view is that all parts must come together to change the culture now and not wait for any changes to the regulations and guidance.

“For too long there has been a race to the bottom where building clients have been looking for the least interference at the least cost. And we all know where that race ended up. A more cooperative outlook with competition over quality and competencies rather than just price will benefit the industry as a whole and lead to better, safer and more compliant building projects.”