Asked by: Torsten Bell (Labour - Swansea West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the remedial work on buildings with (a) faulty cladding systems and (b) defects in compartmentalisation (i) includes independent verification of the (A) suitability and (B) longevity of the solutions and (ii) is otherwise effectively quality assured.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to ensuring that historic, life-critical fire safety defects in affected buildings are addressed. Our remediation programmes have processes in place to ensure that work is done to the appropriate standard and is remedied if not.
While the specific controls and assurances of remediation programmes differ, both developers and applicants to government remediation funds must provide a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Walls (FRAEW), which will assess risks and recommend remedial works to address these risks where necessary. These are carried out by independent Fire Risk Assessors and robust processes are in place to assess the FRAEWs submitted.
All remedial works must also obtain Building Control approval which provides independent assurance that the works comply with Building Regulations.