Coordinated action urgently needed to remediate unsafe buildings, say Fire Chiefs

• Fire and rescue services have been at the forefront of the response to remediate unsafe buildings, providing essential expertise and enforcement to safeguard communities, but lack sufficient capacity and the workforce needed to identify and inspect all mid-rise residential buildings.
• NFCC estimates that to review or inspect all mid-rise residential buildings from 11 metres to 18 metres would take between 12-24 years to complete at an estimated cost of £284.24 million – £608.82 million*.
• Funding is not the only challenge, as wider barriers such as the shortage of trained specialists continue to hinder progress on remediation. Many responsible building owners lack the means to comply due to complex ownership structures, or a shortage of skilled professionals meaning that enforcement on its own is not enough to solve this crisis.
• Pressures on fire service capacity means this puts inspections of other high-risk premises, such as care homes and hospitals, at risk of taking place less frequently.
• A centrally coordinated Government led programme is needed to address barriers to remediating unsafe residential buildings, with a cross-departmental Construction Skills Strategy needed to address chronic shortages in fire engineers, risk assessors, and other key professionals.
• Delivery is needed to address Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 recommendations.

A centrally coordinated programme is urgently needed to address barriers to remediating unsafe buildings, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said today (Monday 24 February).

Publishing a new Industry White Paper on Remediation, NFCC says that, despite progress being made, there are longstanding challenges yet to be addressed. The paper sets out some of the barriers to meeting the Government’s targets – including significant difficulties in identifying and inspecting affected buildings and tackling workforce shortages. Fire Chiefs are also calling on the Government to step up efforts to manage the risk for those currently living in affected buildings, by increasing the use of sprinklers in existing residential buildings over 11 metres, based on risk assessment.

Since the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, fire and rescue services have played a crucial role in identifying unsafe buildings, supporting enforcement, and ensuring the immediate safety of residents. But NFCC says that fire and rescue services are under pressure to balance this work against other key priorities – including protecting people in other high-risk buildings, such as care homes and hospitals – whilst having to manage increasing funding pressures, workforce shortages and increased costs.

The Government published its Remediation Acceleration Plan in December, committing to completing remediation of all buildings over 18m in height within government-funded initiatives by the end of 2029. For buildings over 11m with safety defects, remediation is intended to be complete or have a clear timeline for completion by the end of 2029. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) estimates that up to 12,000 buildings over 11 metres need to be remediated, with 60% of affected buildings still to be identified.

Today’s paper from NFCC warns that, with current capacity, to review or inspect all mid-rise residential buildings from 11 metres to 18 metres would take between 12.76 and 24.23 years to complete at an estimated cost of £284.24 million to £608.82 million (see notes to editors for further detail).

Fire and rescue services already face multiple pressures due to their evolving role in protecting communities, including the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, alongside on-going inflationary pressures. Most  will have their funding cut in cash terms under next year’s local government financial settlement.

However, NFCC says that even with more funding in place, hitting remediation targets would be hindered by significant workforce challenges in the construction and fire safety sectors. Training fire engineers takes three to five years, with many leaving the public sector for better-paid private sector roles and the limited pool of professionals causing wage inflation. Slow progress in improving competency and capacity across fire engineering and fire risk assessment is also being compounded by a decline in STEM skills and an aging construction workforce. NFCC is urging the Government to establish a cross-departmental Construction Skills Strategy to address chronic shortages in fire engineers, fire risk assessors, and other key professionals.

The paper also calls for the Government to deliver on recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report regarding occupational regulation and competency, and in relation to the building regulations guidance not facilitating compliance with the Building Regulations 2010.

National Fire Chiefs Council Chair, Mark Hardingham, said:

“The Grenfell Tower fire was a national tragedy, and yet nearly eight years on, not enough progress has been made in addressing issues in the built environment. We need to put the proper processes in place now to fully identify and remove the barriers to remediation, to manage risk and ensure people are protected.

“This means a centrally coordinated programme, a serious plan to tackle workforce shortages, and joined up strategic direction to manage other crucial priorities. Unless we get these foundations right, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past and leaving thousands of people living in unsafe buildings for many years to come.”

Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council’s Protection Committee, and Chief Fire Officer for Greater Manchester, Dave Russel, said:

“Whilst a Construction Skills Strategy will take time to establish, an absence of one has created a gap, leaving no agreed picture of how many skilled practitioners the UK has – or needs – in order to inform current targets or plans.”

ENDS 

Notes to editors

• A copy of the Industry White Paper – Remediation: Fire Service Policy and Operations – can be found here. The recommendations are also set out below.
• *Analysis set out in the Industry White Paper published today estimates that to review or inspect all mid-rise residential buildings from 11 metres to 18 metres would take between 12.76 and 24.23 years to complete at an estimated cost of £284.24 million to £608.82 million, based on a scenario modelled for comparative purposes, where FRSs utilise 25% of competent inspecting officers, and an estimated range of between 79,000 and 150,000 buildings. This is illustrative only. A full breakdown of assumptions and other modelled scenarios are included in Appendix one.
• Information about the Government’s Remediation Acceleration Plan can be found here.
• In November 2024, the National Audit Office reported that of the 9,000 to 12,000 buildings over 11m that MHCLG estimates will need to be remediated up to 60% of affected buildings are still to be identified. The report can be found here.
• Further information about the impact of the recent Final Local Government Settlement 2025-26 on fire and rescue services can be found here.
• The Science Education Tracker 2023, published jointly by the Royal Society and Engineering UK has raised concerns about the future workforce in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. This can be found here.
• A copy of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report can be found here.
• The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is an independent membership association and the professional voice of the UK Fire and Rescue Service. NFCC supports fire and rescue services to continually improve, helping them to save lives and keep their local communities safe. NFCC is a charity and a membership association supporting and representing the UK Fire and Rescue Service. Founded in 1941, NFCC was established as a company and charity in 1998 as The Chief Fire Officers’ Association, transforming into the NFCC in 2017.

Recommendations

The Industry White Paper sets out the following recommendations to government:

1. Establish a programmatic approach towards identifying and addressing barriers to remediation and ensure that activity is aligned with policy objectives. The production of an industry-wide action plan could clarify roles and responsibilities and set clear timelines going forward.
2. Keep funding for building safety defects under review to ensure that funding schemes apply to relevant defects and examine building safety levies to ensure there is a pathway for industry to meet the costs of remediation. Government could also consider compulsory purchase schemes for the most dangerous buildings in need of remediation if the owner remains non-compliant.
3. Define and deliver competency requirements by establishing a cross-departmental Construction Skills Taskforce and an overarching skills strategy for the sector, working with the Department for Education and Skills England to identify, monitor and address key skills shortages in the workforce. Undertake a clear programme of work to examine and deliver on the recommendations (chapter 113) from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report in relation to occupational regulation and competency.
4. Examine the recommendations (chapter 113, paragraphs 113.11-113.14) of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry in relation to the building regulations guidance not facilitating compliance with the Building Regulations 2010, including an urgent review of Approved Document B and inclusion of clear warnings that the legal requirements are contained in the Building Regulations and compliance with the guidance will not necessarily result in compliance with the regulations.
5. Support the Building Safety Regulator to provide central coordination and strategic leadership on enforcement of new powers under the Building Safety Act 2022.
6. Ensure there is a joint data solution for all relevant partners so that all regulators can share key risk information on buildings.
7. Make it a requirement to retrofit sprinklers in all existing residential buildings over 11 metres on a risk-assessed basis, and consider suitable and proportionate methods of funding these requirements.
8. Promote and where necessary adapt the Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool so that it can be leveraged to support the prioritisation of buildings across all remediation workstreams.
9. Ensure enforcement guidance for regulators is kept up to date, such as the guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing produced by LACoRS, and clarify the use of new Building Safety Act 2022 powers alongside broader fire safety enforcement.
10. Ensure new powers under the Building Safety Act 2022 remain cost-neutral to local regulators, in accordance with consultations. Undertake regular reviews of the impact of the Building Safety Act 2022 on FRSs’ statutory obligations to ensure the safety of premises such as care homes and hospitals and local risks identified within FRSs’ community risk management plans are not compromised.
11. Undertake coordination with HMICFRS to ensure FRSs receive joined-up strategic direction from the Government on building safety priorities.
12. Review the non-worsening provisions which allow buildings to be refurbished without improvement to fire safety standards for the purposes of means of escape from fire as nearly as is reasonably practicable.
13. Ensure there are large-scale testing pathways for demonstrating the compliance of construction products and ensure that any resultant test data is freely and publicly available.
14. Examine international case studies of how comparable jurisdictions have addressed cladding crises to examine available learning and identify opportunities for international collaboration. This could include an analysis of how compliance with building regulations is achieved in the first instance, with the ultimate aim of preventing sub-standard properties from becoming occupied premises.
15. Further invest in Local Authority Building Control to ensure building control continues to strengthen its capability and capacity to regulate compliance with the Building Regulations 2010, including competencies for fire and structural safety. Undertake the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report recommendation (chapter 113, paragraph 113.29) for the Government to appoint an independent panel to consider whether it is in the public interest for building control functions to be performed by those who have a commercial interest in the process.
16. Where additional funding is made available to regulators to support capacity, ensure that funding comes in the form of sustained multi-year settlements to allow regulators to undertake long-term workforce planning.