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MHCLG has its own engineers, advisors & experts, & I’ve generally found them to be knowledgeable, polite and responsive. Among the things they lack however, and where Hackitt really didn’t help, is an understanding of how the murkier construction industry areas really work
1/11
1/11
To solve problems, you eliminate the cause & not the symptom. I gave up years ago asking people how things were going. You have to be smarter. If Hackitt had taken a QS job rather than talking to the heads of organisations, she’d have seen how the industry really works.
2/11
2/11
Occasionally you get a glimpse of it when it comes up for air. Here is a cladding contractor LinkedIn post from yesterday. That’s a popular hotel built by a well-known chain that apparently has a significant HPL/ACM/timber remediation problem.
3/11
3/11
I can see instantly the panel quality is terrible. Good panels are crisp, flat with sharp corners. With that bowing, experience tells me that they’re probably not stiffened and one of the higher ones will probably blow off at some point. And that’s just what you can see.
4/11
4/11
This is the balance sheet of the cladding contractor. You can tell a lot. From the fixed assets they must have bought a new van in 2019. They are set up to close at the first sight of a problem and start again the next day. If there’s a problem you have nothing to pursue.
5/11
5/11
They will not have £5m insurance. They will have no test or classification history. They have no direct labour, so no training on the installation of safety critical features like cavity barriers. They will not employ a quality manager. They will not be ISO9001 accredited.
6/11
6/11
They will not invest in development. They won't pay to be members of BuildUK or any other fancy trade association. They will never have visited or met anyone from the BBA, BRE, CWCT or anybody else around MHCLG's virtual round tables.
What will they be?
The cheapest.
7/11
What will they be?
The cheapest.
7/11
@1962ndc999 said recently nothing had changed but above 18m it has, massively. <18m it broadly hasn't. I've just seen a large (but <18m) block of flats specified with a Class E polystyrene backed brick slip system from Portugal that was half the price of our A1 system.
8/11
8/11
Some contractors won’t even use combustible material <18m now. You see them at the meetings, and hear great things being done by companies that weren’t really the problem. It's preaching to the converted.
You have to raise the bar so the bugs can't get over it.
9/11
You have to raise the bar so the bugs can't get over it.
9/11
Demanding standards are only met by companies that invest in their products and people. When they succeed it creates career opportunities that attract great individuals, and the stability to allow investment in research, development, innovation, offsite construction etc. 10/11
There's a growing cap between the sale price of a home and the cost of building it. There's no need now for deregulation to guarantee the profits of party-donating housebuilders.
It is time to set and enforce quality standards for all construction.
11/11
It is time to set and enforce quality standards for all construction.
11/11
