The Association for Project Safety is calling for every new UK construction projects that will be designed by people who are equipped with a range about bespoke skills, knowledge and experience that will be best suited to each project in order to help to mitigate the fire risk of the completed building.

The Association for Project Safety, or APS, has made this all in a response to The London Fire Brigade’s recent assertion that, unless the construction industry started to take fire safety more seriously, another Grenfell Tower tragedy cannot be discounted. A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade has said that it has taken a tragedy on such an enormous scale like Grenfell for everyone to take fire safety seriously and then listen to what the Brigade has been saying to them for year about the required aptitude and skill for building design.

The President of the APS, Bobby Chakravarthy, has echoed the remarks made by the Brigade spokesperson, and added that all construction projects are different, but each one needs to be designed by people who have the right blend of skills, knowledge and experience for that particular project. The Association agrees with the London Fire service’s submission to the recent review of fire and building regulations. Fire safety is a vital part of construction and should never be seen as an off the shelf package that can be bolted on to the construction design. The key to an effective and fire safe design in the use of intrinsic fire safety elements that can then lead to a reduced risk of fire for the people living in and working in the buildings, but for firefighters and other emergency services who may be called out in the event of an incident.

The construction industry needs to collectively examine how they minimise fire risk in order to avoid another Grenfell Tower incident.