Recommendation 64

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government shares the Committee’s concerns about improving the testing regime for construction products. The Government has announced an independent review into testing. The review will identify gaps and risks in the testing and certification system, and the Government will then consider how to respond to the findings. The leads and detail of this review were announced on the 22nd of April. Within the Building Safety Bill, the Government will enable the existing construction products regulatory regime (which currently only applies to products with a European harmonised standard) to be extended to include other safety critical products placed on the UK market. In addition, we will improve accountability by requiring all construction products to be safe for the purposes they are designated for; and we are also strengthening oversight and enforcement of this extended regime through a new national regulator for construction products. The Government will extend the requirements for products to be tested and to put factory controls in place to more safety critical products. This includes cladding panels and fire doors. This will provide greater confidence that construction products placed on the UK market consistently deliver to standards for specific products – and all construction products are safe to use. The powers contained in Schedule 8 are intended to ensure that construction products – where they are critical to building safety – are tested (and factory control processes put in place) on a non-voluntary basis. Earlier in the year this Government announced that it will extend the remit of the Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to include regulation of construction products and that OPSS will receive funding up to £10m in 2021/22 to establish the national regulator for construction products. The regulator will have wide reach with stronger central enforcement powers, undertake the market surveillance that is required to identify and act against non- compliance and poor behaviour, have the powers to commission its own testing to investigate product safety concerns, support local Trading Standard and share its experience with industry to drive compliance and good practice. While we continue to prepare for the new regulatory regime for construction products, the national regulator will use the time before formal powers to establish itself as the new regulator and provide support to existing regulators within the scope of the existing regimes, until appropriate legislation is in place through the Building Safety Bill to allow the regulator to use its new powers. The government will also extend the requirement for products to be tested before being placed on the market to more products, and where appropriate, require regular sample testing by a third-party accredited body. If products do not meet the relevant standard, then the relevant economic operator will be required to correct, withdraw and/or recall the product from the UK market. If they do not do so the regulator will also have the power to prosecute companies for non-compliance. The forthcoming Building Safety Bill will ensure that the regulator has the powers it needs to oversee and improve the construction products system. The Government is concerned about the adequacy of the testing regime. The Department’s own investigations into fire doors has shown the need for change. Further evidence from the current phase of the Public Inquiry points to the same and we await its conclusions and recommendations. The Government has also confirmed it is establishing the Construction Products Standards Committee to make recommendations on matters like conformity assessment processes, product test standards and to address weaknesses within the current testing regime such as the effectiveness and accuracy of current tests and ways to improve the testing regime. The Government is also actively engaging with industry-led interventions that are aiming to root out bad behaviour in approaches to how products are marketed in the UK, such as that being led by the Construction Products Association. Industry must continue to root out poor practice and exceed the standards it sets for itself, or else the Government will need to consider what steps it must take to regulate further.