Ronan Point Inquiry

Ronan Point should be strengthened, in particular by making the joints tougher and more continuous, so that local damage to the load-bearing walls from whatever cause will not lead to progressive collapse; and so that the building is capable of safely withstanding the maximum wind forces which it is likely to experience during its lifetime (paragraphs 131 and 145).

Until the building has been strengthened the gas supply to it should be disconnected (paragraph 131).

Gas supplies should be disconnected from those existing tall buildings, the design of which renders them liable to progressive collapse, until they have been strengthened (paragraph 161).

In order to reduce the risk of town gas explosions still further, consideration should be given to a statutory requirement, based on the provisions of the London Gas Undertakings (Regulations) Act 1939, that the installation of any gas appliance should be notified to the area Gas Board, who should have a duty to inspect, and a power, if the installation were unsatisfactory, to refuse the supply of gas; inspection should preferably be free of charge (paragraph 169).

Consideration should be given to means of improving ventilation in flats in high blocks (paragraph 172).

The Regulations governing the storage of other potentially explosive materials in high blocks of flats should be reviewed (paragraph 173).

All blocks over six storeys in height should be appraised by a structural engineer who should consider: (a) whether they are susceptible to progressive collapse (paragraph 191); (b) whether they have been designed to resist adequately the maximum wind loadings which they may experience (paragraph 214); (c) their behaviour in the event of fire (paragraph 216).

In blocks that are judged to be susceptible to progressive collapse, measures must be taken to strengthen them to eliminate this risk, and the gas supply should be turned off until this has been done (paragraph 191).

Blocks which have not been designed to deal adequately with wind loads, or where progressive collapse may too readily be precipitated by fire, should be strengthened (paragraphs 214 and 216).

Designers of new blocks must design the building so that it is not susceptible to progressive collapse, paying particular attention to introducing continuity at the joints and so disposing the load-bearing walls that alternative paths are provided in the event of local failure (paragraph 188).

Until the new wind loading Code is produced, designers should have regard to the results of recent research into the frequency and duration of high wind speeds, when calculating the wind loadings for which the blocks are to be designed (paragraph 214).

Until the new Building Regulations dealing with fire precautions are produced, designers should have regard to the possible effects of fire on the structural behaviour of the building as a whole (paragraph 216).

Owners of tall post-war blocks (say over 100 feet high) that are not system-built should inquire into the wind loads for which the blocks were designed and seek professional advice as to the adequacy of their buildings to withstand the wind forces now known to be likely to act on them during their lifetimes (paragraph 214).

The Building Regulations should include provisions dealing with progressive collapse (paragraph 208).

A Code of Practice applicable specifically to large concrete panel construction should be prepared and published as a matter of urgency (paragraph 210).

Code of Practice 3: Chapter V: Loading, must, as a matter of urgency, be brought up to date and should take account of recent research into the frequency and duration of high winds particularly on high buildings (paragraph 214).

The Fire Regulations should be revised to take account of the effect of heat arising from a domestic fire of normal intensity on the behaviour of the structure as a whole (paragraph 216).

The Minister of Housing and Local Government, who is responsible for the Building Regulations, must accept responsibility for seeing that the British Standards and Codes of Practice referred to in the Regulations are kept up to date, and that new ones are promulgated as necessary. Machinery should be devised to effect this (paragraph 217).