Create cladding materials library for designers

In February 2026, the government published the Construction Products Reform White Paper and consulted on a General Safety Requirement for Construction Products, with the consultations closing in May. The consultations received responses from across the sector, supported by engagement across the product supply chain. We are now considering these responses and are continuing to work with industry and regulators to refine our proposals for reform.

We intend to publish government responses to the white paper and General Safety Requirement consultations later in the year, setting out more detail on next steps. These next steps include our intention to bring forward legislation to introduce a General Safety Requirement when Parliamentary time allows.

Additionally, an expert digital consultancy has been commissioned to deliver a digital discovery for Q3 (July to September) this year. This will be followed by Alpha testing of viable solutions.

Alongside the government response, in February 2025, we published the Construction Products Reform Green Paper. The green paper explored how best to facilitate a construction library. It set out how we might go further than the Inquiry’s recommendation and include a wider range of product information to help ensure the safe selection of products. We also used the consultation and wider engagement to gather views on how to provide clear and trusted information, and the library’s scope and users.

Views have informed proposals included in the Construction Products Reform White Paper, which has been published alongside this report. Most respondents to the Green Paper supported the intention to develop a construction library. There were a range of interpretations of what might be most effective from a comprehensive product database through to a targeted hub. Challenges were also identified around implementation.

We will support development of a construction library, working with industry. Our ambition is to develop digital services that provide clear, accurate, and honest product information without duplication or confusion, recognising the sector’s varied digital maturity. We propose a phased approach, starting with ensuring the national regulator has the digital capability for market surveillance, improving transparency on tests for products using third-party certification schemes, and exploring options for a digital platform or database if needed, alongside simplifying access to regulatory guidance and fire safety information.