We are proud to have signed up to the Building a Safer Future (BSF) Charter. The Charter commitments align with our long established approach to prioritise Health and Safety and provides a structure for action to ensure that building safety always comes first.

The Building a Safer Future Charter was created to promote an urgent and positive culture and behaviour change in the safety of the built environment. It is about putting people’s safety first in how we plan, design, build and maintain the buildings we live and work in.

Becoming a Charter Registered Signatory confirms our commitment to taking action in five areas:

1. Collaborate to spearhead culture change and be the voice of building safety across our sector.
2. Be transparent in the interests of safety, sharing key information with residents, clients, contractors and statutory bodies in a useful and accessible manner in the design, construction and occupation phases of the process.
3. Make safety a key factor of choice in who we work with, ensuring that building safety is placed at the centre of selection decisions without compromising quality or value for money.
4. Ensure that the voices and safety of residents, visitors and employees are central in our decision-making process.
5. Set out and communicate clear responsibilities within our organisation and with our partners, ensuring everyone with a stake in the building during design, construction and occupation understands their role and has the time and resources they need to achieve and maintain building safety.

The Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 was an appalling tragedy. We will always remember the 72 people who lost their lives. The disaster continues to raise serious questions about the safety of the buildings we live and work in, and how best to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

It is clear that in relation to the built environment there is a need for substantial culture change, to bring in new practices and work hard at regaining public confidence.  We hope the Charter will help to facilitate that culture change and drive development and learnings around a collaborative community of those committed to putting people’s safety first.

Find out more information here. https://buildingasaferfuture.org.uk/what-is-the-charter/