What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure that new homes currently being built do not include the same failures as many high rise buildings?
The Government response to our ‘Safer Buildings in Wales’ White Paper was published in December 2021. There was wide-scale support for our proposals and we are working at pace to progress them.
However, the Welsh Government has already taken a number of steps to improve building safety. In 2016, Wales made history by becoming the first country in the world to introduce legislation for the mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in all new homes. More recently, we introduced a ban on combustible materials in the external wall of new residential buildings over 18m high.
In addition, the publication of the draft Building Safety Bill by the UK Government presented an opportunity to take earlier action to apply reforms relating to the design and construction phase to Wales, as well as changes to the law on fire safety in occupied buildings.
We have committed to bring forward further Wales specific legislation in this Senedd Term.