The Building Safety Act 2022’s reform of building safety legislation was needed well before the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017 – but it took a major disaster to force the issue. The contributory causes and responsibility for the fire were many, and the government comes out badly now that the inquiry has heard from six groups whose roles and actions have been under scrutiny.

This is a “rogues gallery” scenario. It foreshadows the apportionment of the risk and responsibility that we shall see once the inquiry report is published and will lead to prosecutions and more.

A couple of important comments from the inquiry show the direction of travel.

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