Grenfell tower fire: the importance of ethics and professionalism for the procurement of safe buildings and infrastructure in the construction industry

The Grenfell Tower fire resulted in the loss of 72 people. A series of events led to the tragedy that our construction industry must scrutinise beyond the public inquiry which is still underway. The tower had recently undergone a ‘revamp’ with the addition of a new cladding system which seems to have allowed the fire to spread with catastrophic consequences. A series of questions have been raised regarding the choice of materials, the detailing, the certification, the policies and regulations within the industry. The complex nature of the construction process and the crossover between the disciplines makes it difficult to allocate direct professional liability but what lessons can be learnt in terms of professional development and ethics for such an event to be avoided in the future? The de-centralisation and privatisation of key aspects of control and supervision of safety in buildings has been imminent in the neo-liberal policy of both Labour and Conservative governments in the past 30 years. In addition, the general “self-regulatory” approach that the Construction industry has taken must be questioned. This tragedy must be viewed as threshold of “the before and after” of a chapter and the serious study of the public interest versus profitable enterprise.