Thread by @SteveMcfirerisk

Headlines ⁦@thetimes⁩ this morning ⁦@michaelgove⁩ @luhc confirms ⁦@GOVUK⁩ to blame for #Grenfell but holds developers over a barrel for remediation costs shortfalls

Michael Gove: We are to blame on Grenfell | News | The Sunday Times thetimes.co.uk/article/michae…

@michaelgove makes a remarkable admission in today’s @thetimes

“faulty and ambiguous”

government guidance allowed the scandal to happen.

As I’ve said all along @GOVUK legislation & guidance was the root cause & large part of the compounding failures leading to #Grenfell

@thetime citing remediation fund of £9.1bil

Fact check please: recall @GOVUK has agreed to £5.1bil building safety fund

Do we assume balance of £4bil is coming from developers pledge or should we say developers attempt to cap (unlimited) liabilities in deals behind closed doors

@michaelgove is either a genius or opened up an unholy can of worms.

Pic 1 Placing the root cause failures with @GOVUK

Pic 2 But then expecting developers to pick-up the tab on the remediation cost shortfalls

No where do we see minister going after:

Designers
specifiers
fire engineers
manufactures
constructors
specialist contractors
approved inspectors or building control
management cos
warranty providers or PII insurers

Hence developers have deep war chests to push back or sue!

@michaelgove hints that @grenfellinquiry will “allocate responsibility appropriately”

There is already legal precedent following the judges ruling on the #LacrosseFire in Australia

Where the judge assigned significant costs against the contractor & other project principals

Just as the #lacrossefire + #Neo2000 cases lurched into lengthy legal claims & generating millions in legal fees.

Anticipate we will see decades of post #grenfell + near 10,000 impacted blocks heading into decades of legal claims and counter claims.

blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/housing-after-…

5 1/2yrs on can we get a simple - straight answer to the following

1 how many impacted blocks

2 how much is the estimated cost to fix

3 how much is in the @GOVUK building safety fund

4 how much will developers levy or new pot contribute

5 what is the short fall

Previously stated that post #grenfell remediation costs could range between £50-100bil

Again the estimates from the #lacrossefire (claim A$ 12.6mil) across 1,000 other impacted blocks could amount to A$1 billion legal costs alone.

Now scale-up to est 10,000 impacted UK blocks!

@michaelgove appears to have stacked-up press interviews & making a number of revaluations on #grenfell failures

Is this preemptive for the @grenfellinquiry phase 2 report or a minister genuinely apologising.

https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1619618543623933953

I’m not the only sector commentator to question today’s statements by sec of state.

https://twitter.com/LovellPropguru/status/1619663884922634240

Also adding respected sector leader @formerCEOciob

Agree cut the money off, come down hard with unlimited fines + custodial sentences & we’ll see the necessary changes to improve the safety culture from CEO to all levels in the sector.

https://twitter.com/formerceociob/status/1619615160435617792

When they first read the @thetimes article by @Lees_Martina and @HarryYorke1 you think scoop.

When you see the sec of state on other news outlets, it’s starting to look like a carefully crafted crisis response &/or leverage against developers.

Let see how this plays out!

Call me skeptical but isn’t sec of state not testing another crown pleaser on leasehold reform

Whilst admitting @GOVUK was at fault but quickly moving to developers must pay.

Let’s see how this stands when the anticipated legal challenges or pushback are inbound.

https://twitter.com/victoria_spratt/status/1619673050064261121

Here’s the front page @thetimes everyone’s talking about

Truly hope this the turning point for everyone impacted by #grenfell - truly hope that this won’t end in disappointment for so very many trying to hand onto their homes.

Good to see more press coverage on @luhc sec of state statement on oot cause & compounding failures leading to #grenfell

We have to remember it’s not just residential high-rise impacted but across the built environment

Instead of tinkering with approved documents - overhaul!

https://twitter.com/lbc/status/1619850196866957313

Cross posting

https://twitter.com/stevemcfirerisk/status/1619708111522267137

Trade press catching-up on @michaelgove @luhc statements over government guidance ambiguity + giving developers 6wks to sign-on to new terms.

Sector whispers - all good & well ministers positions but we work in the real world & better deals to be made!

constructionnews.co.uk/health-and-saf…

Also adding product test houses, product certified & 3rd party accreditation schemes!

More from the architects perspective

https://twitter.com/architectsjrnal/status/1620027693994545152

@insidehousing posting a number of features today following sec of states announcement

https://twitter.com/insidehousing/status/1619955473343725571

Residents perspective & will sec of states positions statements be any constellation?

#BuildingSafetyCrisis

theguardian.com/society/2023/j…

@luhc letter to developers

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

Developers given opportunity to comment on the contracts?

Expectation those who have must sign up in six weeks or find a new line of business.

@michaelgove @luhc doubles down but also cites ambiguous guidance contributed to #grenfell - will developers use this as defence?

https://twitter.com/luhc/status/1620121602406121472