Anticipating the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report: a recap and future outlook

The Grenfell Inquiry Panel issued a statement on the seventh anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, to "offer their heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved, survivors and all those whose lives were irrevocably changed by the disaster. We think of the Grenfell Tower community while we continue to work on the Inquiry’s final report, which will be published on 4 September [2024].”

Ahead of the publication of this long awaited and important final report (also referred to as the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report) here is a reminder of what the Phase 1 Report said, a look at some key developments since then, and thoughts about what to expect next.

Summary of the Phase 1 Report

The Phase 1 Report, spanning hundreds of pages, was published in October 2019. It was made up of six parts (published in four volumes):

• Part I – an overview of the events of the 14 June 2017, including a description of the Grenfell Tower and the organisation of the London Fire Brigade (LFB)
• Part II – a detailed narrative account of the fire and the steps taken in response to it
• Part III – conclusions on the origin and development of the fire and an analysis of LFB's (and other emergency services') response
• Part IV – tributes from family and friends of those who died in the fire
• Part V – recommendations arising from the Phase 1 findings
• Part VI – matters of particular importance to be addressed in Phase 2.

Key findings and commentary in the Phase 1 Report

While it's not possible to summarise the entire Phase 1 Report here, here are some key points.

Part I – Background matters

This Part looked at Grenfell Tower, its original construction and subsequent refurbishment. It described the "compartmentation" principle of design (i.e. if a fire breaks out in one space, it should be contained there long enough for fire and rescue services to extinguish it before it spreads elsewhere) and “stay put” strategy (i.e. if there is a fire elsewhere in the building, the occupants are told to remain in their flats unless directly affected by fire, heat or smoke).

It also described how the fire spread from the original flat to the rest of the building. In particular, refurbishment works to Grenfell Tower introduced "a cladding system comprising insulation boards attached to the outside of the concrete structure and protected from the weather by aluminium composite material rainscreen panels" (volume 1). These panels contained a highly combustible polyethylene core, and the insulation boards were made of combustible foam. So even though LFB quickly extinguished the fire in the original flat, the flames spread upwards to the roof and onto other parts of the tower, travelling mainly via the rainscreen panels.

Part II – The events of 14 June 2017

This Part is extremely detailed (in volumes 2 and 3), giving a factual account of events that occurred from the fire's outbreak at 00:54am until the last remaining survivor left the tower at 08.07am. It sets out a chronology of events, and includes photographs, transcripts of calls, and extracts from witness statements.

Part III – Conclusions

The Inquiry conclusions in volume 4 include:

• The fire originated in a fridge-freezer in a flat (and exonerates the flat's tenant from any blame)
• "The building suffered a total failure of compartmentation. How the building came to be in that state is the most pressing question to be answered in Phase 2", and
• "The construction of the Building Regulations is ultimately a question of law and there is compelling evidence that requirement B4(1) was not met in this case" (B4(1) requires a building's external walls “to adequately resist the spread of fire over the walls").

This Part also shares conclusions on LFB's response and perceived failings of those with overall control of the onsite firefighters due to communication issues and the time taken to order a full evacuation.

Part IV – Remembering those who died

Here, the Report lists all of the fire's victims, with a short biography of each, so their memories may be permanently ingrained into public record. "It is fitting that this report should not only name each of those who died but should celebrate their lives as individuals" (volume 4).

Part V – Recommendations

The Report (at volume 4) said that those responsible for high-rise buildings with similar cladding materials to Grenfell Tower should look into this as soon as possible. Panels with polyethylene cores on the exterior of high-rise buildings should be replaced as soon as possible.

There were many recommendations, including for owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings to provide information to emergency services and carry out lift inspections. For all residential buildings, urgent fire door inspections should be carried out.

Also, emergency services should improve communications between themselves, receive relevant training, and develop policies to manage the transition from “stay put” to “get out" and to control deployments and use resources better.

Part VI - Looking ahead to Phase 2

The Executive Summary accompanying the Report said "an important element of Phase 2 will be to complete the investigation of the circumstances in which those who died in the fire met their deaths".

Part VI of the Report itself added "the principal focus of Phase 2 will be on the decisions which led to the installation of a highly combustible cladding system on a high-rise residential building and the wider background against which they were taken" (volume 4). Phase 2 would also look at:

• Management of LFB
• Testing and certification of materials
• Design and choice of materials
• Effectiveness of fire doors
• Design of window arrangements
• Lifts (including maintenance and the fireman's switch), and
• Possible failure of smoke extraction systems.

Developments between Reports

A lot has happened since the 2019 Phase 1 Report to date, including:

• The Phase 2 public hearings took place from 2020 to 2022 (there were delays due to the pandemic)
• The Fire Safety Act came into force in 2021
• The Building Safety Act received Royal Assent in 2022 and has led to a raft of secondary legislation. This has overhauled legal requirements, processes, sanctions, liability periods and industry oversight - with significant impacts for the construction industry, property sector, and building control profession, and further ripple effects for corporate bodies, investors and insurers
• Various government funds were set up to help remediation of taller residential buildings (the Building Safety Fund and Cladding Safety Scheme) and to keep residents safe (the Waking Watch Fund and Waking Watch Replacement Fund)
• The government held developers to account through the Responsible Actor's Scheme and Developer Remediation Contract
• Various PASs, frameworks and reports on construction industry professionals' competency have been published, and
• Other changes are in the pipeline (like new legislation awaited on second staircases in taller residential buildings, and discussions around a new building safety levy to be aimed at developers of residential housing).

However, for the residents of Grenfell Tower and others living in higher-rise residential buildings the changes have likely not come fast enough.

What to expect from the Phase 2 Report

While we know the topics the Phase 1 Report highlighted for Phase 2, and while the Phase 2 hearings were public, we can't know for sure what the Phase 2 Report will conclude or recommend, but in all likelihood:

• It will be long and technical
• It will give us a far greater understanding of what went wrong at Grenfell Tower from a construction perspective
• It will contain more recommendations – whereas last time most of the recommendations were around owners and managers of higher-rise buildings and the emergency services, this time the recommendations may be aimed at the construction industry. This may result in further long-term embedded changes, particularly around selection of materials, design, and workmanship, and
• There may be further clarification around building regulations, which building control professionals will be keeping a particular eye out for.

Referring back to the Grenfell Inquiry Panel statement mentioned at the opening to this recap, it serves as a solemn reminder that the final report and the related building safety changes stem from a tragedy that has profoundly affected many people.

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