The government has formally completed nine further Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, including four covering the construction industry and five dealing with how local authorities respond to major emergencies. The latest published government progress report records 21 of 61 tracked recommendations as complete and 40 in progress. The nine newly discharged recommendations are 22, 23, 27 and 28 for construction, and 51 to 55 for response and recovery.
Multi-storey construction underway in London as the government progresses further Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. Origian Image: London Construction Magazine.
Recommendations 22 and 23 asked government to appoint an independent panel to examine two fundamental questions: whether building control functions should be performed by organisations with a commercial interest in the process, and whether all building control functions should instead be performed by a national authority. The Building Control Independent Panel's final report, chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt, was submitted to government in March 2026 and published on 20 May. The panel found a system affected by fragmentation, conflicting incentives, uneven capacity and inconsistent enforcement.
Its long-term proposal is not simply to remove private building control. The panel recommends a single statutory system for non-higher-risk building work, with statutory functions delivered through fewer, larger and publicly accountable Building Control Bodies. Public and private organisations could continue providing client-facing building control services, but the panel ultimately wants regulatory work allocated independently according to competence, capacity and risk rather than selected by the dutyholder.
Dame Judith Hackitt put the issue directly in the report: “we would not create one that allows dutyholders to choose their own regulator.” The distinction is important. Recommendations 22 and 23 are now classed as complete because the independent review requested by the Inquiry has been delivered. That does not mean the proposed restructuring of building control has been implemented.
The government's initial response to the panel accepts its overall diagnosis but commits to further analysis and consultation where required before deciding how the structural recommendations should be taken forward. That work sits alongside the wider move towards a Single Construction Regulator. The Building Safety Regulator transferred from the Health and Safety Executive in January 2026 to become an arm's-length body of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, a change examined by London Construction Magazine when the Building Safety Regulator became a standalone body.
Nine recommendations now recorded as complete
| Recommendation | Area | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Building control | Commercial interests in building control reviewed |
| 23 | Building control | National authority model reviewed |
| 27 | Fire control | Lift fire-control switches and keys |
| 28 | Gas safety | Pipeline isolation valve access |
| 51 | Emergency response | Temporary accommodation |
| 52 | Emergency response | Immediate financial assistance |
| 53 | Emergency response | Continuity of key-worker support |
| 54 | Emergency response | Communication with people requiring assistance |
| 55 | Emergency response | Public information during emergencies |
Fire-control switches and gas isolation valves
Recommendation 27 concerned whether greater standardisation was needed for lift fire-control switches and keys. The government's construction-industry progress update says the National Fire Chiefs Council worked with the Building Safety Regulator on guidance and the distribution and types of lift keys used by firefighters. Government says all required actions have now been delivered and learning material updated.
Recommendation 28 dealt with pipeline isolation valves used to stop gas supplies during an emergency. The Inquiry proposed requiring gas transporters by law to check the accessibility of each valve at least every three years and report the findings to the Health and Safety Executive.
Government accepted recommendation 28 in principle rather than in full. HSE obtained data from network operators to establish a baseline for valve access and existing barriers, completed its analysis in February 2026 and began targeted engagement with operators. HSE said that engagement will continue even though the recommendation has now been formally discharged.
Five local authority recommendations also close
Recommendations 51 to 55 deal with the support local authorities should provide after major emergencies. They cover temporary accommodation that takes account of personal, religious and cultural requirements, immediate financial assistance, key-worker continuity, communication with people requiring assistance and public information.
The government's response and recovery update says MHCLG identified the refresh of the 2018 Local Authorities' Chief Executive Resilience Guidance as the route for reinforcing those duties. Recommendations 51 to 55 were therefore closed because government had identified the mechanism through which the obligations would be clarified.
Again, the status needs careful reading. A recommendation being recorded as complete does not necessarily mean every related operational change has finished. In this case, the May report said publication of the refreshed local-authority guidance was targeted for August 2026.
Building control capacity remains under pressure
The Building Control Independent Panel's findings make workforce capacity one of the central unresolved construction issues. Its report describes fragmentation across local-authority and private building control, limited capacity and particular recruitment and retention problems among experienced inspectors.
For higher-risk buildings, the regulatory picture is developing separately through the Building Safety Regulator. The latest performance data tracked by London Construction Magazine shows that Gateway 2 approvals reached 84% across all higher-risk building categories in the 12 weeks to 31 August 2026, while London new-build and conversion decisions reached a 90% approval rate.
Those improved approval rates do not close the wider Grenfell reform programme. The government's May tracker still had 20 of the 28 construction-industry recommendations in progress, including the recommendation to establish a Single Construction Regulator.
Building Safety Levy adds the next immediate deadline
The next major regulatory date facing residential development is separate from these nine Grenfell recommendations. The Building Safety Levy comes into operation in England on 1 October 2026 and will apply to qualifying building control applications and notices for new residential development and purpose-built student accommodation. The government's Building Safety Levy guidance confirms that the levy is payable on qualifying developments before completion or occupation, whichever comes earlier. Government expects the measure to raise around £3.4 billion over roughly ten years towards building safety remediation.
For London schemes the rates vary sharply by borough and land classification. London Construction Magazine's detailed analysis of the Building Safety Levy rates taking effect on 1 October found the standard charge reaches £100.35/m² in Kensington and Chelsea, £98.01/m² in Westminster and £91.87/m² in Hammersmith and Fulham. The government's May report said further Grenfell progress reports would be published in September and December 2026. As of 10 September, the official Grenfell progress-report collection still lists the May report as the latest quarterly update. The September publication will therefore provide the next formal measure of how many of the remaining recommendations have moved from implementation to completion.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus Founder, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |