Grenfell was a tragic disaster that led to the passing of 72 people. After the event, a spotlight was shone on the construction industry and the building and fire safety regulations. Amongst the inquest was a recommendation: to create a ‘Golden Thread’ of information, but how will it affect an M&E contractor?
The fallout from Grenfell
After the tragedy of Grenfell and the subsequent inquest, the ‘Hackitt’ report stated that the “current system of building regulations and fire safety was not fit for purpose” and a “culture change was required”.
The report underlined that the complex nature of the current building regulations around health and safety and fire safety had proven a barrier to compliance. The report recommended a desire to create a transparent single source of truth, a ‘golden thread’ of information that would weave through a project, holding several ‘duty holders’ accountable for maintaining the safety of the building and its occupants. The ‘Golden Thread’ is soon to be part of the Building Safety Bill.
What is the Golden Thread of Information?
The Building Regulation Advisory Committee defines the ‘Golden Thread’ as - “both the information that allows you to understand a building and the steps needed to keep both the building and people safe, now and in the future” (GOV UK, 2021). The golden thread of information will show the following:
- That the building is compliant with applicable building regulations during its construction and provides evidence of meeting the requirements of the new building control route throughout the design and construction and refurbishment of a building.
- Identify, understand, manage, and mitigate building safety risks in order to prevent or reduce the severity of the consequences of fire spread or structural collapse throughout the life cycle of a building. (GOV UK, 2021).
What is the purpose of ‘Golden Thread’?
The purpose of ‘Golden Thread’ is to provide one single source of documentation that can be examined at any stage of a building’s lifecycle to ensure the safety of that building. Several government organisations such as the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) hopes the ‘golden thread’ will:
- ‘Use digital tools and systems to enable key information ‘to be stored and used effectively to ensure safer buildings.
- Support dutyholders and accountable individuals throughout the life cycle of a building (during the gateway process, building registration process, the safety case approach and throughout occupation) ‘by recording the original design intent and earning subsequent changes to buildings should be captured and preserved’
- Incorporate all the information needed to understand a building and how it should be managed so that the building and above all the people in and around a building are safe, both now and in the future.
- Make information easily available to those who require it.
- Improve the filing and organisation of key documentation which will support the building safety regulator in being assured buildings are being managed safely.
The golden thread will make sure information is visible, accurate, and up to date. Under the safety case approach, those accountable for high-rise and in-scope buildings must ensure reasonable steps are taken to manage fire and structural safety risks through prevention, control, and ongoing management, considering both building safety and cost (Gov, 2021).
Who will regulate the implementation of the ‘Golden Thread’ standard?
To support the MHCLG and HSE, the Building Regulations Advisory Committee formed the BRAC golden thread working group. The group was created with 4 key objectives:
- To provide expertise from across the built environment and housing sectors to work with MHCLG and HSE officials in developing achievable and sustainable golden thread requirements.
- To facilitate active industry engagement in developing the golden thread policy building on the UK’s world-leading standards for digital information management in the built environment.
- To support MHCLG and HSE in driving the implementation of the golden thread within the built environment and housing sectors.
- To promote the culture of building safety and accountability required to adopt and manage a golden thread across all relevant sectors.
Who will be responsible for Golden Thread?
The Client, Principal Designer, and Principal Contractor dutyholder roles will be responsible for the upkeep, maintenance, and storage of all information. A duty holder can be any stakeholder who is responsible for commissioning building work or participating in the design and construction processes or managing structural and fire safety in higher-risk buildings (Gov, 2021).
The golden thread will hold the information and documentation for registration, certification, safety case report, mandatory occurrence reporting and resident engagement. Newly builds that have gone through the gateway process will also have the information produced through the gateway process.
What are the principles of the Golden Thread?
The Golden Thread legislation is underlined by ten key principles (the NBS, 2020)
- Accurate and Trusted – the dutyholder/accountable person/building safety manager should use the golden thread to maintain and manage building safety and ensure compliance with building regulations.
- Residents feeling secure in their homes: residents will be provided information from the golden thread – so that they have accurate and trusted information about their home.
- Culture change: the golden thread will support culture change within the industry as it will require increased competence and capability, different working practices, updated processes, and a focus on information management and control.
- Single source of truth: the golden thread will bring all information together in a single place meaning there is always a ‘single source of truth’. It will record changes (i.e. updates, additions or deletions to information, data, documents, and plans).
- Secure: the golden thread must be secure, with sufficient protocols in place to protect personal information and control access to maintain the security of the building or residents.
- Accountable: the golden thread will record changes (i.e. updates, additions, or deletions to information, data, documents, and plans) when these changes were made, and by who. This will help drive improved accountability. The new regime sets out clear duties for duty holders and accountable persons for maintaining the golden thread information to meet the required standards. Therefore, there is accountability at every level – from the client/accountable person to those designing, building, or maintaining a building.
- Understandable/Consistent: the golden thread needs to support the user in their task of managing building safety and compliance with building regulations. The information in the golden thread must be clear, understandable, and focused on the needs of the user.
- Simple to access (accessible) the golden thread needs to support the user in their task of managing building safety and therefore the information in the golden thread must be accessible.
- Longevity/durability and shareability of information: the golden thread of information needs to be formatted in a way that can be easily handed over and maintained over the entire lifetime of a building. Information should be shared and accessed by contractors who use different software. Also once a building is sold then that information must be passed over.
- Relevant/proportionate: The objective of the golden thread is building safety and therefore if the information is no longer relevant to building safety it does not need to be kept. The golden thread, the changes to it, and processes related to it must be reviewed periodically to ensure that the information comprising it remains relevant and useful.
How will it impact M&E contractors?
M&E contractors offer a wide range of services and are often impacted by a variety of legislation and standards.
With fragmented supply chains and confusion around compliance, there is a need for greater transparency. From anchors and fixings to the lack of universal testing for fire rating standards for cable management systems & bracketry, there is a requirement to strengthen the legislation.
The incorporation of ‘The Golden Thread’ to the Building Safety Bill, will provide confidence to the entire supply chain as it reduces the risk of non-compliant products supplied to site. This is because every product supplied on-site that could impact either the design or the health and safety risk will need compliant testing data.
Conclusion
Once the ‘Golden Thread’ comes into practice it will bring about a small but significant mindset change. The conversation around compliance and health and safety will be taken more seriously.
References
NBS, 2020, ‘What is the Golden Thread’ Accessible: [https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/what-is-the-golden-thread]
GOV UK, 2021, ‘Building Regulations Advisory Committee: golden thread report‘ Available: [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-regulations-advisory-committee-golden-thread-report/building-regulations-advisory-committee-golden-thread-report]