This October will mark the 40th anniversary of my career in the construction industry. For the first 38 of those years, I would have argued passionately that the UK had the best construction professionals of any country in the world. Our professional institutions were globally admired – why else would people from across the world aspire to become members? I had also witnessed the industry achieve a paradigm shift in prioritising the health and safety of its workforce.

That awful night on 14 June 2017 changed my opinion completely. What we have learned since that dreadful tragedy is that many circumstances may have contributed to the behaviour and rapid spread of the Grenfell fire, and failings in the relevant competence across all those working on higher-risk residential buildings (HRRB) is a key ingredient in that mix.

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