Mace, Kier and Persimmon among first handful of signatories

Twelve firms have signed up to a building safety benchmarking and assessment scheme that has government backing.

Main contractors Mace, Kier, Galliford Try, Bam, Wates and Willmott Dixon are among the dozen firms to be named in the first batch of “charter champions” by the Building a Safer Future (BSF) Charter.

quality inspector

The scheme has been designed to provide independent verification of firms’ approaches to building safety

They will be joined by MHS Homes, Persimmon, Places for People, Salix Homes, United Living and Vistry.

The charter’s backers say the companies will be subject to robust self-assessment, benchmarking and independent verification, with the aim of producing improvement plans that change business cultures and make building safety a priority for leadership teams. 

Dame Judith Hackitt, who led the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, said: “I have consistently called for the built environment sector to recognise the need for culture change which can only happen when leaders in the sector stand up and are prepared to demonstrate what good looks like and to be held to account for delivery.

“I look forward to watching the charter champions group grow as others see the benefits of becoming part of this important programme which offers a real market differentiation opportunity.”

Lord Greenhalgh, minister for building safety, said: “We are taking firm action to ensure that we never repeat the mistakes of the past, with this charter representing a major step forwards.”

The BSF charter benchmarking and verification process is open to all firms in the construction industry that wish to become registered signatories.