On 4 September the final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was published. Made up of seven volumes, it is 1,700 pages, with the summary alone being 50 pages. 58 recommendations are made and the same day the UK government promised to give a response to each within six months. The recommendations focus on process rather than specific fire safety measures, so that if those involved in building fire safety are competent and regulatory oversight is effective, buildings should be safe.

Such a system is likely to identify the need for additional fire safety, including the more widespread use of sprinklers. Indeed this tragic fire has already led to changes in regulatory guidance, including the introduction of sprinklers in residential buildings with a floor higher than 11 m, and from March 2025 for sprinklers in new care homes. Nevertheless the UK still does not require sprinklers in hotels, no matter how high they may be, nor in schools, hospitals, large public buildings and large industrial buildings. The UK also does not mandate third party inspections of installed systems, unlike in many other European countries. That would further increase system reliability.

Of course sprinklers are not the only fire safety measure, yet they act as a safety net when other measures are inadequate. There have been major cladding fires in sprinklered buildings in Australia, the Middle East and Turkey. Nobody died. Meanwhile there remain over 2,000 residential buildings in the UK with unsafe cladding. There is a long way to go but we sincerely hope that this report will mark the beginning of a change in the culture of fire safety, with it seen as a core part of what a building should deliver and not a cost burden.