He blamed the lack of a national audit procedure and claimed that the biggest challenges faced by the industry were apathy, ignorance and denial. "We all recall the scene of the tragic fire at Lakanal House that unfolded on our television screens recently, in which six people sadly lost their lives. At the time, the media were asking the obvious question - how could this happen? Lakanal House gained national media attention because people died", he stressed. "Only then were questions asked of Lambeth and other Local Authorities, to ascertain their legal requirement to undertake fire risk assessment".

He questioned if Lakanal House was a one off, or if it was symptomatic of a much more deeply rooted problem. He also queried if other issues were contributing to a picture of worsening public fire protection in the UK and pointed to the recent Association of British Insurers (ABI) fire loss figures. They show fire damage up by some 16% to £1.3b, which represents a record high. Life loss figures also indicate that we will see a significant rise over the next year. "Such a combination of factors should at least raise the question of, why", he stressed.

"Disasters such as Lakanal House could be minimised by much tighter Building Regulations" he claimed. "However, it is arguably just as true to state that if appropriate fire protection measures were installed correctly, in accordance with the Building Regulations, both the human and financial cost would be considerably lessened. "The demise of the Clerk of Works is symptomatic of how, piece by piece, our systems for delivering excellence of works in buildings have been stripped away and the matter has been made worse through the introduction of competitive bidding between local authorities and approved inspector bodies" he maintained.

Mr. Robinson confirmed that if the evidence of malpractice or inadequate passive fire witnessed by many ASFP members on an almost daily basis was anything to go by, the courts should be overflowing. The journey from the architect?s initial design, to occupancy, is one loaded with opportunity for error, compounded upon error. The ASFP President drew the analogy of taking delivery of a new car. "Do you give much thought to the process of manufacture, or how the vehicle was inspected before delivery? You assume they put brakes in it, that the steering wheel is connected correctly and that your family will be safe in it. If you think that way about a car, why shouldn?t the same rules apply to the fire protection measures installed in a building? The hazards are the same. Get it wrong and you run the risk of killing, or seriously injuring its occupants.

"It is simply not good enough to state that measures exist to ensure against incompetent workmanship, that everyone will take ownership of their responsibilities, utilise properly qualified people and proper independent audits". A full copy of Brian Robinson?s speech can be found at: www.asfp.org.co.uk