Last month, Holyrood’s housing minister Paul McLennan updated MSPs about two new reports covering the Scottish Government’s response to phase 2 of the Grenfell Inquiry and a plan of action for cladding remediation.

Mr McLennan confirmed that 42 recommendations set out in the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report addressed devolved issues and have all been accepted by the Scottish Government. He also confirmed the Holyrood administration is to work with the UK Government and other devolved administrations over legislation covering construction product safety and professional competence issues, all of which will directly impact Scotland’s construction industry.

The housing minister announced there will be legislation to strengthen the building standards system including a new role of a compliance plan manager together with changes to enforcement and sanctions, set to be introduced in 2026.

Additionally, the Scottish Government will work with the UK Government on the development of a UK national licensing scheme for principal contractors. There will also be a consultation on the introduction of periodic fire risk assessments in specified high rise buildings although there are currently no details on who would conduct these. 

Creating a separate construction regulator for Scotland and producing a fire safety strategy for high-risk buildings at building warrant stage to accommodate escape needs of vulnerable people are other key points under consideration.  While implementing the latter would reflect existing legislation in England, the position is more challenging in Scotland as it requires the need to identify a “responsible person” which has yet to be established here. 

Mr Mclennan also announced the definition of high-risk buildings will be subject to further development through the Building Standards Futures Board Compliance Plan Approach. There will also be a call for evidence seeking views on proposals to introduce a requirement for a fire safety strategy for multi-storey domestic buildings.

Although it wasn’t mentioned by the Housing Minister in his statement, it has also been confirmed the Scottish Law Commission will undertake a project on compulsory owners associations to consider rights and obligations imposed on them. This is likely tied to the requirement for periodic risk assessments with the Scottish Government considering whether compulsory owners associations should be obliged to undertake these.  

The latest response from Holyrood touches upon the UK Government’s intention to stop companies involved in Grenfell from being awarded government contracts through the Procurement Act 2023, legislation that does not currently apply to devolved Scottish authorities. Scottish Government legislation does however allow individual public bodies to exclude bidders which have committed acts of grave professional misconduct from procurement processes. Pre-emptive or blanket bans, as being proposed by the UK Government, would not be permitted in the current Scottish regulations. 

In terms of the cladding remediation, there was an acceptance from the Scottish Government that progress has been too slow with plans to speed up implementation of an action plan.

The housing minister announced the introduction of a Single Open Call which will provide support of up to £10m for single building assessments with owners able to apply for government funding to have their properties assessed. This fund will be open to private owners, public authorities and registered social landlords until 25 September 2025 or until fully committed and appears to be focused on orphan buildings or sites where developers have yet to engage.

The Single Open Call will also be extended by the end of June to cover mitigation and/or remedial works. Based on the applications, the Scottish Government will consider which buildings should be funded and in what order.

This process is being run in parallel with the Developer Remediation Contract which is expected to be finalised soon with large developers.

Overall, this latest update from the housing minister was rather muted. There remains a lack of clarity in terms of specific legislative changes, how these will work in practice, and, notably, what exact impact this will have on Scotland’s construction industry. 

The largest developers have signed up to the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord, pledging to remediate life critical fire safety works in buildings over 11 metres. It is, however, unclear how other measures such as the Single Open Call will operate.  

Despite being eight years on from the Grenfell fire, the Scottish Government does not appear to have full visibility on the extent and nature of cladding risk across Scotland. 
Scottish construction firms will be seeking clarity on any action plan to enable them to plan clearly for the future. 

• Caroline Maciver is a partner and construction law specialist at law firm CMS