The Voice of  Construction Leadership Professionals

through the

UK Construction Industry Task Force

UK Construction Industry Task Force

2026 Q2 - Sprint 2 - Meeting 2 

At The ExCel - London

Futurebuild Event 

12th May 2026

Your invitation ... 

... you are invited to join us for an interesting public Panel Discussion about the work of the UK Construction Task Force since its unique launch last year at Westminster ...    

​The Task Force delivered a strong first quarter of 2026 with several industry challenges. This conversation meeting at The ExCel is the second sprint of 2026, and explains how the Task Force was set up to be an agile and responsive unique link between the industry and government, and is now looking to the future ...   

For over three decades, our industry has been on a slow but deliberate journey toward recognising a simple truth: buildings are not just constructed — they are lived in.

When the CDM Regulations first emerged in 1994, they were a significant step forward. But their focus was clear: construction phase safety. The people who would ultimately occupy, maintain, and live with these buildings were, at best, a secondary consideration.

It wasn’t until the 2007 revision that we saw a meaningful shift — a formal recognition that designers carry a duty not just to those building the asset, but to those who will use it. For the first time, the future user was brought into the design conversation in a structured way, reinforced by alignment with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.

By 2015, that principle had matured further. The duty expanded to consider anyone affected by the project across the full lifecycle of a building. The language evolved. The expectations strengthened. The intent became clearer.

And yet — despite all this progress — one voice has remained consistently underrepresented.

The Resident.

Not the abstract “end user” considered in design risk assessments. Not the theoretical occupant referenced in guidance. But the real, lived experience of people in their homes.

That is why the CITF Task Force’s launch of the Resident Voice initiative matters so much.

Because in many ways, this is the moment the industry finally begins to close the loop it opened in 2007.

We have spent years refining regulations, redefining duties, and strengthening accountability. But regulation alone does not create understanding. And compliance alone does not build trust.

Listening does.

The Resident Voice is not just another initiative — it is the natural evolution of everything CDM has been trying to achieve for the past 30 years. It brings reality into a system that has too often operated at arm’s length from those most affected.

It challenges us — as designers, contractors, managers, and regulators — to move beyond designing for users, and start working with them.

Because true safety is not something we design in isolation.

It is something we build together.

"The lack of care and attention to residential property owners as consumers is a huge oversight in our national administration and indeed has for too long shielded poor practices through the highly questionable principle of ‘buyer beware’ or caveat emptor. In no other walk of commercial or civil life does such a principle arise. It has allowed unassuaged cost and risk to be passed to unsuspecting purchasers of residential property. While it would be foolish to believe this can be rectified by simply setting up a subgroup within CITF, I would hope that this might be a start."

The Earl of Lytton

Alongside this, we have just launched a consultation on a viable alternative to the flawed PAS 9980 framework. The intention is not to dismiss specialist technical appraisal, but to replace the current ambiguity with a clearer, more robust approach built around evidence, transparency, competence, and defensible thresholds. The proposed direction is deliberately practical: a framework that is better able to distinguish what is known, what is unverified, and what must be remediated, so that risk is not quietly shifted onto Residents and Leasehold Owners through vague tolerability judgements.

We have also launched a consultation on the reintroduction of laminated glass in HRBs. This is an important issue because well-designed laminated glass can offer real safety and performance benefits, yet its use has become constrained by regulatory interpretation and the broader post-Grenfell reaction to combustible materials. The consultation will examine how laminated glass can be responsibly reintroduced where it is appropriate, balancing fire safety, fall protection, durability, and the needs of modern building design.

These consultations matter because the sector needs solutions, not just statements of concern. The Task Force is creating a route to better decisions: one that is evidence-led, open to challenge, and shaped by those who live with the outcomes.

Since its formation, UK Construction Industry Task Force’s clearest achievements have been to move the debate from complaint to construction and to create a structured, credible programme for change. The Task Force brings together industry expertise to develop an evidence-led alternative to the current PAS 9980 approach, with a clear focus on Resident safety, accountability, and practical deliverability.

Key achievements

• It has established a serious, action-oriented Task Force rather than a discussion forum, with the stated aim of producing real proposals that the sector can use.

• It has built a Steering Group capable of shaping and navigating the initial priorities after launch.​

• It has developed a coherent draft alternative to the current PAS 9980 framework, based on stronger verification, clearer thresholds, ALARP justification, and a precautionary approach where evidence is missing.​

• It has reframed the assessment process around what is actually verified on site, rather than what is assumed from limited sampling or incomplete records.​

• It has introduced the idea of binary, action-led outcomes instead of vague “tolerable” labels that can leave residents in limbo.​

• It has elevated competence, independence, and auditability as core requirements for future assessment practice.​

• It has put residents at the centre of the process by proposing a Residents Task Group and making resident confidence a formal objective of the work.​

• It has created a consultation structure around the hardest unresolved issues, including legal boundaries, verification standards, mandatory remediation triggers, uncertainty handling, and trust.​

What that means

In plain terms, the Task Force’s achievement has been to turn a broad frustration with the status quo into a credible reform agenda. Rather than simply criticising PAS 9980, it is building a route toward a safer, more transparent framework that residents, regulators, lenders, and practitioners can trust.

REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND

Incredible people are part of the Task Force and raise the spirit in the room. Some who attended the launch in Westminster last year reported feedback that History was made that day , and others said they felt the magic in the room ... the Sprints also develop their unique experience and interaction too ... 

A Gamechanging moment! 

The Task Force brings together inventive minds at the cutting edge of technology ─ 30th April was no exception! ─ We had a live demonstration of STRAND, not a document management system ─ a compliance engine that knows what the regulations require, monitors whether your project meets them, and produces the evidence to prove it.

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