Secretary of State for housing and ‘levelling up’, Michael Gove is stating his intention of putting into place new powers to prosecute manufacturers of defective building products.
Manufacturers of cladding and other building products will be retrospectively liable for anything they have done wrong over the past 30 years, due to amendments to the Building Safety Bill.
Legal action by Building owners and Landlords,will be able to be taken against manufacturers who used defective products on a home that has since been found unfit for habitation.
Cost contributing orders, which will require them to pay ‘their fair share’ on buildings requiring remediation, will be placed on manufacturers who have been prosecuted under construction products regulations.
“It is wrong that until now a manufacturer could be found guilty of misconduct but could not be charged to fix the problems they caused in selling defective products” said Michael Gove. He went on to say that we cannot allow those who do not take building safety seriously to build homes in the future and for those not willing to play their part they must face the consequences.
The proposed government amendments are due to be debated in the House of Lords during the Committee Stage of the Building Safety Bill.