Hackitt on the importance of product ID

In her capacity as Chair of the International Building Quality Centre Working Group, which has created the Building Products Performance Good Practice Regulatory Framework, Dame Judith Hackitt has spoken about the importance of product ID. Although she expects the UK government to follow the framework’s recommendations, she said that measures to improve building protocols, such as product traceability, were not being adopted fast enough.

BSI’s Ross Matthews said: “In the UK, for too long we have been building blind using products whose origins and performance remain a supply chain mystery. It’s a practice that fits with a ‘that’ll do’ mindset that not only jeopardises structural integrity and building safety, but also leaves the UK with a property portfolio that is among the least thermally efficient in Europe. While product ID hasn’t been enshrined in regulation, traceability-compliant manufacturers will be at the front of the queue for potential specifiers, so it just makes good business sense.”

Image credit | Alamy