The Southern Construction Framework (SCF) is urging leaseholders’ representatives to challenge the credentials of suppliers to ensure bids to the Government’s £4.5bn Building Safety Fund yield positive outcomes.
SCF — a leading construction procurement framework delivered by the public sector for the public sector — is calling upon Building Safety Fund applicants to be vigilant amid “Wild West”-style market conditions.
SCF has already supported more than 100 Building Safety Fund applicants and now, with the fund re-opened, SCF is urging applicants such as Residential Management Agencies, Residential Management Companies and consultants — to ensure contractors stand up to scrutiny.
Keith Heard, SCF Group Lead and chair of the National Association of Construction Frameworks (NACF), said: “We warmly welcome the re-opening of the Building Safety Fund which represents an important opportunity to put people’s minds at rest by paving the way for vital home safety work.
“We have heard the current flurry of activity generated by the fund likened to the ‘Wild West’ and that is why potential suppliers should be challenged to minimise risk and make sure they are able to deliver.
“It is only right that Southern Construction Framework, an integrator for clients and high-performing contractors through a fully managed process, is one of those bodies who should be subject to scrutiny, but our track record proves we deliver.
“We are proud of our status as a framework that people who are applying to the Building Safety Fund can trust. We have proved we deliver by helping more than 100 applicants to safeguard homes and we look forward to helping many more.”
The Building Safety Fund forms part of the Building Safety Programme which was established to ensure the safety of residents in high-rise buildings which are at least 18 metres tall and have fire risks associated with cladding.
Kingsley Clarke, Southern Construction Framework Operations Lead, added: “We would urge applicants to come and talk to us. We are ideally placed to enable applicants to navigate their way through what can seem like a complicated process and oversee the whole building process.
“We provide an extra layer of governance and quality assurance to protect applicants and residents and SCF makes sure that we all get maximum value from money from the public purse.
“More than a critical friend, SCF performs the role of critical guardians, managing the whole process, offering a service that really protects applicants and ensures delivery in a timely and robust fashion.”
Following the re-launch of the Building Safety Fund, Secretary of State for Levelling Up Greg Clark said: “We must make homes safe. The relaunch of the Building Safety Fund will help achieve this.
“But we must also ensure those in industry who acted irresponsibly pay their fair share to put things right. The Building Safety Act makes clear building owners’ liabilities and gives us powers to pursue those that continue to flout the rules.”
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