Penalise individuals not firms - Controlling business cowboys

TODAY’S report that a primary school firetrap was passed as fit for purpose by Department of Education officials in 2008 is shocking but unsurprising.

It joins a lengthening list of developments identified as unacceptable fire risks when their safety status has been reviewed.

Coming as it does after the Priory Hall and Longboat Quay scandals the report suggests these are not isolated incidents and that deceit and dangerous, life-threatening dishonesty were far more widespread in the construction sector than was imagined — or acknowledged by the sector’s vocal and demanding lobbyists. This trend must set alarm bells ringing for new homeowners and for major infrastructure projects.