Following the Grenfell Tower inquiry, architects must face up to their responsibility for Britain's building safety crisis instead of blaming contracts that lessen their influence, writes Peter Apps.

It may not make national headlines anymore, but Britain is experiencing an ongoing building safety crisis. In the aftermath of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, thousands of other buildings have been found to have combustible materials on their walls or other serious fire safety issues. In a country with a longstanding reliance on telling people in burning buildings to "stay put" due to an inherent faith that the structure will contain the blaze, this is a major problem.
Untold numbers of people ? likely in the tens or even hundreds of thousands ? are suffering the financial and emotional consequences of living in homes that were built using unsuitable materials. Despite years of trying, the government has not been able to resolve the issue. Whenever I speak to an architect, I am counting down until I hear the same thing
Whenever I speak to an architect about the situation, I am counting down in my head until I hear the same thing. A sage shake of the head and then a rhetorical question: "Well, do you know what the real problem is"" The answer: "design and build" contracts, which remove control from the architect on a project and place it in the hands of the lead contractor.
The logic is that designs are downgraded and materials ...