BRE Renationalisation, Ownership, Certification, Fire Safety Testing, UK Eco Building News
BRE News – Building Research Establishment
Building Research Establishment: UK research, advisory, training, testing, certification & standards
14 May 2022
Firefighters call for building safety body to be renationalised
BRE to be renationalised
The Fire Brigades Union has committed to fighting for the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to be renationalised (yesterday, 13 May).

The commitment came in the form of a motion passed at the union?s annual conference, the first in-person conference since the pandemic. In the union?s view BRE?s private ownership has led to failures of competency, and BRE going too far to please the corporate clients whose products it tested and whom it relied on for income. The BRE is involved in the testing and certification of materials for the construction industry. It was responsible for testing several of the key materials used in Grenfell Tower?s refurbishment, including cladding and insulation materials, and fire safety tests. BRE was privatised in 1997, and continues to test building materials as a private company today.
In the motion the union describes this privatisation as a ?disastrous decision, opening the testing regime to commercial pressures and commercial interests?, and says that renationalisation would ?ensure greater accountability, including a clear obligation to act in the public interest and without pressure from business ...