Guide to Products Critical to Safe Construction

[edit] About the publication

The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire exposed a construction product regulatory regime that was failing to ensure that the products used in buildings, whether separately or part of a system, were safe.

Following on from the findings of the Building a Safer Future: Final Report and the Independent Review of Product Testing and Certification (the Morrell-Day Review), the inquiry recommended that further action was needed to better regulate the manufacturing, testing and supply of products in the UK.

In February 2025, the government published a Construction Product Reform Green Paper that sets out its proposals to deliver a system that guarantees safe products, safely used. It is against this backdrop that the CIOB, in collaboration with the CPA, CCPI, IStructE and RIBA, has developed this Guide.

The Guide provides designers, specifiers and installers with the information and tools they need to make the right decisions when selecting products and systems, and uses examples and case studies to signpost industry best practice, such as the Code for Construction Product Information.Our aim is to ensure that the buildings we create, and the products that we use in those buildings, are safe for those who use them, now and in the future.

Paul Nash, Chair of CIOB’s Quality Implementation Group, said: “The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire exposed a construction product regulatory regime that was failing to ensure that the products used in buildings, whether separately or part of a system, were safe. Following on from the findings of the Building a Safer Future Report and the Independent Review of Product Testing and Certification, the inquiry recommended that further action was needed to better regulate the manufacturing, testing and supply of products in the UK."

"In February 2025 the government published a Construction Product Reform Green Paper that sets out its proposals to deliver a system that guarantees safe products, safely used. It is against this backdrop that the CIOB, together with other professional bodies, has developed this Guide to Products Critical to Safe Construction to ensure the buildings we create, and the products we use in those buildings, are safe for those who use them, now and in the future.”

Duncan Johnson, Deputy Director, Construction Products Regulation, Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), added: “I welcome the collaborative efforts behind this guide, which brings together expertise from across the built environment sector to support safe and compliant construction, underpinned by clarity and consistency in product information. This guide contributes to raising standards and improving safety across the construction industry.”

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[edit] Contents

• Introduction
• Scope
• Products critical to safe construction
• Responsibilities
• Identification of products
• Evaluate risks (HAZID)
• Compliance
• Procurement
• The supply chain
• Installation
• Records and sign-off
• Whole life cycle
• Competence
• Appendices

[edit] About the Authors

• Lorna Hagan, Civil Engineer & Chartered Quality Practitioner at ConstructTuition
• Chris Miles, Lead Assessor at Code for Construction Product Information

This article appears on the CIOB Academy website as "Guide to Products Critical to Safe Construction" dated 4 August, 2025 and CIOB news as "Guide to Products Critical to Safe Construction published" dated 5 August, 2025.

--CIOB

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