Anne Main has praised Building Research Establishment (BRE) in parliament for their involvement in testing and building safety since the Grenfell disaster in June.

The St Albans MP said, 'I know what an excellent job [BRE] does on this and many other issues to do with building safety.'

In July, the government commissioned BRE to begin a series of large-scale fire safety tests on ACM cladding systems-both the visible cladding and the internal insulation.

Anne asked the Secretary of State,
'what further advice is he giving to councils to ensure that contractors are correctly fitting and retrofitting buildings and ensuring inspections are carried out not just on the materials used, but on the implementation or any compromises made over time?'

In his response, communities secretary, Sajid Javid, commended the work of BRE and said that he visited their facilities, and 'was impressed by how [BRE] has approached these systems tests and how quickly it was able to conduct them.'  Mr Javid agreed that Anne was, 'right to ask about contractors and implementing some of the early lessons we have learned.'

'The advice we have received from the independent expert panel has been sent out to building groups and industry groups, and shared with all local authorities,' said Mr Javid and noted that one 'further thing [the government has] done today is publish a consolidated note of all the building safety advice that has come out in recent weeks, to make sure it is in one place and is easily accessible.'

After visiting BRE back in June, Mrs Main heaped praise on BRE saying the research firm were the 'jewel in the Hertfordshire crown.'