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Official guidance for fire risk assessors in the years leading up to the 2017 Grenfell Tower was so out-dated it was 鈥渂eyond a joke鈥�, a fire expert has told the inquiry into the blaze.

Dennis Davis, an executive officer at the Fire Sector Federation (FSF), said that there had been a 鈥渞eluctance鈥� in government for 鈥渁ny form of additional mandatory controls on business鈥�.

Thursday鈥檚 hearing was told how the government rejected calls for tougher competency standards on fire risk assessors in the wake of the 2009 Lakanal fire in south London, which killed six people after the building鈥檚 non-compliant cladding panels ignited.

The inquiry has already heard how the assessment of Grenfell Tower was carried out by a former firefighter, Carl Stokes, who had completed a one-week training course on fire risk assessment.

The government鈥檚 chief fire and rescue advisor Ken Knight delivered a report soon after the Lakanal fire in which he recommended introducing an accreditation scheme for assessors. 

He said yesterday that he considered Lakanal House to have been a 鈥渉igh risk premises鈥� and the assessment of the building 鈥渃learly hadn鈥檛 recognised what was the major failing鈥�.

But the hearing was shown emails from Louise Upton, head of fire safety policy at the Department for Communities and Local Government, in which she said that the government has 鈥渘either the expertise nor the resources available鈥� to implement the proposed accreditation scheme.

The FSF, which is an industry group representing fire and building safety professionals, then proposed that the government should create a 鈥渜uality assurance board鈥� for fire risk assessors.

In response to the recommendation, Upton wrote to colleagues at the department: 鈥淥h Lordy! Let鈥檚 have a meeting sooner rather than later to see what we can do to steer the FSF away from its worst excesses in respect to control freakery.鈥�

The inquiry then heard that in 2014 the Fire Risk Management Competency Council, another industry group, proposed introducing a third-party certification scheme for assessors.

But Davis told the hearing that support for the scheme had waned because a 鈥渂ackground of complacency鈥� in government.

He said this was 鈥渄rawn out of the fact that fire deaths were pretty stable鈥�, so the perception politically was that 鈥渇ire [safety] was under control鈥�.

He added that government had been 鈥渞educing, smaller government鈥�.and expertise was maybe reducing.  So the enthusiasm, the raison d鈥櫭猼re, starts to evaporate a little bit.鈥�

Davis said the FSF was planning on launching a major campaign on updating building regulations in February 2017, four months before the Grenfell fire.

鈥淲e were deeply concerned that it was getting beyond a joke,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was really falling so far behind.鈥�

The inquiry continues.