Deconstruct UK, who have been responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of Grenfell Tower, have now taken on the additional task of bringing the tower structure down
Deconstruct UK has acted as principal contractor at the Grenfell Tower site since 2021, previously working as a subcontractor of Wates from 2017. Their contract was renewed in May 2024.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has now expanded Deconstruct’s contract to carry out the deconstruction of the tower’s structure, with planned and emergency dismantling within the new contract scope.
Despite calls from victims’ families, the tower will not serve as a memorial
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner confirmed in February of this year that the tower would not be structurally sound in the long-term and therefore would have to come down, to be replaced by a memorial in the near future.
In the statement, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said that the tower “remains stable because of the measures put in place to protect it but even with installation of additional props, the condition of the building will continue to worsen over time. Engineers also advise it is not practicable to retain many of the floors of the building in place as part of a memorial that must last in perpetuity.”
“Taking the engineering advice into account the deputy prime minister concluded that it would not be fair to keep some floors of the building that are significant to some families, whilst not being able to do so for others and knowing that, for some, this would be deeply upsetting.”
A spokesperson of Grenfell United said at the time of the announcement: “Today’s meeting showed just how upset bereaved and survivors are about not having their views heard or considered in this decision.
“Angela Rayner could not give a reason for her decision to demolish the tower. She refused to confirm how many bereaved and survivors had been spoken to in the recent, short four-week consultation.
“But judging from the room alone – the vast majority of whom were bereaved – no one supported her decision. But she claims her decision is based on our views.”
A Grenfell Tower Memorial project has been whittled down to five potential firms, with the winning project expected to be announced in the summer.
MHCLG said that the Grenfell Tower demolition should take place “at the earliest opportunity”
When the demolition of Grenfell Tower was first announced, it was unclear whether Deconstruct UK would pick it up as default or if the job would go out to tender.
However, Deconstruct’s experience with the site and established relationships and knowledge of the surrounding area were a key factor in the decision to amend the contract. “This kind of knowledge cannot be gleaned quickly, and the relationships have now been formed over years,” the notice said.
Modification of the existing contract was justifiable under regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, MHCLG said, on the basis of changing contractor at this stage would incur “significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs”. The value of the modification is £12.25m, less than 50% of the value of the original £25.52m contract.
“The longer the building is left in place, the risk of the structure’s condition deteriorating to an unacceptable level, and the risks to the site operatives, who must go inside the building, increase,” the notice stated.
Engineering assessments have found that the tower can currently be dismantled safely and the modified contract will take effect following a mandatory 30-day standstill period.
According to MHCLG, the works “will likely take around two years to sensitively take down the Tower through a process of careful and sensitive progressive deconstruction that happens behind the wrapping.”
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