Grenfell Tower

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Engineers’ Responsibility on Grenfell Fire Tragedy
It is undoubtedly the responsibility of engineers to design safety structures and systems. This statement is a fact based on their role in putting together fire alarms and water sprays in building construction. This topic is important because it will help find out significant areas of improvement in regards to fire safety. Before the Grenfell fire tragedy, Rodyn Group did its renovation the previous year. The renovation included decoration and fitting the external layers. The materials used in furnishing were inflammable, and that is what led the widespread of the fire over a short period. The engineers failed to adhere to negligence-based standard of care, the appropriate building regulations, housing standards and fire safety laws. The engineers of the Rodyn Group were responsible for the damages because they demonstrated lack of competency in their work, they fitted fire safety design that does not meet fire safety regulations, and failed to conform to engineering practice ethics of responsible oversight and liability.
Standard of care for professional engineers guides the courts in measuring the engineers’ performance. Anyone who is trained to offer engineering services is required to demonstrate the knowledge and skills usually possessed by members of a similar profession. He/she will be held accountable for these standards of care if the tribunal found out that his services were below these standards.

A key code of ethics is the negligence-based standard of care. It provides that professional engineering services should be provided consistently only in the areas of competence according to specific skills, engineers should put vital the health, safety, and well-being of people, they should disseminate objective and truthful information and conduct themselves ethically, honorably and responsibly so that to ensure good reputation of their work.
This tragic incident was not coincident but the consequence of an increasing gap in the responsibilities and lapse in the supervision of the building project by the engineers of Rodyn Group. They were negligent given they have the responsibility to ensure all the building materials are put correctly in place according to their purposes, usually essential for fire safety. Typically, engineers provide materials and make sure the specific materials provided are used. They failed to put the human safety a priority when doing constructions.
On the other hand, we can defend the claim that the engineers did not meet the standard of care. Building control and planning department does not have the resources to ensure tenants are safe. This control is always privatized to ensure fire safety rules are met. Building control is a medium which authority ensures local fire department investigates fire safety. Though engineers responsible for delivering materials had the responsibility of working closely with building control officials, the fire officers must ensure the safety of tenants.
However, Kardon argues that a mistake made by an engineer is not automatically classified as the professional liability on the part of the engineer (Kardon 1). There must be proof of the negligence of the standards of ethics for engineering as a profession. They also argue that upon hiring an engineer, one should be ready for any liability or risks involved and not put the blame on the engineers. Engineers of Rodyn Group did not meet these conditions for professional liability (Harris et al. 53). The drawing up of fire protection gadgets was by registered engineers.
In conclusion, there are significant issues, which illustrates why Rodyn group should be responsible for the Grenfell fire tragedy. This includes lack of competency in their work, failure to put the human safety a priority when doing constructions, fitting fire safety design that does not meet fire safety regulations, failure to conform to engineering practice ethics of responsible oversight and liability.
Works Cited
Harris Jr, Charles E., et al. Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases. Cengage Learning, 2013.
Kardon, Joshua Ben. “The standard of care of structural engineers.” (2003): 1-10.