President's handover and other news at the LABC AGM

Dave Sharp, Head of Wrexham Borough Council's Building Control has taken over from Chris Griffith-Jones as LABC's President. The official handover took place at the organisation's AGM in Derby on 6 December 2018.

The AGM also saw the London Borough of Harrow's Building Control Head – Jim King – receive honorary life membership of LABC.

The award was made for his work at Grenfell Tower, advising the HSE and fire brigade after the fire on dangerous structures. He volunteered for what was a temporary assignment, which ended up lasting nine months – in the full glare of media scrutiny – all the while running Harrow Building Control department.

Commenting, Chris Griffith-Jones, said "I have had a wonderful year as President. All good things come to an end, but the end of my term was made so much easier knowing I was handing over to Dave. He will be an excellent President and I wish him well.

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"I was also delighted my last act as President was to honour the work of Jim King who has set the standard for a building control public servant. Nine harrowing months at Grenfell Tower, working with investigators, the fire service and health and safety executive combined with his day job in Harrow often working seven days a week and silly hours.

"I know from talking to colleagues he gained the respect and confidence of other professionals and established trust in local authority building control that under the circumstances could easily have been lost."

The AGM also saw Mike Terry elected to the board of Directors. Mike is Head of Building Control at Calderdale Borough Council and LABC's Regional Chair for Yorkshire.

He said "I remain passionate about public sector building control and I am determined to build LABC's role in promoting public welfare and safety within the built environment."