What’s new in The Building Safety Act?
April 2024 will be a significant month for UK construction as the Building Safety Act is implemented.
For the UK's construction industry, April 2024 will be a month to remember. The Building Safety Act 2022 entered into force on 28 April 2022 and was accompanied by a number of regulations. However, any building work that had previously been covered by the transitional provisions, but has not yet been started, will be subject to the new regime from 6 April 2024.
Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs)
Buildings that are under the control of the local authority as the building control authority, and are at least 18 metres or 7 storeys high, must have "sufficiently progressed" in order not to be regarded as higher-risk structures.
In the case of a new HRB, this is when the concrete is poured for the permanent placement of the trench, pad, raft or piling foundations. In the case of an existing building, it is when the work starts or if there is a material change of use, when the work to effect it has begun.
A building control approver must also have registered as a building control approver before 6th April for works notified before 1st October 2023.
The new regime will apply to any work being performed on a HRB if this has not been done.
Moreover, the BSR expects all HRBs to be certified within five years, meaning they will need to be re-assessed every five years to remain safe.
The dutyholders regime
Under the Building Safety Act, the dutyholders regime (available only in England) is another new requirement.
As a result, dutyholders must be identified during the procurement, design, and execution of building work. HRBs are not the only ones affected. Clients, principal designers, designers, principal contractors, and contractors are all dutyholders.
For proper planning, management, and monitoring, dutyholders must collaborate and communicate.
Building regulations require the client to appoint a principal designer and principal contractor for each project.
This includes domestic projects as well as HRBs. A party that has been designated as a principal designer or principal contractor under the CDM Regulations may also be designated as a principal designer and contractor under the Building Safety Act. They must prove that they are competent to do so, and the client is ultimately responsible for ensuring that competent individuals are appointed.
Principal Contractors and Principal Designers must demonstrate competence by demonstrating their "skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviors". This responsibility falls on the client if these parties are not appointed by the client.
As part of the design process, designers must make sure that the design (if the building is built according to the design) complies with all requirements. Likewise, contractors must ensure that the building work they carry out is in compliance with all relevant building codes, but they are not subject to reasonable endeavours.
It is the Principal Contractor's responsibility to plan, manage, and monitor building work during the construction phase of the project, and to coordinate matters relating to building work included in the project, so that all relevant requirements are met.
Design work must be planned, managed, and monitored by the Principal Designer during the design phase and all matters related to the design work must be coordinated in such a way that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure the design is such that if the building work to which the design relates were built in accordance with that design, it would meet all applicable requirements.
Building Safety Regulator (BSR)
From October 2023, the Building Regulations Etc. (Amendments) (England) Regulations 2023 will require the Building Safety Regulator to oversee all HRB building control approval processes.
In order to be approved, HRBs must pass through each of the three gateway points. If no work has been undertaken after three years, the application will automatically lapse.
In Gateway 1 (pre-construction), clients must submit a safety case report assessing the building's safety during design and construction. A BSR will review the report and determine whether the client is competent to meet safety standards.
For Gateway 2 (before and during construction), building work on HRBs can only begin after approval from the BSR, otherwise it will be a criminal offense. In addition to taking samples and opening up works, the client will notify the BSR when inspections can be conducted.
In addition to assessing cladding and external wall systems, the BSR will also assess the fire safety systems and structures.
The BSR must be notified of any changes from the application and approve material changes. Construction can begin after the BSR signs off a new building within 12 weeks and an existing building within 8 weeks. It is the client's responsibility to provide a detailed safety plan.
As soon as the building work is completed, Gateway 3 will be reached. In order to occupy a HRB, the BSR must complete its final inspection, verify that the building work is in compliance with the regulations, and issue a building control certificate. Through the provision of as-builts, it is the client's responsibility to prove compliance with building regulations.
Registered building control inspectors
It will only be possible for building control bodies to carry out regulated functions (such as assessing plans, inspecting buildings, and providing advice to building control bodies) if they become Registered Building Inspectors by 6th April 2024.
Competency assessments must be conducted. This has been extended to 6th July 2024 (due to a shortage of registration applications) if the approved inspector has applied to be registered and is having their competency assessed through a BSR-approved competency program.
Unregistered inspectors and approvers are criminally liable.
Accountable persons
The Higher-risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks Etc) (England) Regulations 2023, which came into force on 13th January 2024, require that if the project involves a HRB, an Accountable Person (AP) must manage the fire and structural safety risks associated with the HRB.
They manage the building's records-keeping system and keep information about the building. When there are more than one AP, there will need to be a principal accountable person, such as the building owner or a party with a legal obligation to repair common parts, such as a management company or a registered provider.
To summarize the system and procedures for managing and preventing safety risks, including policies and procedures for ensuring the competence of designers and contractors, the AP will have to draft a safety case report for the HRB.
Additionally, the APs will need to obtain a building assessment certificate to demonstrate their ability to manage building risks and keep residents safe. There will be a mandatory occurrence reporting system, under which duty-holders must notify the building safety regulator of any "safety occurrences" regarding structural integrity or fire safety of high-risk buildings; information provided to residents and the regulator; and a copy of any residents' engagement strategy.
A building assessment certificate application must be submitted by APs within 28 days when requested by the BSR.
The golden thread of information
The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 establishes the requirement to produce, maintain, and store golden thread information when designing and constructing higher-risk buildings.
It outlines the requirements for keeping golden thread information (in electronic format) and when and how it should be provided under the Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc) (England) (Regulations) 2023.
The Higher-risk Buildings (Keeping and Provision of Information Etc.) (England) Regulations 2024 became effective in January 2023. Clients, designers, contractors, accountable persons, and principal accountable persons must keep this information.
Among those who require it are the BSR, every resident over 16, every owner of a residential unit, every landlord, every client of a project, and the fire and rescue authority. As far as confidentiality and GDPR are concerned, it must be stored digitally and protected from unauthorized access.
Clients will be required to demonstrate how their building complies with building regulations, how their design team is following their duties, and how specifications will be met.
All the documentation the APs must maintain and use during the construction of the building is listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations. The APs will be responsible for maintaining and updating these documents throughout the lifecycle of the building.