Following the devastating building safety failures and fire at London’s Grenfell Tower in June 2017 that led to significant loss of life, the Government has put comprehensive reforms in place around building safety to safeguard people’s wellbeing and hopefully prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.
A new Building Safety Act, which was initially drafted in 2020 and officially became law in 2022, arose out of an independent review into buildings safety led by Dame Judith Hackitt. Key secondary legislation was published by the Government the following August. The Building Safety Act is already making a huge difference in construction safety standards, helping to build a safer foundation for the industry and a positive, proactive safety culture.
What does the Building Safety Act cover?
The Building Safety Act focuses on considerable regulatory change, which places accountability for safety in building construction to contractors, clients and designers. It acts as a blueprint and legal framework for building safety standards across all design, construction and occupation stages. The Act also has specific, additional requirements for designing, constructing and maintaining buildings classed as ‘higher-risk’ premises, including tower blocks that contain at least two residential areas and are at least seven storeys high and/or 18 metres in height. High-risk buildings encompass hospitals, care homes and student flats, but not hotels, prisons or military accommodation.
The Building Safety Act was designed to ensure greater compliance with safety and quality standards across the construction supply chain, as well as promote a positive safety culture throughout the industry. It stands as the primary piece of legislation in this important area, enhancing the rights of residents and other users to safety and peace of mind when occupying a building. Failure to comply brings strong consequences, from hefty fines and financial penalties to imprisonment and serious reputational damage.
Who oversees safety standards?
Following the creation of the Building Safety Act, a number of new roles and responsibilities were set up to enforce its requirements on building projects and construction sites. The existing Health and Safety Executive acts as the Building Safety Regulator, responsible for overseeing all safety standards in new building construction, encouraging and assisting construction professionals to prove and improve their competence through training and support and leading implementation of the a new safety framework for buildings posing greater safety risks.
The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for issuing certification to approved projects and sharing the ‘golden thread’ of information that those working in the building industry need in order to understand the steps needed to build a safe property. Much of this compliance work will be carried out digitally to enable people to have accurate, up-to-date records that can be accessed immediately and shared easily without the need to store and transport copious amounts of paperwork in hard copy. All of these actions are intended to support the creation and maintenance of a new gold standard for the UK construction industry.
What the Act means in practice
Different responsibilities and actions are required at various stages of a construction project. These stages are formally listed in the Building Safety Act as ‘planning’, ‘pre-construction’ and ‘pre-occupation’. At all three stages, project managers must ensure that everything they do and all decisions they make follow the required safety standards, as laid out in the legislation and overseen by the Health and Safety Executive.
Evidence must be produced to show compliance across the entire building construction supply chain, from the design and consultation methods selected to the materials chosen and construction techniques applied. Work cannot move onto the next stage of the process until the Building Safety Regulator is happy that everything is in order for the previous one.
At the very end of the construction phase, before people can begin to occupy the new building, the Health and Safety Executive has 12 weeks to make stringent checks and then approve or deny the Completion Certificate application. It is a criminal offence for people to occupy a new building before this certificate has been issued. Once the building is occupied, it must have an approved ‘accountable person’, responsible for external repairs and maintenance, as well as looking after common interior areas such as staircases, corridors and lobbies.
