As part of improving building safety, following the Grenfell Fire, 3 new laws came into force on 1st January 2024 in Wales.


The Building (Building Control Profession) (Registration, Sanctions and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2023.

From 6th April 2024 the building control regime in Wales changes, with a new mandatory scheme for Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs) and Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) coming into operation and replacing the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register (CICAIR). RBCAs will be registered for 4 years and RBIs for 3 years with the ability for those registered to be sanctioned or have their registration suspended or cancelled for non-compliance with standards.

In November the Welsh Government published guidance, standards and codes for building control approvers and inspectors which can be accessed online here.


The Building Control Profession (Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2023

Welsh Ministers are now able to recover charges for the regulation of building safety in Wales, as such non-compliant building work may result in fees being imposed on relevant duty holders.


The Building Safety (Description of Higher-Risk Building) (Design and Construction Phase) (Wales) Regulations 2023


Higher-risk buildings (HRB) in Wales are defined as a building that is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 stores and contains:

  • at least one residential unit;
  • a hospital;
  • a care home; or
  • a children’s home.

N.B. A HRB in Wales only requires the presence of a single residential unit, in England a HRB requires 2 or more residential units.


A summary of changes made by these regulations can be found on the Legislation Update Service as updates under the Building Act 1984


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Jurisdiction: England & Wales

Commencement: 1st October 2023

Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
Mini Summary

The Building Safety Act 2022 predominantly applies to England and Wales. It introduces changes to building regulation in England, including for higher-risk buildings. In Scotland and Northern Ireland its application is largely limited to liability for damages in relation to construction and cladding products. The Act also establishes the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).


Duties
Various duties apply.

 

Amendment

From 1st October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) may recover the costs of action taken under the Building Act 1984  and the Building Safety Act 2022 (the Acts). This includes the costs of:

 

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Jurisdiction: Scotland

Commencement: 1st April 2024

Amends: The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Mini Summary

The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 are made under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 and give requirements for the functional standards of buildings.

These Regulations lay down building requirements and controls on the construction, conversion and demolition of certain buildings as well as on the provision of services, fittings and equipment in or in connection with those buildings, to ensure that work is carried out safely and to a safe standard.

Duties
Various duties apply.

 

Amendment

New domestic and non-domestic buildings completed after 1st April 2024 are no longer allowed to be heated or cooled using a direct emission heating system, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.This does not apply to:

*Emergency heating means a fixed combustion appliance installation which is installed to be used only in the event of the failure of a service system which is designed and installed for use during normal operation of the building.

 

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Jurisdiction: England

Commencement: 6th April 2023

Amends: Building Act 1984 (c. 55)
Mini Summary

This Building Act 1984 (c. 55) allows the Secretary of State to make regulations in order to:

  • secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of people in or about buildings, and of people who may be affected by buildings;
  • stimulate the conservation of fuel and power; and
  • prevent waste, over-consumption, misuse or contamination of water.

The Building Act 1984  also imposes a duty on local authorities to enforce the building regulations in their areas as well as a right of entry into buildings. It also provides for prosecution and enforcement proceedings against the perpetrators and owners of defective buildings and building work.

Local authority powers in relation to dangerous structures and demolitions are also included in the Act.

The  Building Act 2022 (“2022 Act”)  establishes the regulator (established under the Health and Safety executive) as the building control authority for higher-risk buildings* in England and designated local authorities as the building control authority in Wales. The duties and powers of the regulator in relation to higher-risk buildings are outlined in the 2022 Act.

*Buildings of at least 18 metres in height or with at least 7 storeys and contains at least 2 residential units.

Amendment

Minor technical changes are made to clarify that:

*Higher-risk building work means any work carried out on a building that:

This means that all higher-risk building work must be supervised by the building safety regulator.

Public body’s notice

Public bodies, or where appropriate, local authorities, must now cancel any public body’s notice (in whole or in part) that relates to higher-risk building work.

Public bodies must:

Schedule 4 (1C) sets out the process for appealing a cancellation notice.

A new public body’s notice must not be given for any building work previously specified in a cancellation notice.

Penalties

The building safety regulator may impose a penalty on a public body for non-compliance, in accordance with Schedule 4.

N.B. The building safety regulator must give notice of their intention to impose a penalty.

 

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Jurisdiction: England

Commencement: 6th April 2023

Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
Mini Summary

The Building Safety Act 2022 predominantly applies to England and Wales. It introduces changes to building regulation in England for higher-risk buildings (i.e. buildings of at least 18m in height or with at least 7 storeys, which have 2 or more residential units). In Scotland and Northern Ireland its application is largely limited to liability for damages in relation to construction and cladding products. The Act also establishes the building safety regulator as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Duties
Various duties apply.

 

Amendment

In order to confirm if a building falls under the “high risk” building category, the height of a building is to be measured from the ground level to the top of the floor surface of the top storey.
When determining the amount of storeys a building has, the following is exempt from calculations:

* Below ground level is defined as when any part of the ceiling is below ground level.

Exemptions to the definition of a “high risk building” are listed under Paragraph 7.

This amendment has no direct relevance to occupational health and safety matters.

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Jurisdiction: England

Commencement: 9th February 2023

Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
Mini Summary

The Building Safety Act 2022 predominantly applies to England and Wales. It introduces changes to building regulation in England for higher-risk buildings (i.e. buildings of at least 18m in height or with at least 7 storeys, which have 2 or more residential units). In Scotland and Northern Ireland its application is largely limited to liability for damages in relation to construction and cladding products. The Act also establishes the building safety regulator as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Duties
Various duties apply.

 

Amendment

Changes are made to Regulation 3(2) of a previous amendment (The Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022). The changes aim to prevent organisations from avoiding their obligations regarding costs associated with historical safety remediation.

Under Paragraph 3 of Schedule 8 of the Building Safety Act 2022, landlords must not pass on any costs for historical safety remediation to leaseholders if the relevant landlord* is in a landlord group** that exceeds a net worth of £2 million.

*Relevant landlord means the landlord at the qualifying time.

**The landlord group means the relevant landlord and any person associated with the relevant landlord. The definition of landlord group now included body corporates where one is in control of the other, and where a body corporate is entitled to or possesses at least half of the issued share capital of the company.

These Regulations come into force on 9th February 2023 and apply to England only.

This amendment has no direct relevance to occupational health and safety matters. 

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Jurisdiction: England

Commencement: 6th April 2023

Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
Mini Summary

The Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30) predominantly applies to England and Wales. It introduces changes to building regulation in England for higher-risk buildings (i.e. buildings of at least 18m in height or with at least 7 storeys, which have 2 or more residential units). In Scotland and Northern Ireland its application is largely limited to liability for damages in relation to construction and cladding products. The Act also establishes the building safety regulator as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Duties
Various duties apply.

 

Amendment

The principal accountable person (PAP) must register their higher-risk building with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before it is occupied by residents. Failure to do so, without reasonable excuse, is a criminal offence. These requirements apply to England only and come into force on 6th April 2023. To allow for a period of voluntary registration, the offence will not come into force until 1st October 2023.

The BSR is given the authority to decide the way in which the relevant application, request or notice must be given to it.

Part 2 makes provisions about the register of high-risk buildings. It includes information about the content of the register and set out the requirements on the PAP and the BSR in relation to keeping that register up to date. The procedure for removing a building from the register is also included.

Part 3 is focused on the application process. It sets out the registration information requirements, such as details about contact information for each accountable person for that building, a description of the building, and information in relation to building control approvals for that building. It also specifies when an application can be withdrawn and the procedure for requesting a withdrawal.

A fee of £251 must be paid at the time an application to register is made. The BSR will not register a higher-risk building unless the fee for the application has been paid.

Part 4 mainly sets out regulator decisions that may be the subject of a review, who can give notice to the regulator requiring the review, and the information that must be contained in the notice. It also sets out the period of time in which the notice must be sent and by when the regulator must notify the outcome of the review.

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The Grenfell Tower fire has prompted a review of existing legislation on fire safety standards and building regulations. New legislation is due to come into force on 6th April 2023 and will make provisions for high-risk buildings. The Compliance People consultant Alison Long looks at this important change.

A high-risk building is any building that:

Owners and operators of high-rise buildings must now:

All high-risk buildings must be registered by October 2023.

The draft legislation can be viewed here.
Consultation
Do you want to have your say on fire safety standards and building regulations?

Take a look at the following consultations issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Welsh Government.

In Summary

Organisations are required to register with the BSR and appoint a principle accountable person for high-risk buildings. The deadline for compliance is currently October 2023.

 

The Building Safety Act 2022 was introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster, which sadly claimed 72 lives in June 2017. The tragedy resulted in a call to reform the way that fire safety is regulated in the UK. The 2022 Act aims to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again by imposing stricter regulations on fire safety in buildings.

Although the Act was published in May 2022, large portions of it were not immediately enforced and it was stated that these portions would be enforced by future regulations, known as commencements. Since then, we have had four commencements with more to come, and the full implementation of the Act is not expected until October 2023. In this article, we will examine the four commencements and their contents.
The Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2022
The first commencement to be introduced was published in May 2022, right after the initial Act came into force, and outlined a range of sections of the Act that would be introduced between May 2022 and June 2022.

Some of the key parts to be introduced over this time were the building liability orders (sections 130, 131 & 132), housing complaints made to a housing ombudsman (section 160) and strategic planning to be done by the regulator (sections 17 & 18).
The Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 1) (Wales) Regulations 2022
The second commencement made was in July 2022 and applies only to Wales. Section 48 on the removal of insurance requirements was bought into force, with the effect of removing any insurance requirements for approved inspectors under the Act.
The Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2022
The third commencement came into force at the end of August 2022 and introduced the powers relating to schemes for developers (sections 126 & 127) and the prohibitions on building control (section 129) and the development of land (section 128).
Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2022
The final commencement that has so far been released came into force at the start of December 2022. It introduced the key duty of the new regulator to facilitate building safety in higher-risk buildings (section 4). It also bought into force the requirements for the regulator to establish building advisory committees (section 9) and residents’ panels (section 11).

Jurisdiction: England

Commencement: 20th July 2022

Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
Mini Summary

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduces changes to building regulation and control for higher-risk buildings (buildings of at least 18m in height or with at least 7 storeys, and in either case containing at least 2 residential units) in England. It is made primarily in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster and the inadequacies that caused it.

To enable these changes, this Act establishes a building safety regulator as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), with the objectives of securing the safety of people in / around buildings and improving the general standard of buildings. This regulator enforces the many new duties imposed on an accountable person in relation to higher-risk buildings, laid out in this Act. In addition to higher-risk buildings, this Act also lays the groundwork for future regulations on prohibition of development and building control and construction products, and makes significant amendments to the Building Act 1984.

Section 126 lays down the groundwork for the establishment of ‘building industry schemes’ by the Secretary of State. These will be created to help ensure safety in and around buildings as well as to improve the overall standard of buildings.

Different sections of this Act come into force at different times (outlined in Section 170). Part 2 (The regulator and its functions) and Part 4 (Higher-risk buildings) largely come into force for the purposes of making additional regulations under this Act on the day this Act is passed. Part 3 will be brought into force by subsequent regulations made by either the Welsh Ministers (for Wales) or Secretary of State (for England).

Premises to which the Fire Safety Order applies:

Where a building contain two or more sets of domestic premises, the Order will apply to:

Power to change premises to which the Fire Safety Order applies:

In England, the Secretary of State is given the power to make changes, or to clarify the premises the Order applies to, through further Regulations. In Wales, this power is give to the Welsh Ministers. In both cases, they must carry out a consultation beforehand.

Duties
Various duties apply.

 

Amendment

Provisions are introduced to protect leaseholders* from liability for remediation of certain defects for buildings over 11 metres in height or of at least 5 storeys.

*Leaseholders are defined as any tenant under a lease for a dwelling in a building.

Landlords must retain details of any defects and works carried out on the relevant building from 28th June 2017.

The landlord must provide details of any remediation work carried out before 28th April 2052.

Regulation 6 requires landlords to provide the leaseholder with a certificate when requesting payment for remediation. This certificate must:

  • confirm whether the landlord was responsible for, or was associated with a person responsible for, the relevant defect;
  • set out the net worth of the landlord;
  • set out the date the building was constructed, and the dates of any works undertaken;
  • set out the cost of any remediation work;
  • identify how much the tenant has contributed to remediation works;
  • set out how the cost of remediation was calculated and divided; and
  • set out the maximum amount the tenant owes.

 
  

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