The Building Safety Act 2022

What’s happening?

The Building Safety Act 2022 was introduced in the wake of safety concerns for occupants of high-rise buildings after the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The legislation is intended to improve the design, construction and management of higher-risk buildings. It came into force from 1 April 2023.

Part 1 provides an overview of the Act. The Act contains six parts and eleven Schedules addressing a range of issues relating to building safety and standards, with the intentions of the new legislation being to:

• Secure the safety of people in or about buildings and

• Improve the design, construction and management of higher-risk buildings and

• Improve the standards of fire safety within the buildings

The Act makes a number of changes to existing legislation, most notably the Building Act 1984.

Part 2 establishes a new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive.

Part 3 deals with amendments to the Building Act 1984 as it applies to England and Wales, and defines the scope and provisions for the regime during the design and construction phase for higher-risk buildings. It also provides for the registration of building inspectors and building control approvers to better regulate and improve competence levels in the building control sector.

Part 4 is concerned with higher-risk residential buildings in England when they are occupied and defines the scope of the regime for higher-risk buildings in occupation. It defines and places duties on the Accountable Person (the duty holder in occupation) in relation to building safety risks in their building.

Part 5 details other provisions, including those relating to service charges, remediation and redress, and changes to the Fire Safety Order. It also includes provisions to require a New Homes Ombudsman scheme to be established, and powers to make provision for regulation of construction products for the UK. It allows disciplinary orders made against architects by the Professional Conduct Committee of the Architects Registration Board to be listed alongside an architect’s entry in the Register of Architects. It also removes the "democratic filter" which requires social housing residents wishing to escalate a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman to do this via a "designated person" or wait eight weeks.

Part 6 contains the technical sections related to the Act, including Crown application and provision for liability of officers.

The Act also acts as the vehicle for wider improvements including changes to the Architects Act 1997, the Housing Act 1996, and provisions to establish a National Regulator for Construction Products and a New Homes Ombudsman. And it takes forward further changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order or FSO), building on the Fire Safety Act 2021.

It applies in general to new or existing occupied buildings over 18 metres high or seven storeys or more, which contain at least two residential units. The design, refurbishment, and construction requirements also apply to care homes and hospitals meeting the same height threshold. The Act will also have implications on all buildings as it will make the Building Safety Regulator responsible for the performance of the building control sector to ensure standards are met, and for setting building standards.

The Act will focus on the following key areas:

• The safety and standards of all buildings

• Assuring the safety of higher-risk buildings, both in construction and occupation

• Improving the competence of the people responsible for overseeing, managing, and delivering works to higher-risk buildings

• Ensuring clearer standards and guidance

• Putting residents at the heart of a new system of building safety

The legislation sits alongside other measures introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower inquiry and current legislation, including:

• The Fire Safety Act 2021, which requires all responsible persons to assess, manage and reduce fire risks in residential buildings (including in relation to external walls and cladding)

• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which requires those who own, manage or operate a business to manage fire safety and fire risk within the business. This includes the identification of a “Responsible Person or Persons”. Where there is more than one Responsible Person, then Responsible Persons must cooperate and coordinate to ensure that duties are met. Other duties include:

o Carrying out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment (FRA)

o Action on significant findings within the FRA and communication of relevant information from the FRA to employees and other relevant persons

o Put in place and maintain appropriate fire safety measures

o Develop and implement an emergency plan

o Provide staff and other relevant persons with information, instruction and where applicable, training

So what does this mean?

The requirements set out in the Building Safety Act 2022 will affect building owners / managers and the built environment industry. This includes those who commission building work and who participate in the design and construction process, including clients, designers, and contractors.

What should I do?

The Act identifies an “Accountable Person”. The Accountable Person (building owner, freeholder, or management company) will have an ongoing duty to assess building safety risks and provide a ‘Safety Case Report’ which demonstrates how building safety risks are being identified, mitigated, and managed on an ongoing basis. They will also have to demonstrate how they are ensuring residents’ safety. In buildings where ownership structures are complex, there may be more than one Accountable Person, in which case there will be a Principal Accountable Person. This will include the requirement for a “Golden Thread of Information” which requires the keeping of vital up-to-date information about the fire safety design and fire safety controls relevant to the building stored digitally to ensure that Accountable Persons understand the fire safety requirements of the building both now and in the future to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants.

Source

Rob Parr