On 6 April 2024, the Building Safety Act 2022 transitional arrangements period, which commenced on 1 October 2023, ended. This means that for most developers working on higher-risk buildings, the new building safety legislation will apply in full.
Background to the Building Safety Act 2022
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) was drafted following the Grenfell Tower disaster in London in 2017. It brought in rules relating to:
- Building safety standards
- Regulation of higher-risk buildings (HRBs)
- Standards required of those dealing with management, oversight, and delivery of work on HRBs
- Providing updated standards and guidance
What new regimes came into force in April 2024?
When the BSA was granted Royal Assent in April 2022, an implementation period of two years was allowed, to give building owners and developers time to prepare for the necessary changes.
By 1 October 2023, all building owners were required to register residential HRBs with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
By 1 April 2024, all building control professionals needed to be registered with the BSR.
On 6 April 2024, the transitional period ended, and the BSR began assessing Building Assessment Certificate applications.
During the transitional period, the previous regime, which allowed local authorities to regulate building safety, was allowed to continue for projects provided that full plans had been given to the local authority along with an initial notice.
From 6 April 2024, building works will only be covered by the old regime where the following apply:
- The initial notice was given to the local authority and accepted by them or full plans were deposited with them prior to 1 October 2023
- Approval for the work had not lapsed
- The initial notice is still in force
- A notice that the work has ‘sufficiently progressed’ has been given to the local authority, for example, the pouring of concrete for the foundations has commenced or permanent piling is in place
- Any approved inspector who submitted an initial notice is now a formal registered building control approver (RBCA)
Otherwise, works will now fall under the new Act.
What are the main provisions in the Building Safety Act 2022?
The BSA created the Building Safety Regulator, which is responsible for regulating all building work that requires building control approval.
Higher-risk buildings are defined, and they will be subject to strict regulations as well as regular safety inspections.
Every HRB must have an Accountable Person (AP) who will take legal responsibility for fire and structural safety and for building management.
Information relating to residential HRBs must be adequately managed so that it is available when necessary.
Cooperation between those procuring, planning, managing and undertaking building work is required, with duty holders to be appointed who will be responsible for ensuring systems are in place to deal with compliance and that adequate communication and coordination takes place between parties.
New statutory roles have been created for those in charge of projects. Those owning buildings or land for development, the ‘client’, must take reasonable steps to appoint competent professionals. There must be a principal contractor in charge of all construction works and a principal designer in charge of all design work.
What are higher-risk buildings?
A higher-risk building or HRB has at least seven storeys or is at least 18 metres high and has a minimum of two residential units.
What is the role of the Building Safety Regulator?
The BSR regulates HRBs as well as the design and construction of hospitals and care homes.
They check that building designs meet the required fire safety standards and review planning applications.
Building on an HRB cannot start until the BSR has approved the building control approval application and no HRB may be occupied until a completion certificate has been issued.
Who are accountable persons and duty holders under the Building Safety Act?
An accountable person (AP) is an individual or organisation that owns the building or that has responsibility for the repair and maintenance of the common parts, including the fabric of the building and communal areas inside the building.
All occupied residential HRBs must have an AP who is a clearly identifiable principal accountable person (PAP) and who is responsible for fire safety and structural safety. The PAP must:
- Ensure that existing HRBs are registered with the BSR
- Register any new HRB and obtain a completion certificate prior to occupation
APs and PAPs cannot delegate their responsibilities.
Duty holders are:
- The client, for whom the development is carried out
- The principal designer
- The principal contractor
Duty holders have an obligation to:
- Ensure that all work carried out by them or by workers under their control is planned, managed and monitored in accordance with the regulations; and
- Cooperate with the client, designers, contractors and each other to ensure that all building work is compliant
What is the relevance of landlord certificates?
One of the aims of the BSA and related regulations is to protect leaseholders from the costs of remedying fire and structural safety defects in HRBs.
The act introduced landlord certificates, which are intended to provide leaseholders with the information they need in relation to responsibility for the costs of any remedial safety work required to the building.
To obtain a landlord certificate, the landlord must confirm whether:
- They have a group net worth of over £2 million multiplied by the number of relevant buildings in the landlord’s portfolio (the ’net worth test’) at the qualifying time being 14th February 2022, and
- They or an associated company were responsible for any defects in the sense of having been the developer or the contractor in respect of such works (the ‘developer test’)
These questions establish whether landlords have the right to ask leaseholders to pay the costs of remedying defects by way of service charges or whether landlords must bear these costs themselves. If the landlord certificate establishes either the net worth test or the developer test above, the landlord will bear responsibility for such remediation costs.
Those buying flats in HRBs will be entitled to ask to see a copy of the landlord certificate before exchanging contracts.
How 3CS can help
Our expert solicitors can provide you with the assistance you need to comply with the new legislation.
For advice, guidance or representation in respect of the Building Safety Act, please get in touch.
