February 2024 |
A CULTURE CHANGE
The Building Safety Act came into force in 2023. What are the key measures that will affect OHS professionals working in the built environment?
Heralded by the UK government as ‘the biggest change to building safety in a generation’, the Building Safety Act demands greater accountability for fire and structural safety issues throughout a buildings lifecycle. It enforces a new regulatory framework, as set out by Dame Judith Hackitt in her report as chair of the Independent review of building regulations and fire safety following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London (Hackitt, 2018).
Poor practice is a global problem. Following a 2021 fire at an apartment block in Milan, Italy, Dr Fathi Tarada, managing director of engineering consultant Mosen, told New Civil Engineer magazine that the UK’s building reforms must be extended across Europe to prevent similar disasters. (Horgan, 2021).
Among Dame Judith’s recommendations are a new regulator, the Building Safety Regulator *BSR), which must sign off three key gateways – planning approval, the start of construction and handover – before the next stage can commence. The Act also implements requirements to digitally record details, and any changes, of a building’s design and construction, known as the ‘golden thread’ of information (Hackitt, 2018).
The bill was amended during its passage through Parliament, principally in relation to applying for remediation orders against landlords required to repair or maintain the building and fixing gaps in leaseholder protections. Phase 3 of the legislation is expected to come into force in April 2024 (see key dates below).
PROS AND CONS
Also expected this year, the Phase 2 inquiry report into the Grenfell tragedy ‘will consider all the facts and make solid recommendations on what further changes are required’, says Andy Frankum, director of health and safety compliance at Concept Housing Association and chair of the UK National Social Housing Fire Strategy Group.
‘I hope the action that follows the report starts to drive any further changes required, considers any criminal proceedings relating to Grenfell and that government takes a hard look at this and ensures the future fire safety management model in the UK is developed to be a first-class system that keeps people safe, strives to learn and constantly evolves to consider emerging risks, and adapts to future challenges’, he adds.
Anthony Taylor, managing director of Resolve Risk and interim chairman of the UK Building Safety Alliance, points out that the Act is not solely related to high-risk buildings, but has a far wider impact on ‘all and any building works that are affected by building regulations’. And because it focuses ‘significantly on individual competence and accountability,’ he adds, ‘this will have a distinct effect on the quality of work in the future’.
The BSR says that some of the concepts of the regime ushered in by the act will be familiar to OSH professionals. ‘But it is important that people do not think they can simply “lift and shift”,’ they explain. ‘The concepts of “plan, manage and monitor” in building work have been adopted from health and safety law. This means that health and safety professionals will need to review their skills, knowledge and experience in relation to the requirements of building regulations.’
KEY DATES
2024 – April: Phase 3 expected to come into effect with the deadline for registering as building control approvers and building inspectors. BSR expected to start calling in safety case reports etc as the process for considering applications for building assessment certificates.
Operations standards rules for building control bodies, professional conduct rules for registered building control approvers, and the code of conduct for registered building inspectors expected to come into force.
Words by Anna Scott – IOSH Magazine
