June 2023 |
KOK meet quarterly to share knowledge, review and debate the latest legislation and regulations affecting our industry and to promote best practice across the organization. At our latest meeting in June we discussed many ‘hot topics’, in particular the Building Safety Act 2022.
The new Building Safety Act 2022 (“The Act”) aims to reform building safety legislation, necessary well before the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017.
The proposals, a direct result of the tragedy which killed 72 people, were recommended by Dame Judith Hackitt in her 2018 review of fire safety and building regulations.
Having been introduced to parliament in July 2021, the Building Safety Act 2022 came into force from 1st April 2023 and introduces new duties for the management of fire and building safety in high-rise residential buildings. It is one of several pieces of legislation and guidance being implemented by the Government to enhance Building Safety, including the Fire Safety Act 2021. Importantly, the Building Safety Act 2022 will help people be and feel safer in their homes and will change the way buildings are designed, constructed, and managed.
The Building Safety Act 2022 will focus on the following key areas:
a) The safety and standards of all buildings.
b) Assuring the safety of higher-risk buildings, both in construction and occupation.
c) Improving the competence of the people responsible for overseeing, managing, and delivering works to higher-risk buildings.
d) Ensuring clearer standards and guidance.
e) Putting residents at the heart of a new system of building safety.
Who does the Building Safety Act 2022 apply to?
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.
The Building Safety Act 2022 – key takeaways
a) Applies 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.
b) Creates a universal change in responsibility and culture within the building industry.
c) Establishes a more effective regulatory and responsibility framework for the construction industry and introduces clearer standards and guidance.
d) Puts residents at the heart of a new system of Building Safety.
e) Clarifies who has responsibility for Fire and Building Safety throughout the life cycle of a higher risk building.
Two new roles – Building Safety Regulator and Accountable Person(s)
Described as “the biggest change to Building Safety regulation in a generation”, the Building Safety Act 2022 will see the implementation of two key roles – Building Safety Regulator and Accountable Person.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will be responsible for overseeing the safety and performance systems of all buildings. They will be given powers to enforce the rules and act against those that break them. And for high-risk properties, they will be able to implement more stringent rules, including how they are designed, constructed, and occupied.
The 3 main functions of the BSR:
1) Oversee the safety and performance system for all buildings: this will be done through overseeing the performance of building control bodies across the public and private sectors, and by understanding and advising on existing and emerging building standards and safety risks.
2) Encourage increased competence by setting the direction of an industry-led competence committee and establishing competence requirements for registration of building control professionals.
3) Lead the implementation of the new regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings, including having the powers to involve other teams, including the Fire Service, when making regulatory decisions regarding Building Safety.
“The BSR will have two objectives—to secure the safety of people in and around buildings and improve building standards; and to regulate in line with best practice principles.”
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.
Recent amendments to the Act have removed the clause which would have required the Accountable Person to appoint a Building Safety manager to support in the planning, managing, and monitoring of the various tasks necessary to ensure that Accountable Persons’ duties are complied with. Whilst the prescribed role has been removed, the Accountable Person’s responsibilities for complying with the overall requirements of the Act are unchanged, and they will have to put in place appropriate arrangements to ensure they meet these. The Accountable Person will therefore have the flexibility to determine what staffing structures, skills and competencies are appropriate for their risks and ensure people are trained to carry out the function.
Why is the new Building Safety Act 2022 important?
The new requirements of the Building Safety Act do not just apply to taller buildings. Parts of the Act will have implications for ALL buildings as it will make the BSR responsible for the performance of the building control sector to ensure standards are met, and for setting building standards. The Building Safety Act 2022 will establish a New Homes Ombudsman scheme for new build properties, to hold developers to account. The BSR will also be given powers to regulate construction products for the UK.
Those who are designing and constructing higher risk buildings will have formal responsibility for complying with building re
gulations, reducing risks, and ensuring that those who create Building Safety risks are responsible for managing them.
The Building Safety Act 2022 will enforce the requirements for keeping vital, up-to-date safety information about how a building has been designed, built, and managed. This ‘golden thread of information’ will be stored digitally for the entire life of the building. It enables you to understand a building and the steps needed to keep both the building and people safe, now and in the future.
The Building Safety Act 2022 will place specific duties on organisations which own and manage high rise residential buildings to take a range of specific and prescribed actions to identify risks, put the required measures in place to keep the building and its’ residents safe, and to evidence how they are doing this. The BSR will assess compliance with the duties, and if it is satisfied they are being met will issue a Building Assessment Certificate to permit the building to be occupied.
In addition, a Building Safety charge will be introduced, so leaseholders can see and know what they are being charged for Building Safety, and there will be powers to limit the costs that can be charged. New sanctions of up to two years in prison and unlimited fines will be in place for anyone breaking legal duties.
When will the Building Safety Act 2022 become law?
The draft bill was announced in July of 2020, and its First Reading took place a year later in 2021. The Act received Royal Assent and completed all the parliamentary stages in becoming an Act of Parliament in April 2022. All buildings in scope of the Act will need to be registered with the BSR, with registrations being expected at any time between April 2023 and October 2023. The Higher-Risk Buildings (Key Building Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 define the key building information which must be submitted by 30 September 2023.
Once registered, the Accountable Person(s) must apply for a Building Assessment Certificate, a process which is expected to begin April 2024, which will include information about the reasonable steps taken to prevent building safety risks. This information will include a Building Safety Case Report. Get ahead of the game and start storing information via a golden thread sooner rather than later, as this information will be needed for both current and future builds.
Our free, on-demand webinar ‘Building Safety: Are you ready for 1st April?’ provides a useful refresher session that will take you through the key things you need to be thinking about now to have assurance that you are ready and well-prepared. Hear from an organisation who have spent time preparing, and learn how they have approached their duties, what they have learnt, and what their key challenges and significant issues have been.
Is your organisation prepared for the upcoming changes in Building Safety legislation?
At KOK, we understand the difficulties the sector faces in meeting its Building Safety obligations. The introduction of the new legislation aims to create a universal shift in responsibility and culture within the building industry. And whilst new sanctions of up to two years in prison and unlimited fines will be in place for anyone breaking regulatory requirements, results from a recent exclusive survey in partnership with Inside Housing highlighted just how much work the sector still need to do meet their legal requirements. Organisations are facing many challenges to get their properties, systems and records in order.
What systems are best for managing compliance?
Under the Building Safety Act 2022, owners/managers will be required to collect, monitor, and manage data on their buildings and how safety risks are being managed to satisfy the golden thread of information obligations and provide the evidence for their safety cases.