The Building Safety Act was granted Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. It makes ground-breaking reforms to give residents and homeowners more rights, powers, and protections – so homes across the country are safer.
Building Safety Act 2022 – Government Bill >>>
Building Safety Act 2022 – Government Guidance >>>
As you’ll all be well aware, the act delivers far-reaching protections for qualifying leaseholders from the costs associated with remediating historical building safety defects, and an ambitious toolkit of measures that will allow those responsible for building safety defects to be held to account.
It overhauls existing regulations, creating lasting change and makes clear how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained and made safe.
The Act also creates three new bodies to provide effective oversight of the new regime:
- The Building Safety Regulator
- The National Regulator of Construction Products
- The New Homes Ombudsman.
Together these changes mean owners will manage their buildings better, and the home-building industry has the clear, proportionate framework it needs to deliver more, and better, high-quality homes.
Many of the detailed provisions in the Act will be implemented by 2024 through a programme of secondary legislation.
The Building Safety Act is now the very foundation of a new building safety regime for the construction sector and represents the most significant change to industry regulation in a generation. With many of the new requirements coming into force in 2023.
Peter Baker, Chief Inspector of Buildings is quoted as saying:
2023 marks the introduction of the new regulatory framework under the Building Safety Act. Industry must engage with the Building Safety Regulator from the very earliest stages of a project to ensure Higher Risk Buildings in England are designed and constructed to be safe and built to the appropriate standards.
The time for talking about the reforms is over – the industry now needs to act.
With that in mind we wanted to provide a summary of where we are in terms of the legislation as we kick off 2023 so INCA partners Build UK have published a comprehensive overview of the regime to ensure all members are aware of their responsibilities. You can download the Building Safety Regime Guide >
The guide includes information on:
- New bodies that will provide effective oversight of the new regime in 2023
- New responsibilities for all those who design, build, own or manage Higher Risk Buildings in 2023
- New systems designed to improve levels of competence and formalise processes
- Existing legislation which will be reformed in 2023
- Other activities outside the scope of the Act but related to building safety.
It will, of course, be regularly updated as secondary legislation and supporting guidance from industry is published. It has been welcomed by Dame Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Industry Safety Steering Group, who said:
Download The Building Safety Regime Guide >“This guide provides Build UK members across the supply chain with a clear and accessible summary of what the Building Safety Act means for them and their organisation. I urge you to not just read this guide but to then discuss what it means for your organisation and how your practices need to change.”