Building Safety Act – Construction Responsibilities

| Posted on |

The Building Safety Act came into force in 2022, however at the time it predominately reflected on the management of High Risk Buildings. Since 2022 various amendments have been implemented which now significantly relate to the construction of new build High Risk Buildings.

The Building Safety Act was introduced following significant new updates to the Building Regulations Legislation. These introduce changes to the Building Regulations application process, and impose duty holder responsibilities on applicants, agents, and builders.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is part of the HSE and will govern all new High Risk Buildings. The BSR shall be involved from the initial planning stage through to completion of the build and the life of the building once in use.

The Act creates a new and more rigorous regime for the planning, design, construction and operation of prescribed classes of buildings, with new planning and building control gateways, accountable persons, safety cases and a statutory golden thread of information, all linked to a formal certification of the building by the regulator for fitness to occupy.

Amongst other key changes the following have been introduced

  • Gateway Process
  • Duty Holders
  • Golden Thread
  • Registration of Building Inspectors
  • Mandatory Occurrence Reporting

Gateway Process

This consists of three stages.

Gateway One – Contractors will have limited involvement in gateway one as this applies at the planning application stage.

Gateway Two – makes it mandatory to have building control approval – separate from planning applications – before building work can start. Whilst the overall responsibility for submitting a building control approval application will sit with the client, the client can delegate this action to the principal contractor. Therefore, contractors may need to understand how to submit a successful application to the new Building Safety Regulator.

Gateway Three – when the building work is completed, and prior to the building being granted approval for occupation.  The applicant must apply for a certificate of completion, which will demonstrate that the building regulations have been complied with and that the building is safe to occupy. When submitting an application for a completion certificate,

  • Principal Contractors will be required to provide a compliance declaration confirming that they have complied with their duties. 
  • The client is required to confirm that to the best of the client’s knowledge, the higher-risk building complies with all applicable requirements of the building regulations. 

Duty Holders

  • Client – a person for whom the project is carried out,
  • Domestic Client – a person for whom the project is carried out but not for the benefit of a clients business,
  • Principal Designer – usually the lead designer,
  • Principal Contractor – usually the lead contractor.
  • Contractors  (including sole contractors).

The Principal Contractor shall:

  • Plan, Manage and Monitor the building work during the construction phase.
  • Coordinate matters relating to building work to ensure the building work complies with the building regulations.
  • Make sure cooperation amongst all duty holders is maintained.
  • Make sure all building work is coordinated so that it complies with the building regulations.
  • Make sure contractors comply with their duties.
  • Liaise with the principal designer as required.
  • Have regard to comments from the principal designer concerning compliance with the building regulations.
  • Assist the client in providing information to contractors.
  • Review the arrangements of any previous principal contractor.
  • Notify building control in writing, where applicable, that the work is being carried out on behalf of a domestic client.
  • Sign the declarations as referred to above in the client’s duties when work is complete.
  • Collaborate with other duty holders. Maintain open communication and collaborate with building owners, architects, engineers and other professionals involved in the project.
  • Regularly inspect and test – Ensure fire safety systems and other safety equipment are functioning properly and in compliance with the Building Safety Act by conducting regular testing and inspections.
  • Keep accurate documentation – Maintain up-to-date and accurate documentation of all activities related to the Building Safety Act compliance. For example, records of inspections, certifications, maintenance activities and any modifications or changes made during the construction process.
  • Ensuring fire safety measures – ensuring that appropriate fire safety measures are in place during the construction phase. This includes installing temporary fire protection systems, maintaining clear escape routes and implementing measures to prevent the spread of fire.
  • Handover and documentation – After the construction phase is complete, ensuring all relevant handover information and documentation is submitted to the building owner or client. For example, this may include Operations and Maintenance Manuals, as-built drawings and records of the completed works.

The Contractor shall:

  • Plan, manage and monitor design work so that if the building work were carried out, it would comply with the building regulations.
  • Cooperate with the client, designers, and contractors to the extent that if the building work were carried out, it would comply with the building regulations.
  • Provide sufficient information about the building’s design, construction and maintenance to allow the client, other designers and contractors to comply with the building regulations.
  • Consider any other design work and report any compliance concerns relating to the design compliance to the principal designers and client.
  • Ensuring all relevant handover information and documentation is submitted to the Principal Contractor. For example, this may include Operations and Maintenance Manuals, as-built drawings and records of the completed works.

The Golden Thread

This is a documented trail of evidence for the life of a building from construction until, and during, final use. All parties involved are required to maintain and contribute to the golden thread of information. The golden thread information must then be handed over on completion or the issue of the making good defects certificate

Registration of Building Inspectors

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will operate a register for all Building Control professionals. Private sector building control organisations and local authority bodies in England will, by law have to register. This came into force from April 2024. The HSE has introduced a professional competence framework that all building control professionals are required to meet.

Mandatory Occurrence Reporting

Mandatory Occurrence Reporting is the reporting of risks and incidents to the Building Safety Regulator. This can be by any contractor or person who deems a safety occurrence which has the potential or has caused;

A safety occurrence which has caused, or is likely to cause if not remedied:

  • the death of a significant number of people
  • serious injury of a significant number of people

eg

  • the spread of fire
  • total or partial collapse of the building
  • defective building work
  • unexpected failure or the degradation of construction materials
  • the discovery of structural defects
  • failure of a critical fire safety measure, such as an automatic opening vent, smoke extraction or fire doors

A Safety Occurrence is an incident involving, at least one of the following:

  • structural failure of the building
  • the spread of fire or smoke in the building

eg

  • defective building work, including defective competent person scheme work which is part of the wider building work
  • fire safety issues likely to result in the spread of fire
  • the use of noncompliant products or incompatible compliant products in the construction of the building
  • inappropriate or incorrect installation of construction products
  • product failure against specification and claimed performance
  • faults in the design plans, caused by either design software or human error.

Where Safety Occurrences are known, a report must be submitted, even if the Safety Occurrence has been remedied immediately. The Principal Contractor should be informed first and their Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Procedure followed. If this is delayed a notice can be submitted online using the link below or through the Gov.uk website searching for ‘Submit a mandatory occurrence to the BSR’