The fire safety laws that regulate British construction have undergone much-needed change over the past three years as a result of the Grenfell Tower catastrophe and the extensive investigations that followed. Perhaps most notably, The Building Safety Act 2022 became legislation in April 2022, ultimately making ground-breaking reforms to give homeowners and residents greater levels of protection.
To further solidify the steps made by the Building Safety Act 2022 and following a recently successful consultation period, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published five secondary legislations to support the recommendations of Dame Judith Hackitt’s report. More specifically these regulations cover the technical details of the design of higher-risk buildings and in-occupation safety regime.
These secondary legislations are as follows:
- The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023,
- The Building Regulations (Higher-Risk Building Procedures) (England) 2023
- The Building (Approved Inspectors etc. And Review of Decisions) (England) Regulations 2023
- The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc.) (England) Regulations 2023
- The Building Safety Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Regulations 2023
The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023
Some of the key changes include:
- This regulation comes into force on 1st October 2023 and extends to England and Wales.
- It makes up part of the regulations which implement part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022.
- Part 2 makes several amendments to the Building Regulations 2010, with Part 3 including a few new definitions.
- Regulation 4 states that many procedural obligations in the Building Regulations 2010 do not apply to higher-risk buildings. The methods listed in Building (High-Risk Building Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 apply).
- Part 2A has been inserted into the Building Regulations 2010 via Regulation 6. In relation to a project, Part 2A covers the provisions a client must make – more specifically relating to:
- the appointment of a principal contractor and designer,
- the duties and competence of persons working on the project,
- the client must also notify the relevant authority when there are changes made to the principal contractor or principal designer,
- following completion of the project the client is required to send the compliance statements to the relevant authority.
- Regulation 8 has made new requirements concerning applications for building control approval (equivalent to those in section 16 of the Building Act 1984).
- Regulation 9 has made new requirements regarding consultation during applications (equivalent to Article 45 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005).
- Regulations 20 and 20A of the Building Regulations 2010 have been amended as part of Regulation 12. They now state that the client for the project must make those carrying out the work about a higher-risk building aware that it is a higher-risk building.
- Regulation 13 amends Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations 2010. The amendment states that the responsible person must acknowledge the delivery of the fire safety information under Regulation 38. There should also be notice to the Building Control Authority when the handover of fire safety information occurs so that they acknowledge its receipt by the responsible person.
- As part of regulation 14, regulations 45 and 46 of the Building Regulations 2010 have been omitted.
- The existing notice of intention to commence work (regulation 16 of the Building Regulations 2010) has been updated to now become a notice of starting work. Furthermore, a requirement has been added to define what is regarded as commenced and give notice of where work has commenced.
The Building Regulations (Higher-Risk Building Procedures) (England) 2023
Some of the key changes include;
- Part 3 of the Building Safety Act of 2022 (Chapter 30) is implemented in part by this instrument, which is one of several Regulations.
- According to Section 91ZA of the Building Act of 1984, the regulator is the building control authority for any higher-risk building in England and any prospective higher-risk construction. This provision was added by Section 32 of the Building Safety Act of 2022, which is set to take effect on October 1, 2023.
- The processes for requesting building control permission regarding higher-risk buildings are outlined in Part 2 of these Regulations. Applications must be filed to the regulator along with the necessary plans and documentation. Building control clearance may, with the applicant’s cooperation, be subject to conditions, such as a requirement to not advance past a certain point without the regulator’s approval or that the regulator may subsequently approve more specific plans or documents.
- Part 4 of these Regulations relates to the golden thread of information, mandatory occurrence reporting, and the handover of information upon work completion.
- The procedures for requesting a completion certificate regarding higher-risk buildings are outlined in Part 5 of these Regulations. Applications must be filed to the regulator along with the necessary plans and documentation. When it is suggested that a building (or a portion of a building) be occupied before the completion of all the higher-risk building work, provision is also made for partial completion certificates.
The Building (Approved Inspectors etc. And Review of Decisions) (England) Regulations 2023
Some of the key changes include;
- This section forms part of several regulations which implement Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022.
- Section 91ZA of the Building Act 1984, coming into effect 1st October 2023, provides for the regulator to be the building control authority about any higher-risk building in England and any proposed higher-risk building.
- Part 2 establishes the registration period for registered building inspectors and registered building control approvers. It also includes specification of the decisions of the regulator which are subject to review under section 25 of the Building Safety Act 2022. Information regarding appealing following a review is also covered.
- The Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2010 are amended in part 3.
- Regulation 8 amends Regulation 8 of the 2010 Regulations – adding the duty holder and competence provisions for the Building Regulations 2010 into the provisions that an approved inspector must send to the person carrying out the work where the inspector is proposing to cancel the initial notice for breach of the duty holder and compliance provisions.
- Regulation 9 defines where on or after 1st October 2023 an approved inspector submits an initial notice or amendment notice that the local authority is satisfied includes high-risk building work the local authority must send a notice explaining that the notice submitted was invalid.
- Regulation 11 provides new regulations 16A and 16E to the 2010 Regulations.
- Regulation 12(4) and Regulation 18(2) establish new forms to cancel an initial notice under section 52A of the Building Act 1984.
The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc.) (England) Regulations 2023
Some of the key changes include;
- The following amendments only apply to England and are principally administrative provisions relating to the management of safety risks in higher-risk buildings.
- Regulation 3 provides additional information on building assessment certificates.
- The measures that an accountable person must take when ensuring the safety of the building are covered in regulation 4.
- Regulation 6 highlights the reporting obligations to the Building Safety Regulator concerning building safety risks.
- Regulation 7 covers the maintaining of information and documents about higher-risk buildings whilst regulations 8 and 9 include the process of supplying information to the Building Safety Regulator.
- Regulation 14 makes light of potential compliance notices that may be served to the accountable persons by the Building Safety Regulator.
The Building Safety Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments etc.) Regulations 2023
Some of the key changes include;
- The regulations contained in this section make amends that are relevant to Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022
- The London Building Act has been amended as per regulations 2 to 16.
- These amendments refer to the retraction of paragraph 20 of Schedule 5 to the 2022 Act of section 16 of the Building Act 1984 (c. 55), which provided for the deposit of plans for proposed building work with local authorities.
- Section 33 of 2022 provides for the making of applications for building control approval instead of depositing plans. Paragraph 1B of Schedule 1 to the Building Act 1984 makes provision for applications for building control approval
- These amendments replace a reference to the deposit of plans with a reference to the making of an application for building control approval.
- Regulation 17 relates to the transitional provisions in place to ensure the amendments in the regulations (2-16) do not have any implications for building work in which a notice is given under section 16 of the Building Act 1984 before 1st October 2023.
