What is the Building Safety Act?

The Building Safety act has been brought in following the Grenfell Tower disaster and its public inquiry. The Building Safety Act (BSA) sets significant new standards in building safety and compliance.

The issue of Building safety and particularly fire safety has been a ticking time bomb within the industry since 1968 with an explosion and fire at Ronan Point and Lakanal House in 2009 which should have served as a warning to the construction and property industry that safety reform was required.

Following an extensive inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster lasting over 4 years and reports written by the Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG) chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt the Building Safety Act 2022 was published in July 2022.

The Building Safety Act impacts and effects all corners of construction, property and estate management industries.

The Building Safety Act (BSA) ‘overhauls existing regulations, creating lasting change and makes clear how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained and made safe’.

The aim of the act is to ‘create a clear, proportionate framework for the design, construction, and management of safer, high-quality homes in the years to come’.

Buildings over 18m high and all new and existing buildings where people sleep are all affected, including hospitals, care facilities, hotels, student accommodation and boarding schools.

It brings in new requirements and changes to the entire lifecycle of buildings which are ‘higher risk’ buildings.

It is structured over three key gateways; planning, construction and pre-occupation (or re-occupation).

Building owners, developers and their advisers must pass through the three-stage gateway approval process and register their assets to obtain a Building Safety Certificate, maintaining a golden thread of fire information throughout planning, construction and occupation.

The supply chain and manufacturers will also need to comply, with new requirements to make sure all construction products on the UK market are safe for their intended use part of the 2022 BSA.

It is wider than just developers, building owners and the supply chain, it will effect designers, consultants, property management, building operators, estate management, facilities management and maintenance to name a few.

For more information contact us at Building Safety Act Consult Ltd.