With colleagues from across the sector, FIS Chief Executive Iain McIlwee attended the first Building Safety Conference  hosted last week by the Building Safety Regulator (and shared his reflections here).

This week we hear from colleagues at Build UK (of whom FIS is an active member) who have provided a summary of 10 lessons learnt which answers a number of the queries raised during Build UK member meetings. 

Building Safety Conference – 10 Things We Learnt

  1. The Building Safety Regulator becomes operational on 1 April 2023.
  2. The new Building Safety Regime will apply to all buildings – “from Shed to Shard” in the words of the Building Safety Regulator.
  3. The terms ‘High-Rise Building’ and ‘High-Rise Residential Building’ are being used interchangeably with ‘Higher-Risk Building’, and the Building Safety Regulator has committed to work with Build UK to ensure consistent terminology is used across the industry.
  4. Existing Higher-Risk Buildings (with the exception of hospitals and care homes unless they have at least two permanent residential units) must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator by 1 October 2023. This includes those that will be occupied for the first time during the transition period between 6 April and 1 October 2023. From 1 October 2023, new Higher-Risk Buildings must be registered before they can be occupied.
  5. The building registration process will be a multiple-choice tick box format and require a completion certification for each building. The fee for registering each building will be £251.
  6. It is anticipated that those who fulfil the roles of Principal Designer and Principal Contractor under CDM will also fulfil these dutyholder roles under the Building Safety Act.
  7. The Building Safety Regulator will become the Building Control Authority for all Higher-Risk Buildings from 1 October 2023. Work can continue under an existing Building Control Body where a building/initial notice has been submitted or plans deposited by 1 October 2023 and work has commenced by 1 April 2024.
  8. Gateway Two, which requires Building Control Approval by the Building Safety Regulator before construction work can begin, and Gateway Three, which is when a completion certificate is issued by the Building Safety Regulator, are expected to come into force on 1 October 2023.
  9. The Building Safety Regulator will not be specifying the format for the Golden Thread of information, which is the digital record of what has been built to enable those responsible for Higher-Risk Buildings to manage and maintain them safely.
  10. The Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG), chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt, will shortly be issuing its fourth report with an update on progress made by the industry.

BuildUK have developed an excellent simple introduction to the Building Safety Act which FIS Members can download for free here.