The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) recognises the challenges and issues that recent delays to building control application approvals for higher-risk building work are causing industry. It has published an update on those challenges and issues:
“(The BSR) is contacting all applicants who have been directly affected and we want to assure everyone that the necessary contingency is in place which will allow us to stabilise and improve the service over the coming months and for the future. New applications will not go into the backlog and be processed within normal timelines.
“While in part the delays have arisen due to an unexpected increase in applications coming into BSR, we are also experiencing a high number of applications which are incomplete or unclear, making them unsuitable for approval. This is particularly the case for smaller refurbishment projects and work on existing buildings.
“As the regulator, we will not:
- tell you how to comply with the requirements of the building regulations
- provide pre-application advice on building control applications
“For some complex projects we may provide advice on the best way of staging your application. For example, multi-building projects. Advice on the buildings regulations, if needed, should be sought from competent professionals.
“We need applicants to play their part to help facilitate the process by ensuring their applications provide quality, detailed information that clearly and comprehensively demonstrates compliance with building regulations. High-quality applications help BSR make informed decisions quickly, reducing the risk of misinterpretation and ensuring all building control standards are met. Applications which lack the required detailed information or fail to demonstrate clear compliance will be rejected.
“Applicants do not need to contact BSR again after they have submitted their applications. We will contact applicants directly where necessary, for example if we need to request further information or when applications are moving forward.
“Earlier this week (the BSR) shared some useful Q&A via the Construction Leadership Council on making building control applications. You can find a link at the bottom of this article. You can also revisit the following presentations delivered at our conference in May:
- Higher Risk Buildings – Building control approval applications
- Helping resident groups with small building projects
“We will publish further information and resources on our Making Buildings Safer website over the coming weeks.”