The Government has introduced the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill to Parliament. It was introduced on 14 October 2026 and aims to drive forward the remediation of unsafe cladding and ensure that those responsible pay towards the cost of remediation work.

Much of the Bill is aimed at building owners. It creates a new legal duty on those responsible for the safety of their buildings, such as freeholders, to identify, assess and fix issues without delay, and anyone who obstructs this work could face criminal penalties. But manufacturers should take note too. The Government says the Bill will give developers, contractors and others who have paid for remediation a simpler route to recover costs from cladding manufacturers where their products contributed to a building being unsafe, by removing legal barriers that have blocked these claims. It would also amend the construction products cause of action in section 148 of the Building Safety Act 2022, including what counts as a relevant building and the liability of associated companies.

Section 148 already lets anyone with an interest in a building containing dwellings sue a manufacturer or seller directly if a non-compliant, misleadingly marketed or inherently defective product makes a dwelling unfit to live in. Claims can’t be excluded by contract and can be brought for 15 years, or 30 years looking back for cladding. The direction of travel is clear: liability is widening, and how a business responds when something goes wrong will matter more than ever.

FIS guidance on product non-conformity and recall

FIS has been working with the regulator and is developing guidance for construction product suppliers on what to do when a product may not perform as it should. The guidance separates what the law requires today, what good practice looks like, and what is proposed under construction product reform. Its five key messages are:

• Act on potential risk, not proof. If there is reason to think a product may be unsafe in use, act and report it, whatever standard it is made to. For products under the Construction Products Regulation, a shortfall against declared performance must be corrected, withdrawn or recalled even if it isn’t a safety risk.
• Report through the right route. In Great Britain that is normally Trading Standards or your Primary Authority, working with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). Reporting is not automatically a route to enforcement. Businesses that find a problem, act on it and keep the regulator informed are treated as acting responsibly.
• Tell your customers early, in writing, with batch detail. For construction products, the installing contractor is usually the first and most important customer to inform.
• Base decisions on an evidenced risk assessment. “It should be alright” won’t satisfy building dutyholders or regulators. The OPSS PRISM method gives a recognised structure.
• Engage insurers early and keep records. Late notification and poor records are the most avoidable sources of loss.

The guidance also covers running a response in line with PAS 7100 and the new PAS 2000:2026 code for construction products, practical traceability (tracing a batch to where it was fixed in a building, not just the site it was delivered to), communications, insurance, and a checklist for the first days of an incident.

Get involved

We’d welcome input from members on your views on the Bill and on the guidance before it is finalised. If you’d like to see the draft and comment, or if your business is currently affected by a product non-conformity or recall issue and would like support, please contact James Parlour (jamesparlour@thefis.org). Members can access the FIS legal helpline for free expert legal advice – early advice is essential on such matters.

• Major milestone reached in ending building safety crisis (GOV.UK)
• Guide to the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill (GOV.UK)

FIS is encouraging members to engage with the public consultation on As Built & Handover Information: Requirements, a new industry guidance document developed through a Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Industry Task and Finish Group and BIM in Asset Management, with contributions from more than 100 representatives from across the built environment. FIS was pleased to contribute to the development of the guidance.

The guidance aims to establish a consistent understanding of the information that should be provided at project completion, helping to ensure that building information remains accurate, trustworthy and useful throughout the life of a building. It reinforces the principle that information should be treated as a project deliverable, rather than something assembled at the end of a project.

FIS’s input focused on the need to align design, construction and information management processes from the outset. Building on the principles of the Golden Thread, FIS advocated for a joined-up approach that connects design intent, product information, installation records, verification activities and operational data into a single information workflow. The Federation also highlighted the importance of ensuring that procurement strategies, contractual conditions and commercial arrangements support these objectives, providing the time, clarity and resources needed to create and maintain reliable building information.  This work links closely to Design Codes currently being developed by FIS.

Commenting on the consultation, Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of FIS, said:

“The Golden Thread is often described as a digital challenge, but in reality it is a project delivery challenge. Good information does not appear at handover. It is created through design decisions, product choices, installation records, inspections and verification activities throughout the life of a project. If we want trustworthy information, we need procurement, contracts and commercial arrangements that recognise information as a deliverable in its own right. This guidance is an important step towards creating that joined-up approach.”

The consultation is open until 16 October 2026 and FIS encourages members involved in design, specification, installation, commissioning and building operations to review the document and share their views.

Members can download the documents here and respond to the consultation directly here.

The Government has published its latest progress report on implementing the recommendations from the final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. It confirms that another nine of the 58 recommendations have been completed, making 28 in total, with all of them expected to be implemented by the end of 2029 including those that require legislation.

The latest progress report, delivered by new Building Safety Minister Baroness Blake of Leeds CBE, highlights that the Building Advisory Committee and Fire Safety Working Group are now both fully operational and that £13 million has been made available to UK higher education institutions to help develop the next generation of fire engineering professionals. The Interim Chief Construction Adviser, Thouria Istephan, has also published a final report ahead of the end of her 12‐month term, setting out how she has supported building safety reform and the development of the permanent Chief Construction and Scientific Adviser role.

With a number of the Inquiry’s recommendations focused on reforming building control, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has written to all local authorities highlighting plans to strengthen local building control services, which include new funding to address workforce shortages and reforms to how local authorities charge for building control work.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has published a new remediation toolkit to support better quality remediation applications at Gateway Two.

The toolkit highlights common issues seen in remediation applications and sets out practical steps for applicants to follow before submitting an application to make sure all the required information is included.

You can access the toolkit here.