by Clair Mooney | 2 Sep, 2022 | Building Safety Act
The Setting the Bar report outlines a system of competence standards for all those working on higher‐risk buildings, and two of the Working Groups responsible for reviewing specific sectors have now published proposed standards for comment:
- Working Group 9 is consulting on the Framework for competence of Site Supervisors in England which covers individuals working under the supervision of a Principal Contractor and those supervising workers on a day‐to‐day basis. This will be of interest to those fulfilling the role of Site Supervisor, as well as those that delegate to, employ or train Site Supervisors. Comments should be submitted to the CIOB by Friday 30 September.
- Working Group 7 is consulting on the Framework for competence of Designers in England which covers organisations or individuals that prepare or modify designs for projects, as well as those that arrange for or instruct others to do so. This will be of interest to anyone fulfilling the role of a Designer, for example architects, engineers, surveyors, contractors, specialists, manufacturers and suppliers. Comments should be submitted to the RICS by Wednesday 5 October.
DLUHC is also consulting on the changes that will be made to Building Regulations to implement the new building safety regime. There are 12 different sections to the consultation, including dutyholder roles, gateways, change control process and more rigorous enforcement powers. Comments can be submitted online or via email by Wednesday 12 October.
by Iain McIlwee | 28 Jul, 2022 | Building Safety Act, Main News Feed
The Building Safety Act passed into Law in April 2022 and it brings into being a new Regulator – The Building Safety Regulator will help to deliver the two underlying objectives of the Act, namely securing the safety of people in and around buildings in relation to risks from buildings and improving building standards.
Contrary to popular belief, the The Building Safety Regulator has a wider remit than High Rise High Risk Buildings and is tasked to:
- implement a new, more stringent regulatory regime for high-rise buildings in England
- being the building control authority in England for building work on high-rise buildings
- overseeing and enforcing the new regime in occupation of high-rise buildings
- oversee the safety and performance of all buildings. This has two aspects:
- overseeing the performance of other building control bodies (local authorities and registered building control approvers (currently known as approved inspectors))
- understanding and advising on existing and emerging building standards and safety risks
- promote competence among industry professionals and regulators to raise standards in the design, construction, and management of buildings
The Regulator will be part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and so the mechanisms and enforcement approach will be familiar to the construction sector already immersed in compliance with CDM.
In a new Factsheet the Building Safety Regulator starts to outline how they imagine this will work in practice, starting with the clear principle (akin to that in CDM) that the person or entity that creates, or is responsible for, a building safety risk should be responsible for preventing, managing, and controlling that risk. This includes building designers, who have a responsibility to design a building that complies with relevant building regulations.
Regulatory intervention will be targeted on activities where there is high actual or potential harm arising from any breach. In judging how far dutyholders have taken steps to reduce or mitigate safety risks, the Building Safety Regulator will balance the degree of risk against the money, time or trouble needed to avert that risk in the particular circumstances, as well as the impact of any action on businesses and residents.
The Building Safety Regulator will expect that dutyholders, in turn, will adopt a sensible and proportionate approach to managing safety, focusing on significant risks.
It is intended that the Building Safety Regulator will employ a variety of methods to encourage and support dutyholders to meet the requirements of relevant Building Regulations and to manage fire and structural risks in buildings in a sensible and proportionate way. This reflects the aims in chapter 8 of the document: A reformed building safety regulatory system: government response to the Building a Safer Future consultation, published by MHCLG in April 2020.
The appropriate and proportionate use of enforcement powers, regulatory tools, and sanctions by the Building Safety Regulator will be set out in a published Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS) in due course.
For further information about the Building Safety Act, including an outline summary of what it all means to the finishes and interiors sector, click here
For further information from the HSE on how they will be supporting compliance and enforcing in the event of non-compliance click here.
by Iain McIlwee | 22 Jul, 2022 | Building Safety Act
In the week that the Grenfell Inquiry came to an end (the inquiring but anyway, it will be a while before the conclusions are made) we were greeted with a barrage of updates as Rt Hon Greg Clark picks up the mantle as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from Michael Gove. The announcements included that 48 Developers have pledged to remediate fire safety defects in buildings over 11 metres that they have played a role in developing over the past 30 years.
This has been followed by a raft of new guidance around how government is going to honour their commitment “to protecting innocent leaseholders from the unfair burden of remediation costs to make their home safe”. Their focus is now the buildings with 2 or more residential dwellings and at least 11 metres in height or has at least five storeys (whichever is reached first). Whilst a lot of attention is on the cladding, the guidance makes it clear that the scope of this new regulatory framework is now far broader too.
Through the Building Safety Act Courts have been granted new powers to extend liability to associated companies . The aim is to ensure that civil cases for claims against defective buildings can be brought against companies associated with a developer, preventing the use of complex corporate structures to avoid liability. The government is clear that developers must pay to fix buildings they had a role in developing or refurbishing, even where they no longer own the building. The Act ensures that building owners who are – or are associated with – the developer must pay for the remediation of historical safety defects.
The guidance published this week starts to look at the definition of “relevant defect” and what buildings (and leaseholders) are in scope of the protections. There is plenty of information published on cladding where cladding remediation is regarded as the removal of or replacement of any part of a cladding system that meets both of the following conditions:
- it forms the outer wall of an external wall system
- it is unsafe
But the wider relevant defect approach which identifies that non-cladding remediation is work is undertaken to fix a relevant defect, which is not an unsafe cladding system defect.
Examples of non-cladding remediation include:
- replacing inappropriate fire doors
- fixing missing compartmentation, which limits how easily fire can spread through a building
- replacing combustible walkways or balconies
- reinforcing low-strength concrete beams to improve structural integrity
- fixing any other defect in scope of the relevant defect definition that is not a defect of the cladding system
Whilst the developer is in the cross-fire there it feels inevitable that the disputes will not have gone away and the battle ground has shifted. The likelihood is that the developers will be seeking redress through the supply chain and we got more than an inkling of this in the judgment recently handed down in the case Mulalley bs Martley Homes. Here contractor Mulalley was engaged on a design and build JCT 1998 Standard Form of Building Contract in 2005 to re-clad the exterior of the five tower blocks for Martley Homes. Full details of the case are available here (and well worth reading), but the headline is that that contractor is now required to pay £8 million in compensation. Commenting on the case FIS CEO, Iain McIlwee stated:
“This case is the first of many that will start to set precedent on historic claims and now that the Defective Premises Act has been updated and extended, it is likely that this will spread beyond the realms of cladding. We remain committed to ensuring that the mechanisms to manage disputes advance at the same speed as the Polluter Pays agenda so that the judgments are fair, but that huge time and resources is not wasted on legal fees and that we can focus our energies as an industry on getting to grips with the unacceptable legacy that the systemic failure created”
Detailed guidance from the FIS on the Building Safety Act via our Quality Hub here.
You can access the full range of guidance published this week here. We have included links to some of the most relevant sections below:
by Clair Mooney | 14 Jul, 2022 | Building Safety Act
With the Building Safety Act in force and the Regulator starting to build the infrastructure necessary to manage and monitor and to develop guidance, FIS has developed initial guidance to help members consider what the impact of new Gateways will be on the construction process.
Commenting on the guidance FIS Technical Director, Joe Cilia said:
“It is important to remember that the Building Safety Act is designed to change the process and culture of construction. It is vital that we start to work together to understand the impact and how our processes and working practice will need to evolve. We have been working with a number of groups and felt it important to share our early thinking and start to explore changes with our members.”
FIS is setting up a working group to look at Building Safety Act compliance that will start to meet in the Autumn – if you are interested in getting involved, please email joecilia@thefis.org
by Clair Mooney | 11 Jul, 2022 | Building Safety Act
Watch the recording of CPA’s webinar here
FIS members can access the recording of the CPA’s latest webinar on the Building Safety Act. Peter Caplehorn summarised the key changes of the Act and with the secondary legislation coming into place later in the year, CPA will be hosting another webinar to discuss it – watch this space!
by Clair Mooney | 8 Jul, 2022 | Building Safety Act, Main News Feed
FIS Technical Director Joe Cilia will be taking part in a seminar focussing on fire door compliance and their surrounding supporting constructions. This seminar is a collaboration between Selo | Riser doors & Concealed frame doorsets, Knauf and FIS, to help the whole industry progress.
Understanding the issues and interface between the supporting structure, and the fire doors is key for a compliant installation, yet things can be missed especially in the construction phase when temporary doors are installed.
The event is being held on 14 July and can be attended in person, or online. For more details and to register visit https://selo.global/seminar-doors-walls-under-review/
