Industry bodies react to Building Safety Act

[ON 28 APRIL the Building Safety Bill gained Royal Assent and became law. The issue of building safety has been in the forefront of political and policy thinking since the industry was shocked into action by the Grenfell tragedy and the public shocked by the complacency and corner-cutting the subsequent inquiries and reports uncovered.

The details of what the Act entails have been the subject of much coverage. The principal planks of the legislation are to define responsibility for building safety more tightly – establishing the much-heralded ‘golden thread’ – extend the time over which responsibility can be established and removing from consumers the consequences of builders’ and manufacturers’ mistakes.

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) summarised the main points.

“The Building Safety Act 2022 will enshrine in law the Building Safety Regulator, to provide oversight of the new system with powers of enforcement and sanctions. A Construction Products Regulator will also have powers to remove dangerous products from the market. Additionally, a New Homes Ombudsman scheme will provide independent redress for new build buyers who have issues with their new home or developers.

“The Act will also look to implement a raft of new measures to protect leaseholders from the costs of historic building safety defects. A new ‘waterfall’ system will be established to dictate who is responsible for the funding of cladding and non-cladding related remediation. Additionally, the Act will enshrine a new ‘golden thread’ of information for the storage and dissemination of all safety related matters in the design and construction of high-risk residential buildings.”

The RICS responded thus: “While the Act may not deliver what everyone had hoped for, it marks another positive step forward in resolving the building safety crisis, providing greater protections for leaseholders and delivering a new building safety regime.”

The RIBA explained what the new regime will mean for consumers/ leaseholders.

“Last month, the government announced a deal with housing developers in which they committed a minimum of £2bn for remedial works. Over 35 of the UK’s biggest homebuilders have so far pledged to remediate all buildings 11 metres or taller that they have played a role in developing in the last 30 years.

“Housebuilders will also pay up to £3bn to an extended Building Safety Levy that will be chargeable on all new residential buildings in England. The money will ensure that leaseholders are spared remedial costs even when developers cannot be traced. The government has said it will block housebuilders from gaining planning permission or building control approval if they refuse to pay into the levy fund.” All commentators were agreed that the Act marks the beginning and not the culmination of the process of overhauling the system. Most of the proposals will be the subject of secondary legislation. Rona Westgate of Taylor Wessing offered a lawyer’s perspective, saying: “Although the Building Safety Act has achieved Royal Assent there is still more work to do before the Building Safety Act is fully implemented. The government's transition plan published in July 2021 set out an outline for the provisions to come into effect in stages with a number of provisions coming into effect in the first 12 months, but the majority of the provisions coming into effect 12-18 months after Royal Assent. Some provisions, however, including the extended limitation provisions, come into effect two months after Royal Assent.” The RICS again expressed the industry’s expectation: “The industry will need a clear brief from government on the timeline moving forward, when the legislation will be ready, and any consultations that will be brought in to allow industry to support at pace. It is critical for RICS and other organisations representing the professions impacted by the Act, to have the opportunity to offer their continued support in finding and shaping the solutions alongside government.”

Eddie Tuttle, director of policy, external affairs and research at CIOB summed up the general reaction to the Act: “We are pleased the Building Safety Bill has received Royal Assent to ensure building safety is a priority and to provide much needed accountability in the system. This provides long overdue certainty for the industry, though the next 12 to 18 months will be crucial in preparing built environment professionals for the new roles and competencies that will be required.” q