How will the new Building Safety Act affect heritage buildings?

John Miles, Business Development Director at Assent Group, looks at when and how heritage buildings will fall into the scope of the new legislation.

[LAST YEAR the new Building Safety Act came into force; and with it a renewed focus on competency across the whole sector. While the world of heritage buildings may not feel that it has been directly affected by that, there are certainly many examples of conversions of heritage buildings that will now come under much closer regulatory scrutiny with the new Act in place.

There are actually many heritage sites that fall into the scope of the Building Safety Act: you only have to think about the recent conversion of Battersea Power Station to see the challenges presented by such projects. This Grade Two*-listed building was converted into a multi-use space, complete with apartments, shops, restaurants, a cinema, a chimney top viewing experience and a hotel. Separately, each of these types of usage would need different consideration when it comes to regulations, so as a total conversion plan the complexities of the regulatory requirements would have been significant.

It is not the only building that falls outside of the traditional view of a heritage site. Trellick Tower – a Grade Two*-listed building in the cosmopolitan area of Notting Hill in London – was designed by Erno Goldfinger and is an excellent example of Brutalist of architecture which fell out of favour in the 1980s and 90s. That particular site was recently used as justification to fight off the redevelopment of the area around it, with residents claiming that any new high-rise structures in the immediate vicinity would ruin the architectural significance of the towers. Trellick Tower is an exposed concrete structure giving visitors an unhindered view of the flexibility of concrete as a building material.

So, heritage does not necessarily mean stone-built structures with intricate wooden doors and beautiful stained-glass windows. The UK is home to some of the most architecturally significant structures of the past 100 years, with over 374,000 listed buildings in total. That includes power stations, concrete tower blocks and tall skyscrapers such as Senate House. Each of those structures will have a variety of different challenges to overcome if and when they come to be redeveloped.

The key to any conversion of a heritage site to new use is to have the expert knowledge on hand at the outset of the project, when the plans are first being drawn up, to act as a guide through the regulatory requirements, supporting the dutyholders in collecting the evidence required for sign-off along the way.

Regulations in the UK are becoming increasingly complex and the regulatory regime that sits alongside them can also be a minefield. Working with a building control surveyor who has a clear understanding of the requirements and of the regulatory framework that will apply to your project will help to prevent unnecessary delays further down the line when the building is almost ready for sign-off.

As the new Building Safety Act is now the guiding principle for all buildings over 18m in height it sets the standards for any new or existing structure to adhere to. This year new legislation will come into force that will determine how those buildings will need to meet the legislation, what level of competence will be needed to both work on them and to get them through all stages of approval and, ultimately, who will be able guide and support the sign-off of the completed work so it is ready for use.

As the process is still in its evolutionary stages it is more important than ever to seek the advice of skilled surveyors at the outset of any project, to provide a project with the fastest route to final approval. q