The Hub is home to everything you and your organisation needs to be informed about building safety. Regularly updated, the Hub can provide you with reassurance and confidence when dealing with building safety.
BESA calls for swift resolution to planning turmoil
We have welcomed the government’s decision to head off a potential collapse of the country’s planning system but warned that the current uncertainty is still undermining progress towards making buildings safer.
Amid concerns of a building control crisis due to the lack of registered and assessed Building Inspectors before the April 6 deadline, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has extended the deadline for experienced Building Inspectors in England to complete their competence assessment. Building Inspectors must begin their competency assessment by an approved scheme and register as a Class 1 Registered Building Inspector (RBI) by 6 April. They then have until 6 July to complete their assessment and upgrade their registration to Class 2, 3, or 4. Until this date, they can continue undertaking building control work for the class of RBI they are being assessed for.
The Welsh Government has confirmed that Building Inspectors in Wales must register by 6 April and will now have until 30 September to complete their registration.
Building Safety Competence
Under the Building Safety Act, those appointing individuals or organisations for design and construction work must ensure their competence.
The BSR has released guidance to help clients, contractors, and designers in meeting these requirements, detailing their responsibilities, necessary documentation, and methods for demonstrating competence.
Mandatory Occurrence Reporting
Under the new Building Safety law, incidents or risks must be reported to BSR, known as mandatory occurrence notices and reports (MOR). Principal designers, principal contractors, and accountable persons are required to submit MORs during construction or work on higher-risk buildings, including existing ones undergoing changes that affect their risk level.
This includes high-rise residential buildings for which accountable persons must report on the parts they oversee. The service for submitting a MOR is now live.
Latest News & Updates
Second staircases guidance: Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, announced the government's housing plan, including an update on BSR's forthcoming guidance on second staircases. The guidance, to be released by the end of March, emphasises the necessity of second staircases in new multi-occupancy residential buildings with a top occupied storey above 18 meters.
The end of the transitional arrangements on 6 April means Higher‐Risk Building (HRB) projects that have not met the requirements will transfer to the BSR and the new regulations for HRBs will apply.
The fourth report from the Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG), chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt, is now available. This report holds particular significance as the group was established to monitor the progress towards fostering a cultural shift following the implementation of the Building Safety Act. Some key points to note include persistence of developers constructing high-rises that do not comply with regulations, insufficient pace in addressing competency and room for improving building safety leadership.
The £25, 90-minute online course is structured around four key areas, including an introduction to the Building Safety Act 2022, Building Safety Act legislation, roles and scope, and the ‘golden thread’.
This course provides a background to the Act, explains the legal framework and how the Act works with the secondary legislation. It explains what buildings are within scope of the Act and introduces the new dutyholder roles, including the role of the accountable person (AP)/principal accountable person (PAP), the client, the principal contractor (PC) and the principal designer (PD).
All information correct as of 19 March 2024.
BESA, Old Mansion House, Eamont Bridge, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2BX, United Kingdom, 01768 860 465
