Event Recap: The impact of the Building Safety Act
爱豆传媒 invited collaborators and clients from across the UK to share their collective thoughts on the impact of the Building Safety Act, in a series of roundtable discussions.
For designers, the Building Safety Act (BSA) makes ground-breaking reforms to how we gain approvals for buildings (particularly those considered to be 鈥渉igh risk鈥�), how we control change during design and construction, and how we maintain records of key decisions, materials and strategies which are critical in terms of safety.
The BSA introduced new primary and secondary legislation, and a new regulator called the Building Safety Regulator. This regulator now oversees all Building Control, and for 鈥渉igher risk buildings (HRBs)鈥� they will replace Building Control and identify a team of experts to review the project. It introduced new definitions and a 鈥済ateway鈥� approval system for HRBs.
All three gateways have now been implemented:
Gateway 1: Land use planning matters related to fire safety
Gateway 2: Building control approval for higher-risk buildings
Gateway 3: Completion certificates
These roundtables look at progress since the Building Safety Act (BSA) came into force in April 2022, gateways and responsibilities, The Golden Thread, the impact on procurement processes, scenarios and responsibilities, and in-occupation considerations. The presentations were followed by an open discussion on experiences on live projects since the end of the transition period.
OUR EXPERTS
Peter Goff, Associate Director
Jamie Lee McQuillan, Associate Director
Ian Maddocks, Global Discipline Director
Sarah Slade, UK Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager
Emma Spode, Global Quality Manager
Shaun Farrell, Information Manager Lead
Rory O’Malley, Associate Director
Tim Willams, Associate Design Manager
Simon Penny, Director
Lee Hargreaves, Associate Director
Daniel Bailey, Associate
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. Gateway 2 reviews are taking longer than expected
The Gateway 2 reviews prior to construction appear to be taking longer than the suggested minimum timeframe of 12 weeks. This will need to be factored into project programmes and highlight the importance of us as designers ensuring the information we submit at Gateway 2 is clear and includes robust justification of compliance with regulations.
2. Final contractor design for specialist elements need to be brought in earlier
A key challenge the industry is grappling with is the need to bring on board final contractor design for specialist elements earlier than was previously typical, with many clients still assuming design can occur once construction has started. To provide a complete Gateway 2 submission demonstrating compliance, and to minimise the risk of change during construction earlier procurement is needed.
3. There are core requirements that apply to all building work, not just higher risk buidlings
Many parts of the industry assume the requirements of the BSA apply only to higher risk buildings, missing the core requirements that apply to all building work. Many buildings we design may not be higher risk as defined by the act but are still high risk constructions. The more we can make the new process a business-as-usual approach across all buildings, the more successfully we will be able to meet the requirements of the Act across the industry.
