Building/Fire Safety

Reforms
Building Safety Act
​Guest Lecture
​Ulster University Belfast,
04/December/2023
1 Call to the business – January 2022
Agenda

• Introduction​
• Building Safety Timeline
• Building Safety Act
• Q&A​

2 Call to the business – January 2022

 Europe’s leading architecture
and engineering consultancy SEK
SEK

24 bn 2.2 bn
#1 Net sales 2022
EBITA 2022

On the European market¹

¹ Based on reported Net sales 2021, annual reports.

20,000 15 100,000+
Full-time employees, Markets in Europe Projects in more than
with as many different 70 markets worldwide
perspectives

3 Call to the business – January 2022

Introduction

4 Call to the business – January 2022

About Speaker

Walid Nadjai
Principal Fire Engineer

• Principal fire engineer –Sweco (2021 – present)

• MSc in Fire Safety Engineering – Ulster University (2016)
• BSc in Civil Engineering and Geoinformatics – Ulster University
(2015)

5 Call to the business – January 2022

Introduction
Building Safety Act Background
• An objective of the BSA is to limit the consequences should a fire safety or structural failure incident occur. This will be achieved by
ensuring that those responsible for the safety of higher-risk buildings are consistently and effectively assessing and managing risk to
ensure the safety of residents and members of the public in or around higher-risk buildings;

• October marks the start of the full higher-risk building regime with new
requirements under the Building Safety Act 2022 (the BSA) coming into force
on the 1 October 2023. The previous changes, which are now well underway,
saw the introduction of new roles and responsibilities relating to high-rise
residential properties;

• Higher-risk buildings in England are identified as buildings that:

- have at least two residential units; and
- are either a height of at least 18m in height or seven storeys.

6 Call to the business – January 2022

Building Safety Timeline

7 Call to the business – January 2022

Building Safety Timeline

July 2017:
Government announces July 2020:
Independent Review of March 2020: Draft Building Safety Bill
Building Regulations by Dame 28 April 2023: 1 October 2023:
June 2019: Fire Safety Bill introduced published incorporating 1 August 2021:
14 June 2017: Judith Hackitt consultation proposals Building Safety Act becomes Building Safety Act 2022 (the
Grenfell Tower fire Government consultation – April 2021: Gateway One comes into effect law BSA) becomes into force
December 2017: Building a Safer Future Ongoing:
Fire Safety Act 2021 becomes
Interim report published law Bill discussed in Houses Royal
May 2018: Assent estimated ~ July 2022
Final report published
1 August 2021:
Gateway One comes into effect

8
2024-03-13
Building Safety Timeline
Timeline of events
• 1st August 2021: Planning Gateway One comes into effect with the purpose of providing advice to
Local Planning Authorities about fire safety matters relevant to planning in developments that
include a relevant building or are within the curtilage of a relevant building.
• 28th April 2022: Building Safety Act becomes law with changes to Approved Document B (Fire
Safety) coming into force.
• 23rd January 2023: Fire Safety (England) Regulations come into force intended to assist ‘persons’
with duties under fire safety legislation in England to comply with the legislation.
• 1st October 2023: all new higher-risk buildings must be registered with the Building Safety
Regulator. Until the new building has been registered, units must not be occupied. The application
to register a higher-risk building should be submitted once a completion certificate has been
issued. Dutyholders responsibilities also come into force whereby, everyone who has a stake in a
project (the client, the designers and the contractors) have duties to have arrangements and
systems in place to plan, manage and monitor both the design work and the building work to
ensure compliance with building regulations.
The Building Safety Act

10 Call to the business – January 2022

The Building Safety Act
RRO information
• Introduced in October 2006
• Covers most fire safety legislation with the aim of resolving the overlap caused by a number
of previous legislation.
• Applies once building is occupied
• Enforced by local Fire and Rescue Authority
• Applies to all workplaces and other non-domestic areas and premises and covers nearly every
type of building, structure and open space and are the Landlords responsibility.
• Main requirement are for ‘responsible person’ to:
– Create a plan to deal with emergency and keep a record of it
– Carry out a Fire Risk Assessment of their building and review it regularly
 Identify potential dangers, risks & people at risk
 Remove or reduce risk from fire
 Provide general fire precautions to address residual risk
• Responsible person is anyone who has control of premises or anyone who has a degree of
control over certain areas or systems (e.g. employer, managing agent, occupier etc.)
The Building Safety Act
Cause and effect
• Passed in April 2021
• Amends the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO)
• Clarification that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
applies to:
– structure and external walls (including cladding, balconies and
windows), and
– individual flat entrance doors in multi-occupied residential buildings

• Complement the existing powers local authorities have to take

enforcement action
• Delegated power to Secretary of State to bring any new types of
premises into the scope of the FSO in the future
• Although the 2021 Act is mercifully succinct, those that it applies to will
need to be aware that different sections will come into force at different
times and that it may therefore be sensible for building owners to review
and update their fire risk assessments to incorporate the required changes
simultaneously.
Fire Safety Act 2021
Building Safety Bill – Higher-risk buildings
• Buildings that are ≥ 18 meters in height or ≥ 7 storeys and have at least
two residential units.
• The Impact Assessment estimates that this will cover approximately
13,000 existing buildings and will grow by 500 buildings a year
thereafter.
• Applies to care homes and hospitals during design and construction (not
during occupation)
• The FBU (Fire Brigades Union) would like to see legislation that enables
all residential buildings above 11m in height to be considered as HRRBs.
The latest Home Office figures suggest that fire and rescue services know
of approximately 100,000 purpose built flats 4 storeys or higher across
England.
• Building Safety Regulator oversight of building work as the building
control body for higher-risk buildings
The Building Safety Act
Building Safety Bill – Building Safety Regulator (BSR)
• New regulator body operating under the umbrella of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
• Functions will be:
• To oversee the safety and performance system of all buildings
• Assist and encourage improvement of competence in industry and building inspectors
• Leading implementation of new, more stringent regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings
• BSR to establish three specific committees:
• Residents’ Panel – residents voice on decisions and concerns
• Industry Competence committee – system for competence oversight
• Building Advisory committee – review, develop and validate guidance
• Strong enforcing powers for higher-risk buildings. The FBU has stated that private firms cannot be given
licence to sign off fire safety matters on higher risk buildings.
• It is suggested that MPs should ensure that fire safety inspections and work with the Building Safety
Regulator on fire safety matters is carried out exclusively by professional firefighters.
• It is currently suggested that the Building Safety Regulator would be permitted to seek private sector
involvement if the fire authority cannot assist.
• Stop/Go authority at Gateway points
The Building Safety Act
Gateway points
• Gateway points apply to all higher-risk buildings.

• To ensure rigorous, safety-focused oversight throughout a building’s

lifecycle, the Bill introduces three ‘gateways’, being mandatory hard-stops
during the planning, design and construction stages for both (a) the design
and construction of new higher-risk buildings (HRBs), and (b) the major
refurbishment of existing HRBs (i.e. where planning consent is required).

• 3 gateway points are proposed:

• Gateway 1 (c. at RIBA Stage 1 and 2);
• Gateway 2 (c. at the end of RIBA Stage 4); and
• Gateway 3 (c. at RIBA Stage 5)
The Building Safety Act
Gateway 1 (c. at RIBA Stage 1 and 2);
• Introduced as part of secondary planning application rather than the Building
Safety Bill.

• Already in effect since 1ST August 2021.

• Requirement to submit fire statement with relevant planning permission

application for higher-risk buildings to ensure fire safety issues relevant to
planning such as site layout, water supplies for firefighting purposes and
access for fire appliances are considered early.

• Health and Safety Executive has become a statutory consultee to provide

local planning authorities with fire safety input on proposals.
The Building Safety Act
Gateway 2 (c. at end of RIBA Stage 4);
• Deposit of plans to Building Safety Regulator to demonstrate how the
proposals comply with building regulations requirements, including how
the new dutyholder, competence, golden thread and mandatory occurrence
reporting requirements will be met.

• All plans and documents must be realistic for the building in use and not
rely on unreasonable assumptions about the occupied building once built.

• Stop/go point - building control approval must be obtained from the

Building Safety Regulator before relevant building work starts.

• Building Safety Regulator will have a range of enforcement powers,

including potentially prosecuting the developer, if developer attempts to
start work without Gateway Two approval.
The Building Safety Act
Gateway 3 (c. at end of RIBA Stage 5);
Dutyholder duties must be met, mandatory occurrences reported, statutory
change management requirements & robust record-keeping. Golden thread of
information developed.

• At current completion/final certificate stage.

• Stop/go point – application with prescribed documents and as-built

information submitted to the Building Safety Regulator, who must assess
whether the building work complies with building regulations, undertake
inspections, and issue a completion certificate on approval.

• As-built information handed over to building owner as part of golden

thread of information.

• Accountable Person to register building for occupation.

The Building Safety Act
Dutyholders
• In her final report, Dame Judith Hackitt recommended that a clear and
identifiable ‘dutyholder’ with overall responsibility for building safety
during occupation and maintenance was needed and that they should be
responsible for maintaining the fire and structural safety of the whole
building.

• Her report was clear that buildings must be thought of as an integrated

system and managed in a way consistent with a whole building approach.

• Creation and expansion of the roles of various dutyholders to ensure

accountability and statutory responsibility across the design and
construction of high-risk buildings.
The Building Safety Act
Dutyholders
Most notably the 'Accountable Person' will be legally responsible for building safety on occupation (individual, a partnership or corporate
body). They will have to;

• Assess and manage the building safety risks;

• Summarise in a Safety Case Report to be submitted to the BSR as part of
application for Building Assessment Certificate;
• Storing information in the golden thread;
• Establish residents’ engagement strategy and complaints procedure
• Appoint a Building Safety Manager who is responsible and has the relevant
competence to manage building safety risks on a day-to-day basis; and
• Apply to register the building (including existing) as a higher-risk building.

Accountable Persons are landlords, freeholders who are in charge of repairing the of the building. They could be an individual, a partnership
or corporate body. Common parts include the structure, exterior and any other part of the building provided for the common use of the
residents.
The Building Safety Act
Supplementary provisions
• Golden thread of information – live digital document with accurate and up-to-date
information of the building data around fire safety matters, developed throughout
design and construction and handed over to the building owner on completion, and
developed further over the building lifetime by dutyholders and Accountable Person.

• Industry levy – targeted levy to any developers seeking Building Control approval
for higher-risk buildings.

• Mandatory occurrence reporting - Mandatory reporting to the new Building Safety

Regulator of prescribed fire and structural safety occurrences.

• Damage or defects compensation – right to seek compensation for defective

construction work or to anyone suffering damage as a result of a breach of the
Building Regulations, will be extended to 15 years and will apply to refurbishment
works. For new dwellings, this limitation period extension will apply
retrospectively.
The Building Safety Act
Supplementary provisions
• Construction products regime – requirement for safe construction products, in line with
existing approach for consumer products, enforced by new national regulator within the
Office for Product Safety Standards (OPSS). ‘Safety critical’ products to have
increased requirements with regards to accurate performance declaration, production
controls and withdrawal/recall procedures.

• New Homes Ombudsman - resolve disputes concerning new build houses and provide an
effective means of redress should problems arise with them.

• Architects Act 1997 - Architects Registration Board to measure and assess competence
of architects and increase transparency to members of the public procuring architectural
services.

• Removal of Democratic Filter - includes provisions that enable social housing

complainants to escalate a complaint directly to the Housing Ombudsman service, once
they have completed their landlord’s complaints process, rather than via a `designated
person’ that is, an MP, Councillor or recognised tenant panel or wait 8 weeks after the end
of their landlords’ complaints process.
 23
2024-03-13
• Transforming
society
• together

Thank you - Q&A

24 Call to the business – January 2022