Building Regulations 2024
Since the 1st October 2023, various regulatory amendments have come into force for the Building Regulations regime. The next amendment, now due to take place on the 6th July 2024 is the transition to both Building Control Approvers and Registered Building Inspectors and the beginning of the expiry of transitional periods.. The aim of these changes is to improve overall Building Safety standards across all sectors and not just for Higher Risk Buildings (ie buildings of over 7 Storeys or over 18m in height and contained at least 2 residential units).
While the Higher Risk Building requirements have been well documented, what clients, consultants and contractors may have missed is that some aspects of the legislation actually now apply to all construction related projects. As a result Clients (including domestic project clients), Consultants and Contractors now have specific duties that they must comply with. These are orientated towards both Individuals working on building projects and organisations. Penalties for non compliance with the regulations can be severe including unlimited fines, prison sentences and restrictions in relation to potential future work.
While the Government has noted that ‘active’ checks in relation to duty holders and competence wont neccesarily be undertaken by the Building Safety Regulator or Local Authorities, compliance is important particularly given the need for building work to be signed off by Dutyholders as being compliant. Therefore its important clients, designers, contractors and individuals are aware of the duties that they now hold and what is required of them.
Given the significant penalties that exist communication around these duties hasn’t been particularly helpful, particularly as a the time of writing the Manual to the Building Regulations hasn’t yet been updated by the Government. Media articles have tended to focus on Higher Risk Buildings and the Government guidance around requirements and duties is spread over multiple webpages hosted by different departments including the HSE and DLUHC. Some of which appear to contain slight inconsistencies and omissions.
In view of this and as part of our own learning we have produced two high level summary guides which are drawn from the various government websites that exist. The first relates the Dutyholder regime and the second relates to the process for Non Higher Risk buildings. These can be downloaded at the bottom of this article.
Here are a few key elements to be aware of:
Individuals
It is important to remember that duties and competence requirements apply to both individuals and organisations. We therefore think it is important that:
Individuals across clients, consultants and contractors of all sizes maintain both short staff CV’s and details of competency which may included details of projects worked on, specific roles held and any training. This will be important in demonstrating that those engaged on projects are competent to undertake the roles and duties being required of them.
That continued vocational training and personal development should be undertaken. Training does not have to be expensive and can be obtained from a wide variety of sources including the Supply Chain Sustainability School, Professional bodies, warranty providers, product manufacturers and specialist training providers. On the job training and orientation may also be necessary so it may require sample and test panels/installs to be delivered on projects prior to specific works being undertaken. Some training may be eligible for CITB grant and other funding.
Individuals speak up and Employers listen when individuals are asked to undertake an activity they do not feel competent to undertake. Given the now severe penalties in place for failure to comply with duties this could make all of the difference between somebody being able to go home to their family, receiving a large fine or spending a significant amount of time in Prison.
Multi occupancy residential of all heights
We would recommend that anybody involved in delivering multiple occupancy residential building work should also establish a Mandatory Occurrence Reporting system and that records are kept of registered building inspector visits, comments and observations, compliance and stop notices, safety incidents and the resulting close out reports. These should be digitally stored upon completion of the project. At present only buildings that fall into the High Risk Building (HRB) category have to formally notify the Building Safety Regulator of issues, however there is a risk that building height thresholds could be reduced in the near future and retaining such information, regardless of building height, will ensure that there is a detailed record available if it should be needed.
It would also be useful to have a construction control plan in place that details how any changes to products or design information is to be dealt with in order to give visibility of changes hat are made and the associated consideration process. This would reduce the potential risk of non compliances or issues arising at a later date.
Registered Building Inspectors
This is now due to come into force on the 7th July 2024, but given the use of a competency classification system that is linked to type, height and complexity of building it is important that:
Clients, Principal Designers and Principal Contractors confirm in writing to their Local Authority and/or Registered Building Control Approver which classes of buildings their project falls into. The details of the class of building should also be confirmed to the on site project team so they can ensure the correct category of inspector attends to inspect and review works.
That the competency classification of the Registered Building Control Inspector be documented for each site visit they may make including reference to the elements inspected eg plot numbers, works coordinates or similar.
Clients and Principal Contractors recognise that there may be slight delays in obtaining site inspections for works due to the demand and availability of the relevant class of Registered Building Inspector.
Timings
It is important that both Clients and contractors, Including Principal Contractors understand target approval times, the new notices that are required and the minimum timeframes for service of those notices.
Delays to the issuing of notices or a failure to issue them in a timely fashion could create delays in the sale, completion and legal occupation of units. This could stress available financial resources and give rise to potential contractual issues
Notices and appointments
A variety of notices and information issues are now required. The principal one to highlight is that Clients are now responsible for submitting a notice of compliance with building regulations within 5 days of the date of completion of a building project. This has to include statements from both the principal contractor and principal designer (building regs) including the date of their appointment to confirm compliance with the Building Regulations requirements.
While the principal contractor and principal designer can be internal to the client organisation where they are external it means that the principal designer needs to be in place for the lifetime of the project. If an external body is in place for the lifetime of a project consideration needs to be given to how they can discharge their duties which may include being involved in design information sign offs, change control processes and possibly regular site inspections. This is likely to lead to increased professional fees.
At present it is not clear as to how multiple unit residential, non higher risk buildings are to be covered in relation to each notice and statement that the regulations require and we have asked for clarification. This could potentially delay the handover of individual plots and cause issues for larger sites where building. The NHBC has indicated that notices will be required for each individual plot and that approval for any plots not meeting the commencement requirements within three years of application will lapse.
If for any reason the Client, PD or PC should change once appointed written notifications are needed and these have to be made within 14 days. In addition should organisational or individual competency change during the lifetime of the project then duty holders should notify the relevant body who undertook the appointment. For a subcontractor this may mean notifying the principal contractor. Significant changes in organisational or individuals competency may therefore create contractural issues
Masterplanning and land acquisition
Where sites that are subject to masterplans and design codes/guides or sites that benefit from a planning consent are acquired enquiries should be made to ensure that:
Any building regulation compliance information is provided by the vendor along with all required duty holder compliance statements. This will be important in the chain of custody and should prevent any delays to issuing dutyholder compliance declarations and the issuing of the resulting final/completion certificate.
Any client,PD or PC notices are given where building control applications may have previously been made and identities may be changing.
For new masterplans and to optimise achievable land values we believe that basic building regulations compliance should be addressed by way of a high level statement that covers key building control related site planning issues including:
Part A - Structure - influence of features on foundations - such as trees, Suds locations and similar.
Part B - Fire brigade access and hose lengths and potential materials/block proximity issues.
Part H - Refuse travel distances
Part M - Site levels and access
Part O - Overheating and provisions that may be required for particular unit types
Part S - Infrastructure for the charging of electrical vehicles
Note there is a risk that some urban designers who do not have experience of the building regulations my not be competent or able to provide such advice so this should be considered at the outset.
Design Programmes
Given the regulations place various requirements to ‘allocate enough time and resource’ and to ‘plan, manage and monitor’ Design, Procurement and project programmes should be clear on when information in relation to any contractor designed portions should be produced, supplied, reviewed and approved.
It should be noted that immediately progressing into detailed design following submission of a planning application will need to be very carefully managed to ensure that any required changes are appropriately captured and documented. Information submitted and then approved in relation to any planning conditions or planning amendments that could give rise to design changes also needs to be appropriately captured, considered and documented and delays may be caused to delivery programmes as a result of such changes as Amendment Notices and or new Building Control Approval applications may be required.
Beware substitutions and changes
One of the biggest risks that exist is around the procurement process and that in undertaking procurement activities individual commercial managers, surveyors and buyers along with clients could inadvertently become ‘Designer’ dutyholders. For example where a drawing might show ‘or similar as approved’ great care will be needed to ensure that anything purchased is truly similar to that which is originally specified, that it complies with the Building Regulations requirements and doesn’t cause other design issues. Where products are substituted for others which may be named the same principles apply. Similarly where a client may specify a product because it likes the look/feel etc this could also give rise to compliance issues.
Any substitutions and changes will also have to be reviewed and approved by the Principal Designer to ensure design compliance and if these occur on an ad hoc basis they may create delays to project programmes.
Offsite manufacturing
Clients, Principal Designers and Principal Contractors need to ensure that they consider and retain the ability to inspect works being undertaken offsite. This is to ensure that they are able to undertake the necessary reviews and inspections so that Building Regulations compliance statements can be issued upon the completion of a project.
AI
As we have previously written in a journal post that can be found here AI is not currently a tool that is able to take responsibility for design work and as such is unlikely to be ‘competent’ without significant human interventions. Clients and designers should be clear on which elements of the design AI is being used in and the associated human checking and verification approach.
Serious Sanctions
It is particularly important that Clients, Principal Designers and Principal Contractors are aware of the serious sanction definitions as this applies to both organisations and individuals involved in Higher Risk Buildings and can be issued by the Building Safety Regulator. Serious sanctions include issue of contravention notices by a Registered Building Inspector in relation to Part A structure or Part B fire, the issue of a stop notice, conviction for offences under the Building Safety act, Health and Safety at work act and the Fire Regulatory Reform act. Equally serious sanction provision is in place in relation to actions/inactions where there has been more than one death as established in any public enquiry report.
Insolvency
Great care needs to be given to the potential impact of the regulations should an insolvency situation occur with any of the dutyholders, particularly as confirmations of Building Regulation compliance and other relevant design and construction information will need to be provided to any subsequent dutyholder. Administrators are unlikely to have the ability to secure or provide this information once they have taken over the running of an organisation and it may not be readily available. Parties taking on part completed projects should review previous dutyholders statements of compliance, competency. Opening up works may be required in order to allow the new dutyholders to fulfil their obligations including the issuing by the client of the statement of compliance. This could get extremely complicated for all parties involved.
Customer defects resolution
It is important that the resolution of any customer reported defects follows the requirements of the regulations as this could create significant issues for Clients, Principal Contractors and Dutyholders particularly where changes to the compliant design, materials and workmanship may be made. Equally customer defect issues may identify non compliance with Building Regulations and this may give rise to questions being raised around competency and compliance statements that have been provided. As such this could trigger investigations by the relevant Building Control Body into the arrangements organisations have in place and around statements given by individuals
Major defect resolution works are likely to fall into the requirements of the act and both arrangements and notifications should be given as necessary.
Third party contracts
Finally the wording and definitions included within any third party contracts, including for funding purposes needs to take account of the requirements of the regulations. One implication of the regulations is likely to relate to projects where works completion is linked to fixed dates for the drawdown of grant or other funding. Other issues may relate to definitions of practical completion, sectional completion and occupation.
Opportunities
Within the regulations the need for a more focussed design approach presents several opportunities which we believe are as follows:
Offsite integration - Greater levels of design coordination provide opportunities for increased levels of offsite production and potentially higher levels of regulatory compliance and product quality. As a result reductions in on site labour could provide potential safety and cost benefits.
Development of compliant ‘off the shelf’ systems and assemblies forming constituent parts of defined construction ‘platforms’. This approach is advocated and supported by the Governments 2022 Construction Playbook.
Increased levels of professionalism across the wider sector including more resilient fee levels and margins giving rise to increased levels of building safety, quality and reputational recognition.
Downloads