The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is a new, independent body established within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to oversee the safety and performance of all buildings, with a particular focus on higher-risk buildings. Its primary goal is to drive culture change and improve building safety standards across England.

The BSR officially became the building control authority for higher-risk buildings on 1st October 2023. This means that for new higher-risk buildings and major refurbishment projects, the BSR now handles building control applications and oversight, replacing previous local authority or privately approved inspectors.

The BSR has three main functions:

• Overseeing the safety and standards of all buildings: This includes providing leadership, guidance, and setting the strategic direction for building safety across the industry.
  
  
• Directly regulating higher-risk buildings: This involves acting as the building control authority for higher-risk buildings, scrutinising designs, conducting inspections, and issuing approvals at key stages of construction and occupation.
  
  
• Improving the competence of industry professionals: The BSR is responsible for establishing and overseeing a new system to ensure that those involved in building design, construction, and management are competent and uphold high safety standards.

Making an application to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) for work on an existing higher-risk building is a critical step under The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023. The Principal Accountable Person must ensure the application is complete and compliant with specific criteria before work can commence.

What specific information must be included in the application?

The application, which must be made in writing, must comply with the criteria listed in Regulation 12 and include:

• Details of key parties: Client, principal contractor (or sole contractor), and principal designer (or sole designer).
• Statement of application basis: A clear statement that the application is made under The Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures (England) Regulations 2023.
• Description of the existing building:
  • Current use and use of each storey.
  • Height and number of storeys.
  • Number of flats, residential rooms, and commercial units.
• Description of the proposed work:
  • Details of the intended use of each storey if changing.
  • Height and number of storeys after the proposed work, if changing.
  • Number of flats or residential rooms after the proposed work, if changing.
  • Provision for building/extension drainage.
  • Steps to comply with any applicable local enactments.
  • A statement setting out the proposed work commencement date and, for most cases, details of the work amounting to 15% of the proposed work.
• Accompanying plan: 
  • Size and position of the building and its relationship to adjoining boundaries.
  • Boundaries of the curtilage of the building and the size, position, and use of every other building within the curtilage.
  • Width and position of any street on or within the boundaries of the curtilage.

Gateway 2 is the second of three “gateways” in the Building Safety Act, occurring before any building work starts on a higher-risk building. It applies to:

• The construction of a new HRB.
• Work to an existing building that causes it to become an HRB, or work to an existing HRB.
• A material change of use (e.g., office to residential conversion) that results in a building becoming an HRB.

Its purpose is to ensure that the proposed works fully comply with building regulations and that all dutyholders (client, principal designer, principal contractor) are competent and prepared for their responsibilities.

What are the core requirements for a Gateway 2 application?

A Gateway 2 application must be comprehensive and demonstrate how the proposed design complies with all applicable functional requirements of the Building Regulations. Key components generally include:

• Full plans, specifications, and schedules: Detailed architectural and structural plans, along with specifications and schedules describing all works. The design is generally expected to be at RIBA Stage 4.
• Competence declaration: A declaration from the developer (client) confirming that all key personnel involved (principal designer, principal contractor, and other significant contributors) possess the necessary qualifications and experience.
• Construction Control Plan: This vital document outlines how the client will plan, manage, and monitor the project to ensure compliance, including arrangements for maintaining the “golden thread” of information, assessing/maintaining dutyholder competence, and strategies for collaboration and information sharing.
• Change Control Plan: Procedures for managing any changes to the project once approval has been granted, ensuring all modifications are handled systematically and safely.
• Building Regulations Compliance Statement: A comprehensive statement demonstrating how every aspect of the project will meet Building Regulations requirements, detailing methods and materials.
• Fire and Emergency File: Outlining strategies for managing fire safety risks, including plans for prevention, detection, suppression, and evacuation.
• Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Plan Statement: Details on how any significant issues discovered during design and construction will be reported to the BSR.
• Partial Completion Strategy (if applicable): If parts of the building are intended to be occupied before the entire project is finished.
• Developer Statement: If the application is made on the client’s behalf, a signed confirmation of accuracy.

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, the responsibility for making applications primarily falls to the Accountable Person (AP) or Principal Accountable Person (PAP).

1. Who is an “Accountable Person” (AP)?

An Accountable Person is an individual or entity responsible for the safety of a residential higher-risk building. This can include:

• Freeholders or landlords: If they own the common parts of the building.
• Management companies: If they have repairing obligations for the common parts.
• Residents’ management companies or right-to-manage companies: If they take on the safety duties.

There can be multiple Accountable Persons for a single higher-risk building, each responsible for specific parts of the building.

2. Who is a “Principal Accountable Person” (PAP)?

Where there is more than one Accountable Person for a higher-risk building, one of them will be designated as the Principal Accountable Person (PAP). The PAP is the main point of contact for the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and has overall responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Building Safety Act for the entire building. If there is only one Accountable Person for a building, they are automatically the PAP.

3. What types of applications are APs and PAPs responsible for?

APs and PAPs are responsible for various applications related to building safety, including:

• Registration of higher-risk buildings: Ensuring their building is registered with the Building Safety Regulator.
• Applying for a Building Assessment Certificate: Demonstrating that the building is safe to occupy.
• Submitting safety case reports: Providing evidence of how building safety risks are being managed.
• Notifying the BSR of significant events: Such as changes in the building’s structure or management.

BSR oversees and approves building work for higher-risk buildings. These are buildings that have at least:

• 7 storeys or are at least 18 metres high
• 2 residential units or are a hospital or a care home

A higher-risk building with at least 2 residential units must be registered with BSR before people live there.

The client must make sure:

• building control approval is granted before any building work starts
• the information provided in the building control approval application is correct

Non-higher-risk buildings

Do not apply to BSR for building control approval for non-higher-risk buildings.

For non-higher-risk buildings:

• there is a separate process to apply for building regulations approval
• building control is managed by either local authorities or businesses registered as building control approvers

The Building Safety Act introduces the requirement of a “Golden Thread” of information for all High-Risk Buildings to provide an accurate and up-to-date record of their design, construction and occupation in an accessible electronic format. 

The Golden Thread is legally required for all HRBs, Global will store the information digitally and securely. The information/documentation will be accessible by the client during the application and after. 

The BSR has 12 weeks to assess an application to build a new HRB, and eight weeks to assess an application to carry out building work on an existing HRB. However, we have found that the waiting time is currently 25 weeks, therefore early engagement is crucial so you can make changes to the building. 

Categories of building work: existing higher-risk buildings

Building work to an existing higher-risk building is classed as either category A or category B work.

Category A work involves at least one of the following:

• changing the external height or width of the building
• changing the number of storeys
• changing the internal layout
• changing the number of residential units
• work that involves passive fire safety measures, such as fire-resistant materials
• work that involves active fire safety measures, such as sprinklers or alarms
• work that affects the number or width of staircases or other escape routes
• work on the building’s common areas, including any work on the external wall which is applicable

Work is classed as category B work if it does not meet any of the criteria for category A work.

The Defective Premises Act (DPA) applies to High-Risk-Buildings. The Building Safety Act has amended the liability period and scope of the Defective Premises Act as follows: 

Dwelling constructed before 28 June 2022, claims for compensation can be made within 30 years of the work being completed, rather than 6.

For dwellings constructed after 28 June 2022, claims for compensation can be made within 15 years of the work completed and for all work on an existing dwelling, including refurbishment. 

The primary duties under the DPA are owed by:

• Any person taking on work for or in connection with the provision of a dwelling; or
• A person who, in the course of a business, takes on work in relation to any part of a building containing one or more dwellings.

This includes anyone who arranges for another to take on such work in the course of a business for that purpose.

Therefore, contractors, architects and developers of residential properties owe duties under the DPA.