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Key Changes as of 1 October 2023

 

 

Key Changes Coming as of 1 October 2023

 

As of 1 October 2023, any building work to which the Building Regulations apply in England and Wales is subject to the new Duty-Holding Regime. This change has imposed new requirements on clients, principal designers, principal contractors, contractors, and designers. The duty-holding requirements are similar, but parallel to existing requirements under the CDM Regulations 2015. The requirements focus on ensuring that building work complies with all relevant requirements of the building regulations rather than just health and safety on site.

 

The duty-holding regime affects most people working in the industry, and CABE
expects all members to be aware of what they need to do to comply..

 

Summary of the Changes


  • Clients must ensure they provide adequate time and resources to execute design or construction work so that it is compliant – they must provide evidence to prove that they have checked that the people they appoint are competent.

    A general duty requires all identified duty-holders to:
  • collaborate
  • share information
  • manage their own competence
  • manage the competence of the people they appoint; and
  • take steps to ensure the work they undertake is compliant.

 

  • Designers and contractors must step away from any work they believe to be non-compliant. Designers must raise concerns about the compliance of work of other designers with the principal designer; contractors must ensure they provide suitable supervision of operatives and employees.



  • Duty-holders must not undertake any work for which they are not competent.

  • In Higher-Risk Buildings, there is an additional duty-holder known as the Accountable Person (or Principal Accountable Person), responsible for the safety of the building in operation; there are also additional duties for principal designers, principal contractors, designers and contractors.
  • The requirements for competence will be enforceable in the same way as all other requirements of the Building Regulations.
  • The duty-holding regime is discussed in more detail in the CABE webinar Designer Competence.

 

Designer Competence Webinar

 

 

As of 1 October 2023, all existing Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs) (over 18m, containing two or more residential properties)
need to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

 

To obtain a building certificate, it is now a requirement to submit a building safety case describing how the building is to be operated safely. Failure to obtain a certificate may require a building to be demolished.

 

For new HRBs, or building work to HRBs, a new regime needs to be followed. CABE Members involved in HRB projects should make themselves aware of the below:


  • For building work on HRBs, there are a series of Hard Stop Gateways which build on Planning Gateway One.
  • Gateway 2, prior to commencement of work, requires the appointment of both a principal contractor and principal designer. Alongside this a full suite of documentation must be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator to demonstrate compliance. Work must not commence until the plans have been approved. There are also additional requirements on duty-holders to manage and evidence competence.
  • Once construction begins, new requirements for change control plans, change control logs and mandatory incidence reporting, aligned with the golden thread of information, have fundamentally changed the way that construction projects need to be managed. 

  • Gateway 3 requires building owners to submit a safety case, explaining how the building will be managed safely in operation. This is in addition to a full suite of project documentation that evidences how the building complies with the Building Regulations. Owners need to obtain certification for their HRB once building work is complete and this must be obtained prior to occupation. 

  • Once a building is occupied there are requirements for ongoing certification, resident engagement, and mandatory occurrence reporting. This is among the other duties on the Accountable Person to maintain a building’s safety with a focus on serious fire and structural safety related matters.

 

 

The new system of oversight for Building Control Bodies includes direct oversight by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) (from 1 April 2024) which replaced CICAIR.

 

Approved Inspectors are now Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs), complying with a set of professional conduct rules; both they, and local authorities, need to adhere to operational standard rules and provide data returns to the regulator.

 

As of 6 April 2024, Building Inspectors in England and Wales have to be registered with the BSR if they intend to undertake restricted activities and functions including plan assessments and inspections (or be working under the supervision of a registered building inspector).

 

There are currently three recognised schemes for registration purposes:

CBICAS
TTD
LABC

More information on Building Inspector Registration can be viewed at cbuilde.com/CBICAS

 

 

Existing powers have been strengthened and new powers introduced to help building control bodies, and the Building Safety Regulator, ensure compliance, and/or to prosecute those who are responsible for non-compliance.

 

The time limit for prosecuting for non-compliance under Section 35 of the Building Act 1984 has increased from two years to unlimited. i.e., a non-compliance identified at any stage in the life-cycle of a building, or building work, could trigger prosecution or enforcement notices. Section 36 of the Building Act 1984 enforcement time limits have also increased from one to ten years.

 

Section 38 of the Building Act 1984 has come into force, offering the right to claim for injury (personal injury or damage to a building) arising from non-compliance.




Competence

  • Ensure that you and your employees are members of appropriate professional bodies, or certification schemes, so you can attest to your competence to undertake work
  • Ensure that you undertake annual personal development planning to establish what continuing professional development (CPD) and training you need. Ensure you execute the plan and, most importantly, record your CPD and your learning outcomes
  • Consider whether you need additional independent certification, or assessment, to provide the regulator and clients with further assurance. This is particularly relevant if you are working on higher-risk buildings
  • Ensure that your business has policies to check the competence of your employees and supply chains. Make sure that people are competent to undertake the tasks allocated to them
  • Consider how your organisation can demonstrate organisational capability – including third party certification such as ISO 9001/99001 – to plan, manage and monitor compliance with duty-holding requirements; and
  • Make sure that your clients understand their duties before you start work.


Building Regulations Regime

  • Make sure that you understand the duty-holding regime and how it applies to you and all the building work you undertake in England and Wales – watch the CABE webinar Designer Competence as a starting point:

 Designer Competence Webinar

  • Review your record-keeping procedures to ensure you can evidence how you have complied with new requirements for all building work given the longer time scales for enforcement and liability under the Defective Premises Act (15 years going forward) as well as meeting the specific golden thread requirements for higher-risk buildings
  • Review changes to enforcement and sanctions. Do not forget to check with your insurers as to what they require you to do under the regime 
  • There is no longer any time limit on enforcement action for non-compliance with the building regulations – so focus hard on how you can ensure compliance with the functional requirements of the building regulations. Remember that statutory guidance may not always be adequate to ensure compliant outcomes; and
  • Apply the precautionary principle where possible – adopt additional levels of mitigation if you have doubts about outcomes and advise your clients accordingly.
     

Higher-Risk Buildings

  • Make sure you understand both the construction stage regime and the registration, certification and in occupancy regime
  • Your Building Control body must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator
  • The Building Safety Regulator has taken over building control responsibilities for all HRBs
  • Make sure you understand the Gateway stage requirements. Gateway 2 requires extensive documentary submissions prior to building work commencing and during the construction phase

 This includes:

  • design and build plans and setting out how the building will comply with building regulations
  • change control plans
  • change control logs
  • mandatory occurrence reporting arrangements; and
  • golden thread of information
  • Understand the importance of the safety case regime and integrate this into your project plan prior to Gateway 2 to ensure you can get through Gateway 3
  • Understand requirements for registration and certification prior to occupation at Gateway 3; and
  • If you work on existing buildings, remember that the new building regulations will apply to maintenance and refurbishment work. Do not forget to check out requirements for resident engagement and how building safety risks need to be managed.