BESA welcomes “renewed urgency” in building safety regime

Recently appointed Building Safety Regulator chair Andy Roe promised to clear the backlog at planning Gateway 2 for higher-risk buildings (HRBs), which had stalled the new build housing market, but without compromising stringent safety standards introduced under the Building Safety Act 2022.

Roe has created a centralised Innovation Unit of planning specialists and a ‘batching system’ to focus on the biggest new build projects, covering nearly 34,000 homes, which are now being assessed at pace. Most of the 150-plus HRB schemes are now expected to clear the system by the end of the year.

According to BESA, older IT systems and a shortage of experts – particularly so in the computational fluid dynamics required to assess complex fire safety designs – have undermined the planning process, but Roe and his team are now addressing these issues. Further, Roe is also appointing a team of ‘account managers’ to work with major developers and focus on their concerns.

Sense of urgency

“The renewed sense of urgency at the Building Safety Regulator is palpable,” stated Rachel Davidson, BESA’s director of specialist knowledge. “This is so important as it’s crucial that the industry can have confidence in the process.”

Davidson continued: “Andy Roe and his team have brought in some innovative changes, which already appear to be bearing fruit. Clearing the backlog of the most significant projects will help the whole sector by allowing money to flow back into construction and freeing-up resources so that more projects can move forward.”

However, Davidson has noted that slow progress on remediation projects remains a serious concern. Addressing life safety issues in existing and occupied buildings should be a priority. More than 250 remediation applications, covering over 22,000 homes, are still being held at Gateway 2.

In order to tackle this issue, the Building Safety has said that it’s planning to create a new centralised Remediation Unit modelled on the Innovation Unit and would speed up the batching system for existing building projects.

“Clearly, the Building Safety Regulator has to strike balance between making sure that projects are moving and ensuring safety standards are upheld,” explained Davidson. “Also, remediation work is often technically and logistically challenging due to the constraints involved in improving existing buildings. It’s a tough one, but too many people are still living in unsafe conditions and this situation needs to be addressed urgently.”

Learning from the past

Building Safety Regulator CEO Charlie Pugsley said: “The Building Safety Regulator has been learning from the last two years, listened to industry feedback and acted decisively through these substantial operational changes we are piloting, which have shown immediate and positive results.”

Further, Pugsley commented: “However, we recognise there are ongoing challenges including national skills shortages. We are committed to using agile problem-solving in order to work constructively with the wider sector and industry applicants.”