Building Safety Regulator calls on residents to “have their say”

The Building Safety Act 2022 requires the Building Safety Regulator to set up a panel to help the latter with its work and assist in shaping policy and guidance. Members of the panel will have an important role to play in helping to decide how the building safety regime will work in the future.

The Building Safety Regulator is looking for 20 people to form the panel. It will be made up of a broad representation of residents from different locations, housing types and demographics.

Peter Baker, Chief Inspector of Buildings at the Health and Safety Executive, observed: “Residents will be at the heart of the new building safety regime. Setting up the Residents’ Panel is an important milestone in the Building Safety Regulator’s development. This group of individuals will make sure that residents have a say on how building safety will be managed in the future, building as they will on the valuable early work undertaken by our Interim Residents’ Panel.”

The panel will meet on up to six occasions in the first year to give the Building Safety Regulator advice on different aspects of its design, policies and procedures based on members’ real-life experiences of living in high-rise properties. There are certain areas where the panel must be consulted by law. The group will also be able to set up smaller Working Groups designed to explore relevant and emerging issues.

Baker continued: “Good communication with all high-rise building residents is so critical to the success of the Building Safety Regulator and the new regime. We want to make sure residents understand what the reforms mean for them, what their rights are and what part they will play in the building safety regime in the future. This panel will act as the voice of their community.  If you live in a high-rise building and would like to take part, we want to hear from you.”

*Applications close on Friday 18 November 2022. More information can be accessed online

The Building Safety Regulator has been established within the Health and Safety Executive as part of the building safety reforms following recommendations outlined in the Hackitt review subsequent to the Grenfell Tower tragedy of June 2017.

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduces a more stringent regulatory regime for England to make sure that residents living in high-rise buildings are safe – and, importantly, feel safe – in their homes.