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Clients “ignoring building safety” suggests BESA member survey

07 January 2025

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR clients are failing to engage with the new building safety regime. That’s according to the results of research conducted by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA).

Across a six-month period, the Association used its regional meetings with members as ‘Focus Groups’ to gauge the take-up of measures introduced under the Building Safety Act and awareness of roles, responsibilities and risks associated with the legislation, which has been in force since 2022.

In terms of the main findings, “total lack of engagement” from clients has been signposted, with BESA members reporting that “not a single client” had discussed compliance with them. They assert that, far from finding evidence of any significant culture change (as envisaged by Dame Judith Hackitt), the pressure to deliver projects faster and more cheaply has seemingly been increasing at the expense of both quality and safety.

Members from all UK regions have confirmed that project decisions remain primarily driven by cost and speed, particularly so when it comes to owners and developers whose buildings are not classified as higher-risk. This confirms suspicions that most clients believe the Building Safety Act 2022 only applies to this type of building.

The meetings followed on from in-depth research commissioned by BESA in 2024, which revealed that, while awareness of the legislation is rising, contractors and clients are somewhat confused about their roles and responsibilities and little discernible change appears to be taking place.

Aggressive and sub-economic pricing

“As there is currently very little in the way of enforcement of the legislation and, therefore, no apparent consequences [for non-compliance], clients are still subjecting contractors to aggressive and sub-economic pricing,” stated Rachel Davidson, BESA’s director of specialist knowledge.

“Not a single client has asked any of our members about compliance with the Act,” continued Davidson. “Tenders are still being won on lowest price and also being value-engineered throughout the project on works that are not related to higher-risk buildings.”

Further, Davidson noted: “Several contractors who insisted on applying more rigorous safety measures said they had been priced out of projects as a result. We need a Government-driven public awareness campaign to improve client engagement.”

Erroneous consideration

The BESA meetings also confirmed that most clients erroneously consider the legislation to be a ‘Construction’ Safety Act (ie aimed exclusively at the construction industry). As such, they feel it doesn’t apply to those owning, managing and operating buildings throughout their lifecycle.

BESA members also expressed concern about the number of projects being delayed due to additional planning constraints exacerbated by severe shortages in local authority Building Control Departments.

The need to pay for additional third party testing to ensure building components meet the specification when operating as a system is another potential source of higher cost and project delays.

“There’s also a serious geographical divide,” observed Davidson, “with clear evidence that the further north you go, the less awareness of and engagement with the legislation you find, particularly so among clients.”

Alarming lack of action

The Focus Groups were designed to complement detailed market research commissioned by BESA between May and September last year, which identified relatively high levels of awareness of the building safety legislation, but also an alarming lack of action.

The industry-wide survey, carried out by AMA Research, reported that 88% of respondents showed some awareness of the Building Safety Act, with almost one third claiming to be “fully aware”. There were higher levels of awareness among BESA members than the industry as a whole, but detailed understanding of roles and responsibilities was found to be mixed and varied according to building and project type.

Most contractors told researchers that the Building Safety Act was only exerting a minimal impact on their businesses, while just 9% reported making any “significant changes” to help them comply.

Compliance and legal understanding of the legislation were proving to be “challenging” for most industry businesses who told researchers they needed more training and a closer working relationship with the Building Safety Regulator in order to embed the changes required to improve building safety.

Levels of awareness vary according to company size with the larger organisations – both in terms of turnover and number of employees – shown to be more up-to-speed.

Viewed as an opportunity

“Some firms have used the Building Safety Act, and the wider post-Grenfell context, as an opportunity to re-set employees’ focus on what makes them good at their jobs and, where they find deficiencies, to carry out more training,” suggested Davidson. “However, this is far from universal and access to appropriate training remains another key challenge for our sector and one that BESA is pursuing vigorously.”

Davidson added that the industry needs clearer and simpler guidance to help with both applying the legislation measures to businesses and explaining them to clients. What’s more, Davidson has called for a closer and more productive relationship with the Building Safety Regulator involving open channels of communication and a greater willingness to offer advice on how to comply with the Building Safety Act.

“If the Government is really serious about improving standards of safety and performance alongside its ambitious plans for construction growth, it must properly resource the Building Safety Regulator and ensure that this potentially game-changing legislation is fully enforced,” asserted Davidson.

In conclusion, Davidson noted: “Too many clients still think the Building Safety Act doesn’t apply to them. They need to be the target of a major awareness programme. It cannot be left to individual contractors to try and educate their clients, particularly so while cost remains king.”

*Download copies of the new BESA report. For detailed information concerning the Building Safety Act 2022 visit the BESA Hub

 
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