“Gateway 2 approvals rise to 82%” reports Building Safety Regulator

Since the BSR’s Innovation Unit was established in August last year, it has witnessed its approval rate more than double (from 39% to 91%). Median approval times have also almost halved, from 43 weeks 12 months ago to 22 weeks in this latest set of data.

Pleasingly, the performance of external remediation applications shows similar improvements following the introduction of the BSR’s External Remediation Plan back in April. As reported at the time by Fire Safety Matters, this was introduced alongside process improvements, updated guidance and the move towards closer engagement with applicants.

Highlights to 1 August (12-week rolling period)

Over the last 12 weeks, the BSR has made 349 Building Control decisions across all higher-risk building (HRB) categories, with an overall national approval rate of 82% (representing 287 cases).

For new HRBs and conversions, the approval rate (not including invalidations and withdrawals) has risen to 91% with a median approval time of 22 weeks. In London, approvals stood at 93% with a 23-week median approval time.

Existing building remediation approvals stood at 85%, significantly exceeding the BSR’s annual target of 65%. In London, approvals stood at 92%.

Approvals for National Health Service (NHS) applications reached 84% nationally, with 16 approvals from 19 decisions. London saw a total of six projects being approved from seven determinations (86%).

In its first year, the BSR’s Innovation Unit has streamlined new-build assessments, determining 102 applications over the past year, of which 76 (ie 75%) were approvals or approvals with requirements.

The Innovation Unit signals a current approval rate of 91% and a median determination time of 22 weeks for non-complex cases.

New-build and conversion projects

Applications for new HRBs and conversions continue to progress through the BSR’s aforementioned Innovation Unit. Over the last 12 weeks, the BSR has made 45 decisions on new-build projects, achieving an approval rate of 91%. These approved projects represent 7,587 residential units in total.

For comparison, in the 12 weeks to August 2025, median approval time stood at 43 weeks with an approval rate of 39%.

Most new-build activity occurred in London. This accounted for 27 of the 45 national decisions, with 25 of those 27 projects in the capital approved. London’s approval rate of 93% represents 3,841 residential units.

Currently, London represents 65% of all in-progress new-build applications and 58% of the total units under assessment. Nationally, the BSR is managing 131 live new-build and conversion applications representing 30,421 units.

Existing building remediation

Targeted operational improvements designed to reduce decision times have driven national remediation approvals up to 85%. This is significantly higher than the BSR’s target of 65% for the end of 2026. In London, remediation approval rates reached 92%, in turn exceeding the national average.

The BSR determined 110 remediation decisions over the rolling 12-week period, approving 85% of projects that represent 7,433 residential units.

Outstanding legacy applications from 2024 have fallen to 13 (down from 42 at the start of the year, in fact) as teams work with applicants to resolve challenging technical issues.

Older cases in the system averaged a median approval time of 34 weeks, which includes clearing older applications from 2024-2025.

However, recent data shows that applications submitted in 2026 have a median determination time of 21 weeks. This is due to improved application quality and streamlined internal processes. The BSR is currently managing 330 live remediation cases nationally encompassing 28,778 units.

NHS applications

NHS applications – covering a range of hospital building work from maintenance through to new facilities – are now a separate tracked category. Approvals for NHS applications stood at 84% nationally with a median approval time of 24 weeks.

Over the rolling 12-week period, the BSR received 29 new NHS applications and made 19 determinations. Of these decisions, the BSR approved 16 with a median determination time of 24 weeks. The median determination time for NHS applications submitted in 2026 is 13 weeks.

The BSR’s specialist team has been working closely with the NHS to facilitate the specialist nature of its applications. This has begun to show results with some recent approvals coming in at the statutory eight-week timescale.

Currently, the BSR is managing 36 active NHS cases nationally to support the delivery of safe and upgraded healthcare facilities. London achieved an approval rate of 86% over the period, with six projects approved and a median determination time of 27 weeks.

Innovation Unit: 12 months on

During its first year of operation, the BSR’s Innovation Unit has “fundamentally reset” how new-build applications are assessed. This was done by bringing multi-disciplinary teams in-house, cutting set-up times from months to days.

The streamlined approach has substantially reduced average determination times. The Innovation Unit approved 102 applications over the past year, of which 76 (75%) were approvals or approvals with requirements.

The Innovation Unit reports a current approval rate of 91% and median determination time of 22 weeks for non-complex cases. Prior to the Innovation Unit being established, new-build approval rates stood at 39% with a median approval time of 43 weeks.

In order to continuously improve applicant communication and decision consistency, the BSR introduced dedicated account managers, an internal consistency panel and new tools designed to track outstanding issues during the Innovation Unit’s first year.

The BSR also designated highly intricate applications as ‘complex’ to allocate more targeted resources. This successful blueprint is now being rolled out across other services (including for the remediation team).

Over the same period, performance for external remediation applications has also improved significantly, moving from an approval time of 43 weeks and an approval rate of 47% to 34 weeks and 85% respectively.

Refurbishments and early Gateway 3 indicators

The approval rate for internal refurbishment works in Category A and Category B is currently 77% with a median determination time for approvals of 32 weeks. However, internal refurbishment applications submitted in 2026 have a median determination time of 16 weeks.

HRB internal work determinations over the last 12 weeks account for around 49% of all Gateway 2 decisions. These applications include all internal refurbishment works except for NHS projects.

The BSR is managing 981 active cases for internal works, which achieved an approval rate of 77% with a median determination time of 32 weeks for 166 decisions over the last 12 weeks.

While no new-build projects that have passed through Gateway 2 have reached Gateway 3, a significant number of internal refurbishment projects have already passed through Gateway 2.

Of the 319 Gateway 3 applications received, 235 of them are internal refurbishments with most of the remainder being transitional cases (47) and NHS internal refurbishments (23).

Over the last 12 weeks, 29 Gateway 3 applications have been determined with an approval rate of 72% and a median determination time of 16 weeks. The quickest determination was eight weeks.

This is an important area of focus for the BSR, particularly so for new-build. The BSR expects determination times to reduce as new processes are introduced and more resources are added.

Transitional cases in progress

In order to ensure thorough regulatory coverage, the BSR is currently managing 69 transitional Building Control cases at Gateway 2. These are legacy projects that have reverted to the BSR when the Building Control body originally overseeing the project ceased trading.

While often extremely complex due to a lack of standard structural evidence from the previous regime, the BSR has received 47 transitional cases at Gateway 3.

To manage evolving design requirements safely during construction, the BSR is actively processing 181 live major change requests with 112 closed. The median closure time for new-build projects is currently seven weeks, which is just one week above the statutory target.

The volume of live major change requests has increased over the last 12 weeks. External remediations represented the only category to show a downward trend.

Scaling regulatory resources

In order to support this increasing volume of decisions, the BSR has significantly expanded its capabilities. The current combined resourcing profile includes 176 internal BSR staff members (100 regulatory leads, 15 principal regulatory leads, 56 case officers and five case officer managers) in tandem with 506 external specialists (numbering 221 registered building inspectors, 111 Fire and Rescue Service professionals), 135 structural engineers and 39 other specialists.

Of these external specialists, 36 registered building inspectors, eight Fire and Rescue Service professionals and 20 structural engineers are now fully integrated directly into the BSR’s Innovation Unit and external remediation team in a bid to accelerate application processing times.

Collaborative approach to safety

Charlie Pugsley, acting CEO of the BSR, said: “We are witnessing positive momentum in Building Control approvals across all categories, including critical work to upgrade NHS hospitals and facilities. This progress is a direct result of our targeted improvement plans and closer and more collaborative work with the NHS to resolve technical issues early in the design phase.”

Pugsley continued: “By scaling up our resources and deploying integrated teams of registered building inspectors, fire and structural engineers, we are successfully clearing older legacy applications and accelerating determination times for new projects.”

Further, Pugsley noted: “The first year of our Innovation Unit’s operation also highlights this progress, showing how bringing specialist teams in-house can cut set-up times from months to days and safely unlock new developments.”

In conclusion, Pugsley observed: “While we remain absolutely focused on further improving our processes and supporting safe development across healthcare, housing and complex projects, our core commitment remains unchanged. We will never allow faster decision-making to compromise the safety of the people who will live in, visit or work within these buildings.”