The Government published the Building Safety Bill in July 2020.
The draft Bill proposed that there would be an Accountable Person responsible for keeping residents safe in high rise buildings, defined as those building which are 18 metres and above. Accountable Persons will also have to listen and respond to residents’ concerns and ensure their voices are heard. Residents and leaseholders will also have access to important safety information about their building.
The Government has published 30 fact sheets which provide more information about key provisions in the Bill. The fact sheets cover:
- Dutyholders
- Industry competence
- Buildings included in the new more stringent regulatory regime
- Impact Assessment
- Building control regime for higher-risk buildings (Gateways 2 and 3)
- Safety Case
- Safety management systems
- Mandatory Occurrence Reporting
- Building Safety Regulator
- Amendments to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
- Accountable Persons
- Golden thread
- Refurbishments
- Building control registration and regulatory oversight
- Wider changes to the Building Act 1984
- Building Safety Levy
- Architects Competence
- Architects Fees
- Building registration and certification
- Building Safety Charge (for landlords and building owners)
- Building Safety Charge (for leaseholders)
- Building Safety Manager
- Construction projects regulatory framework
- Fire Safety Order interaction with the new regime for higher-risk buildings
- National regulator for construction projects
- New Homes Ombudsman
- Residents’ Voice
- Special Measures
- Building Assessment Certificate: transitional arrangements for existing buildings and
- Redress.
To ensure that Accountable Persons are carrying out their duties properly, the Building Safety Bill confirmed that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would be tasked with establishing a new national regulator for building safety.
The HSE has published four factsheets to help the reader of the Bill and inform debate. The fact sheets cover:
- Recovering the costs of the Building Safety Regulator
- Regulating the risk to people from the spread of fire and structural failure in occupied high-rise buildings
- New and refurbished high-rise buildings and
- Building Safety Regulator approach to enforcement.