The Building Safety Bill, published on 5 July 2021, has received Royal Assent today [28 April] and is now an Act of Parliament – The Building Safety Act.
The Bill will apply to building owners and the built environment industry and establishes powers to introduce new design and construction requirements that apply to high-rise residential buildings, hospitals and care homes (buildings 18m or above in height).
The aim of the Bill is to ensure that residents in high-rise buildings will have more of a say in regards to the management of their building and they will be able to raise any building safety concerns with owners and managers. Managers and owners will then have a duty to listen to them and if the residents feel they are not being listened to, they can raise their concerns with the Building Safety Regulator.
The Building Safety Regulator will be housed in the Health and Safety Executive and will be responsible for:
- Implementing the new, more stringent regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings
- Overseeing the safety and performance of all buildings
- Assisting and encouraging competence among the built environment industry, and registered building inspectors.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said: “This Bill will ensure high standards of safety for people’s homes, and in particular for high rise buildings, with a new regulator providing essential oversight at every stage of a building’s lifecycle, from design, construction, completion to occupation.
“The new building safety regime will be a proportionate one, ensuring those buildings requiring remediation are brought to an acceptable standard of safety swiftly, and reassuring the vast majority of residents and leaseholders in those buildings that their homes are safe.”
>>Read more about the Building Safety Bill here.
