In light of the tragic events on 14 June 2017 at the Grenfell Tower in West London the government has release a myriad of legislation to reduce the impact of a similar fire having the same devastating effect.

Fundamental to the changes in regulations provided by the Fire Safety Act and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022; is the Building Safety Act which is set to regulate and manage “High Risk Buildings” (HRBs) over 18m or seven storeys throughout England.

The Building Safety Regulator has been set up by the HSE to manage the more stringent regulations in in the FSA & FSO relating to ALL buildings starting with the HRBs, promote competence throughout the industry and provide oversight. This can only be achieved through a unified approach throughout the industry to hold all property professionals accountable across the sector.

The aim throughout the whole process is to develop and maintain a clear “Golden Thread” of information from the inception through to completion and then into the management of the building to allow all users of the building the understanding to keep all users and buildings safe now and for the future.

So, what do we as designers need to change?

The fundamental change is the Gateway regime for new buildings.

• Gateway 1 – Fire Statement. This sets out a clear fire strategy for the building outlining principles of materials used, evacuation, passive and active fire safety etc.
• Gateway 2 – Plans, Planning Statement, Construction Control Plan, Etc keeping in mind the principals set out in the initial Fire Statement throughout as a minimum standard.
• Gateway 3 – As built information, plans, fire strategy and compliance declaration etc again linking back to the basic principals of the Fire Statement and how these have been implemented throughout the design and build process to keep the building and its users safe.
• Finally in occupation – The principals set out in the Fire Statement can only work if the building is maintained properly by using resident engagement strategies, resident responsibility, mandatory occurrence reporting throughout the life of the building.

Timelines?

The proposed legislation has been implemented and rolled out across the UK with slight variances in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The aim is by October 2023 to have new duties on accountable persons for occupied HRBs, roll out of appointed BSR’s to regulate New Build HRB’s and Register of Approved Inspectors to oversee building control competence.

All in all, the regulations should provide a more stringent control mechanism to manage the maintenance and development of High-Risk Buildings throughout the UK, putting the onus on building owners and residents to manage and maintain the buildings through a new open Golden Thread of information and regular review of information to make the buildings safer.