New law: New laws on building and maintenance of higher-risk properties aimed at reducing prospects of future Grenfell Tower tragedies

The new rules apply throughout three stages (referred to in the new rules as ‘gateways’) - planning, construction and occupation – for ‘higher-risk’ buildings. They include, of course, regulation of use of cladding products. A ‘higher-risk’ building is one which:

• has at least two residential units; and
• is at least 18 metres high or has seven or more storeys.

The safety risks covered by the new laws are ‘spread of fire’ and ‘structural failure’ (although there is power to extend the new laws to other matters in future if required).

The new laws are being brought in during an 18-month transition period, but some details have yet to be clarified by way of ancillary regulations and guidelines. Failure to comply can result in criminal sanctions, including up to two years’ imprisonment for directors and other individuals in breach. There will also be new liabilities under defective premises legislation for failure to comply.

The new laws impose obligations on clients, ‘principal designers’, designers, ‘principal contractors’ and contractors (collectively called ‘duty-holders’ in the new laws) who must co-operate with each other to ensure building regulations are complied with.

The obligations include making sure any individual appointed to work on a relevant development has the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their functions, and also that they demonstrate appropriate behaviours.

Before a higher-risk building can be occupied, an ‘accountable person’ (or if there is more than one, the principal accountable person) must demonstrate that the building complies with the relevant building regulations by submitting plans and other documents. A certificate must be issued, which the accountable person must display, with other information, at the building.

Duty-holders, and then the accountable person, must start and maintain a ‘golden thread’ – a digital record of specific information (details of which have yet to be published) monitoring and tracking the higher-risk building’s lifecycle for these purposes.

Operative date

• Now

Recommendation

• Those with obligations under the new rules should review their processes, training and relationships with other businesses, and the impact of changes on their profitability, to ensure compliance, including starting to gather digital information to record in the golden thread.