Landmark Moment’ For New Post-Grenfell Building Safety Regime

Building Safety Regulator chief Peter Baker has hailed the “landmark moment” as the watchdog called for registration of tall residential buildings in England. Owners of any blocks 18m in height – or containing seven storeys – will legally have to identify them to the regulator by 1 October if they contain two or more homes. They will also have to name an individual responsible for maintaining each tower’s safety as the government’s post-Grenfell crackdown swings into action. The watchdog, established by the Building Safety Act, will open its registration process in April. It was established to protect high-rise residents from unsafe building practices in England in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. Baker – chief inspector of buildings at the Health and Safety Executive and head of the Building Safety Regulator – said: “Our message is clear – industry must raise its standards, and residents of high-rise buildings in England must be kept safe.” He added: “This is a landmark moment for building safety. The information provided through registration will be an invaluable part of our crackdown on unsafe building practices.”

It is Estimated That About 12,500 Buildings Will Need to Be Registered Before October.

The regulator is to launch a campaign in March to highlight the requirement along with the broader wave of incoming safety regulation. Health and Safety Executive chief executive Sarah Albon said registration was “an important step towards building a safer future for residents of high-rise buildings”.M The Building Safety Regulator will take on lead responsibility for technical building standards before October, and and carry out “vital consultations” with industry groups as well as launching a statutory Industry Competence Committee. The watchdog will also publish the final standards for building control professionals to work to and become the building control body for design and construction of all “higher-risk” buildings. A spokesperson for construction industry body Build UK said the post-Grenfell building safety regime was “taking shape at pace”. “The new regime is the number one issue for the majority of Build UK members at the moment, and represents the most significant change for the industry in a generation,” they added. Matt Keen, senior industry strategist at software provider Autodesk, said last summer that contractors would have a key role in capturing digital evidence of project delivery as part of the new building safety regime.