The Building Safety Act (BSA) received Royal Assent in April and brings in a number of new provisions for the build environment following the Grenfell Tower fire.
The BSA works alongside the Fire Safety Act which also received Royal Assent in 2021. Most of the provisions of the Act are unlikely to impact most existing almshouses. Members who are undertaking a new building project are likely to have to consider some of the additional responsibilities placed on those involved in the building process.
The Act introduced a number of key provisions:
- A Building Safety Regulator whose role is to enforce tougher regulations on buildings of 18m and over. The regulator will also look at safety standards in buildings of all heights.
- Changes to fire safety laws which places additional requirements on Responsible Persons.
- Changes to who is responsible for paying to fix building safety issues, i.e. the developer.
- Extension of the Defective Premises Act, allowing building owners to claim against a contractor for defective work. This has been extended to 30 years for work completed prior to the Act coming into force, future work will have 15 years.
- The Defective Premises Act will also be extended to include refurbishment and other work to existing buildings, so that contractors who undertake any work on a building will be required to ensure buildings are fit for habitation once work is completed.
- Buildings below 11m and deemed to need remediation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
- Formal responsibilities are placed on those involved in the design, construction, and refurbishment of any building, placing greater powers on the regulator to prosecute non-compliance.
The new provisions will be introduced over the next 18 months.
The Government has produced several detailed factsheets which can be found here.
posted 24 May 22