The Building Safety Act 2022

Primary Legislation

The Building Safety Act 2022 is the UK Government's primary legislation (statutory instrument) issued in response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire. It is the foundation of the most wide-ranging changes to the construction industry in recent history, as well as the foundation for a new building safety regime through both new and updated secondary legislation. 

The primary legislation creates new bodies, responsibilities and systems, and affects all buildings and construction works governed by the Building Regulations, with significant changes from the Building Regulations 2010. It imposes additional duties for residential high-rise buildings (higher risk buildings), as well as impacting various elements of existing secondary legislation. 

Secondary Legislation

Following a consultation period, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published Secondary Legislation which came into force on 1st October 2023. The regulations cover the technical detail underpinning the new, more stringent regime for the design and construction of higher-risk buildings, wider changes to the building regulations for all buildings and the details of the new in-occupation safety regime for higher-risk buildings.

The process, management, application and enforcement of the Building Regulations are fundamentally affected, however the design and performance requirements are not altered. All activities defined as 'building work' under the Building Regulations 2010 fall within the scope of the changes. For clarity 'building work' includes:

• The erection or extension of a building
• Undertaking work required due to a material change of use
• Altering a controlled fitting or service etc.
• Anything and everything that requires Building Control Approval

To learn about the changes to the Building Regulations, visit here: Building Regulations (monaghans.co.uk)

To learn about the Building Regulations Duty Holders, visit here: Duty Holders (monaghans.co.uk)

To learn about Higher Risk Buildings, visit here: Higher Risk Buildings (monaghans.co.uk)