Queen's Speech December 2019 - Building Safety Bill

Building Safety Bill

“New measures will be brought forward...to improve building safety.”

The purpose is to:

● Put in place new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products, and ensure residents have a stronger voice in the system.

The main benefits would be:

• ●  Learning the lessons from the Grenfell Tower fire and strengthening the whole regulatory system for building safety, including fundamental changes to the regulatory framework for high rise residential buildings.

• ●  Changing the industry culture to ensure accountability and responsibility and ensuring residents are safe in their homes.

  The main elements would be:

● An enhanced safety framework for high-rise residential buildings,

• ○  Providing clearer accountability and stronger duties for those responsible for the safety of high-rise buildings throughout the building’s design, construction and occupation, with clear competence requirements to maintain high standards.

• ○  Giving residents a stronger voice in the system, ensuring their concerns are never ignored and they fully understand how they can contribute to maintaining safety in their buildings.

• ○  Strengthening enforcement and sanctions to deter non-compliance with the new regime, hold the right people to account when mistakes are made and ensure they are not repeated.

• ○  Developing a new stronger and clearer framework to provide national oversight of construction products, to ensure all products meet high performance standards.

• ○  Developing a new system to oversee the whole built environment, with local enforcement agencies and national regulators working together to ensure that the safety of all buildings is improved.

forward the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review

taking

of building safety, and in some areas going further by:

51

● We will also legislate to require that developers of new build homes must belong to a New Homes Ombudsman.

Territorial extent and application

● The Bill's provisions would therefore extend and apply in the main to England only. Building regulations, housing policy and fire safety are devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Amendments to the Building Act 1984 apply to England and Wales. Some reserved provisions (relating to the construction of products and the Architects Act 1997) will extend and apply to the whole of the UK.

Key facts

• ●  Dame Judith Hackitt’s review found that the current regulatory system is not fit for purpose in relation to high-rise and complex buildings. We are taking forward all 53 of Dame Judith’s recommendations and in some areas going further.

• ●  In the recent Government consultation, we estimated that an enhanced regime for high rise residential buildings will apply to over 11,000 high rise buildings, rising to almost 15,000 buildings within 10 years. This estimate will be refined as the detail of the legislation is finalised and a full impact assessment is completed.

• ●  The Phase One report from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry made a number of recommendations on related areas including development of evaluation plans and provision of information to residents. The Government has accepted in principle the findings of the report and aims to respond to Sir Martin Moore- Bick’s recommendations in advance of the beginning of the Inquiry’s phase 2 hearings, due to start on 27 January 2020.

• ●  Since the fire at Grenfell, we have taken forward a wide range of improvements that have not required legislation, including:

  • ○  Identifying over 400 high rise buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, like the type used on Grenfell Tower, and working with local authorities and fire and rescue authorities to ensure that appropriate interim safety measures are in place.

  • ○  Making £600 million funding available for the replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on high-rise residential homes in the social and private

52

sectors. The private sector remediation fund launched on 12 September 2019.

• ○  Providing further funding for tailored building checks and inspections on all high-risk residential buildings in England by 2021, backed by £10 million per year of new funding.

• ○  Laying regulations and guidance to ban the use of combustible materials on the external walls of new buildings over 18 metres containing flats, as well as new hospitals, residential care premises, dormitories in boarding schools and student accommodation over 18 metres.

• ○  Issuing clear advice to building owners on a range of fire safety issues, including other (non-ACM) types of cladding, to help them meet their legal obligations to keep buildings and residents safe; and issuing amended guidance to restrict the use of assessments in lieu of tests (also known as desktop studies).

• ○  The Government has published a revised, clarified version of the Building Regulations’ fire safety guidance (Approved Document B) and issuing a call for evidence as the first step in a full technical review of the guidance.

• ○  Consulting on changes to the Building Regulations guidance on fire safety, primarily lowering the height threshold for sprinklers. Inviting views on how residents are supported to meet their safety responsibilities; and launching the Social Sector (Building Safety) Engagement Best Practice Group, to develop better ways to engage residents in keeping their buildings safe.

• ○  Commissioning research to support further understanding of the fire performance of non-ACM external wall systems.