FAQs

A higher-risk building is defined as a building which contains either at least two residential units or is a hospital or care home and is either has at least seven storeys or is more than 18m in height.

The definitions can be found in section 120D of The Building Act 1984 and The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023.

Take care to assess the specific uses of the building, using the correct definitions as detailed in the legislation, as well as measuring height correctly.

There is a new building regulations process for higher-risk buildings. The process is detailed in The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 and means you will be dealing with the Building Safety Regulator as the building control authority.

There are detailed new requirements as part of the application process, which include the ‘gateways’. These need careful planning within the construction programme as well as bringing design development forward to ensure building control approval can be secured before any building work starts on site.

When carrying out building work, as defined in regulation 3 of The Building Regulations 2010, in an existing higher-risk building, the Building Safety Regulator is the building control authority and an application will be required and be approved before any of the work can start. Refer to The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023.

For smaller items of work there are reduced requirements for the contents of the application but the principles remain the same. 

This will depend on whether the separate part or use of the building can be defined as an ‘independent section’. 

If an independent section exists within the wider building, then in effect this independent section is treated as a building in it’s own right. You can apply the higher-risk building criteria to the independent section and determine whether or not it meets the definition of an HRB. If so, then you follow the procedures for a higher-risk building. If not, then the procedures would be contained in the Building Regulations 2010, and the BSR is not the building control authority.

The detail can be found in the The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023 and the accompanying guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-on-the-criteria-for-being-a-higher-risk-building.

Any existing higher-risk building that is currently occupied must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/applying-to-register-a-high-rise-residential-building.

The principal accountable person (PAP) must ensure the building is registered. 

The PAP must also ensure there is an appropriate safety case in place for the building. 

The most significant change is to introduce specific duties to all those who either carry out design work or undertake construction work, along with the creation of three key dutyholder roles, the client, principal designer and principal contractor.

These duties are for the purposes of complying with the building regulations and are separate to any other dutyholder roles under other legislation, including CDM2015.

The definitions can be found in section 120D of The Building Act 1984 and The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023.

Take care to assess the specific uses of the building, using the correct definitions as detailed in the legislation, as well as measuring height correctly.

Effectively, this means that anybody undertaking design work or construction work must be competent for the work they are doing as well as them all behaving in the right manner.

This is supported by the principal designer who must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the design, if built, will be compliant with the building regulations and the principal contractor who must ensure that what is built is compliant with the building regulations. They do this by planning, managing and monitoring the design and construction phases.

These new duties and dutyholders are responsible for compliance with the relevant requirements of the building regulations.

There are detailed new requirements as part of the application process, which include the ‘gateways’. These need careful planning within the construction programme as well as bringing design development forward to ensure building control approval can be secured before any building work starts on site.