More than half of submitted applications for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) lack the “basic information” showing they meet requirements, according to regulator chiefs.
From tomorrow (6 April), the new building safety regime means that all new residential schemes above 18 metres in height must pass the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR’s) “gateway two” before construction can start.
The BSR has already assessed 254 gateway two applications submitted during a transitional regime operating since October, according to data obtained by Construction News under the Freedom of Information Act.
In an interview with CN, the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) Neil Hope-Collins said that the majority of applications it had received lacked the correct documentation.
Hope-Collins, operational policy lead for HRB building control authority, said: “They are not valid because applicants are not giving us the basic information that shows they understand the work they are doing. They’re giving us planning drawings, not building drawings.”
He added that the wider industry had “not necessarily caught up” to the fact that plans demonstrating how a building will meet requirements are now required upfront for all new projects, not only high-rises.
He said: “The industry needs to get its head around [the fact] that the law has changed.”
Annette Hall, HSE operational policy lead for the HRB regime, said that these applications had not even reached the assessment stage because they lacked the correct documents.
She added: “The technical requirements of the building regulations have not changed. All that’s changed are the processes to deliver that and the absolute requirement to demonstrate to the regulator that [the applicants] have designed and are constructing a building that complies with the functional requirements.”
Under the Building Safety Act 2022, developers building HRBs have to consult the BSR at each of three “gateways” so the project can progress.
To pass through gateway two, schemes must undergo a statutory 12-week process where the application is assessed by a team of specialists chaired by a BSR staff member.
From tomorrow, HRBs granted initial building control approval before last October that have not yet started at least piling or foundation works will have to reapply for approval from the BSR to begin construction.
