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THE TIMES ARE A CHANGING

The Building Safety Bill will usher in fundamental reform for the built environment sector. Douglas Masterson explains what it means for the AI industry

In July 2021, the UK Government announced the publication of the Building Safety Bill. This is aimed at setting out a clear pathway for the future on how residential buildings should be constructed and maintained. It is seen as a key step in an extensive overhaul to building safety legislation, giving residents more power to hold builders and developers to account and toughening sanctions against those who threaten their safety.

The Golden Thread will become more vital to building data

The Building Safety Bill is the direct result of recommendations made in the Grenfell inquiry and the Hackitt Review.

It should be noted that whilst the Bill focuses on in scope high-rise residential buildings, in reality this is the biggest change in regulation of the construction sector in some considerable time and will have ramifications for any buildings of any kind going forward. The necessary change in culture envisaged to achieve the proposed requirements on building safety will be the driving force behind this wider spread of focus. Although the bill is limited to England, it is felt that the other devolved nations in the UK will adopt their own versions to tighten up on building safety requirements UK-wide. The following are some elements of the Bill which are relevant to our sector:

Competence

The Bill makes provision for regulations regarding the competence of those involved in work that needs to comply with building regulations. The BSI is in the process of creating new standards which will hugely impact three key roles including Principal Designer (PAS 8671), Principal Contractor (PAS 8672) and Building Safety Manager (PAS 8673). The GAI is directly involved in the creation and review of each of these standards through Working Group 12. WG12 is tasked with increasing competence across the construction product sector. The UK government is also publishing further guidance documents on competence and there will be additional measures in place to govern the competence of architects and other building industry professionals.

Construction product safety

New powers will be prescribed within the Bill for the national regulation of the safety of all products used in construction. The regulator will sit within the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and will be able to remove products from the market and prosecute those who fail to comply, as long as they are UKbased. This will have a marked impact across the entire construction product industry, including the ironmongery and door sector.