Guidance has been produced by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and industry stakeholders, in collaboration with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
It provides the baseline principles to guide those involved in submitting and assessing applications for building control approval (Gateway 2) for buildings officially designated as higher-risk. It includes recommendations on the approach and submission of relevant information.
Its publication follows months of frustration among developers and contractors that their applications were being held up by a bureaucratic logjam within the BSR and often having applications returned for non-compliance with the small print of the new procedures.
The BSR became the building control authority for multi-occupancy buildings of more than 18 metres (or of 7+ storeys) 聽in England on 1st October 2023. Under the new regime, an applicant must pass through three gateway points: planning (Gateway 1), building control approval (Gateway 2) and building control completion (Gateway 3).
Stephanie Pollitt, programme director for housing at lobby group BusinessLDN (formerly London First), said: 鈥淭he lack of clear guidance around BSR applications is one reason why tens of thousands of homes have become stuck in the gateway process. This new work from the Construction Leadership Council marks a critical step forward which will help provide clarity to developers from here on out. Comprehensive pre-application engagement between the BSR and developers, more pragmatism around when developments can get started, and improved link-up with experts at the local authority level will all be vital over the months ahead.鈥澛犅犅�
Tim Galloway, deputy director of the Health & Safety Executive, currently the BSR鈥檚 parent body, said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e supported construction industry leaders to write guidance, that speaks industry鈥檚 language, to help improve the quality of the applications that are being submitted. The guidance will help applicants demonstrate to themselves and BSR that their designs and plans will result in the safe, quality homes we all want. Applications that clearly demonstrate compliance are approved faster, and everyone in BSR wants those designs and plans off the page and onto site as quickly as possible.鈥�
Berkeley Group divisional chairman Karl Whiteman, industry sponsor for the CLC鈥檚 building safety workstream, said: 鈥淭he CLC has worked closely with the BSR and a broad range of leading technical experts from across the sector to develop robust and practical guidance for Gateway 2 applications. This will help to improve the quality of submissions, ensure the regulator can approve them swiftly and consistently, and enable the sector to increase the delivery of safe and high-quality homes.
鈥淥n behalf of the CLC, I want to thank the many expert contributors to these guidance notes, including members of Local Authority Building Control, Construction Industry Council, Build UK, the G15 (a membership group of London鈥檚 leading housing associations), Construction Products Association, Royal Institute of British Architects, Architectural Technical Leads Group and the Home Builders Federation.鈥�
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
