Building Safety Bill

24th July 2020

In a year which has seen the start of much needed changes to the Building Control system Assent Building Control welcomes the MHCLG’s publication of the draft Building Safety Bill, together with the Home Office’s publication of the updated Fire Safety Consultation standards.

Our vision and our goal is to become a thought leader, and an innovator, influencing and shaping the future of building control, supporting our clients in delivering safe, efficient and accessible buildings through our expertise, innovation and uncompromising ethical standards.

We believe that the new legislative framework has the potential to support that vision and deliver a new era with the most fundamental improvements to building safety regulation for over 50 years. We know there is much to discuss and develop alongside the draft bill but the changes published include:

> a new national regulator that will strengthen the whole regulatory system for building safety putting residents at the heart of the new regime, with a stronger voice and better access to safety information about their building
> greater accountability and responsibility for fire and structural safety issues throughout the entire lifecycle of buildings (design, construction, and occupation)
> protecting the rights of homebuyers and hold developers to account; and a complete holistic overhaul of the building control profession

Assent and its network of over 120 qualified surveyors welcome the level of scrutiny that the bill will place construction professionals and building control peers under. Approved Inspectors are already subject to this scrutiny as part of the licencing, insurance and ISO accreditation process and welcome its wider implementation across the sector supported by the competency standards laid out in the ‘Future of Building Control’ document issued last week.

The publication of the draft legislation is key to progressing towards improving safety standards for residents of all blocks of flats of all heights, and occupants of other buildings, however the implementation must not create a two tier system and leave out of scope buildings behind.

Any new system needs be delivered in a way that allows all parts of the building control sector to work as one for this to be effective.

Assent will continue to support the drive for change by responding to government calls of evidence, supporting bodies such as the ACAI, RICS and RIBA and by updating clients with CPD on the draft bill and other changes that take place to building regulations in the coming months.