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Episode 90 - Building Safety Act (Part 2)

• Maria Skoutari • Season 1 • Episode 90

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This week is Part 2 on everything we know so far on the Building Safety Act. This episode content meets PC1 - Professionalism, PC2 - Clients, Users & Delivery of Services & PC3 - Legal Framework & Processes  of the Part 3 Criteria.

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Episode 90:

Hello and Welcome to the Part3 with me podcast, 

The show that helps part 3 students jump start into their careers as qualified architects and also to provide refresher episodes for practicing architects. I am your host Maria Skoutari and this week is Part 2 about everything we know so far on the Building Safety Act. Todays episode meets PC1 & PC2 & PC3 of the Part 3 Criteria.

So last week we covered the Building Safety Act changes to the application process alongside the dutyholders duties. This  week I will be covering the Gateways, Change Control Plan and Golden Thread.

Before I dive into the gateways, I had a bit more information I wanted to share with you regarding the differences between the BSA PD and the CDM PD. 

The items that distinguish the two roles is that under CDM, the PD is to plan, manage and monitor the pre-construction phase of a project and to coordinate matters relating to health and safety. Under the Building Safety Act, the PD is required to plan, manage and monitor the design work during the design phase and coordinate matters relating to the design work comprised in the project so that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that the design is such that if the building work to which the design related to was to be built in accordance with that design, the building works would be in compliance with all relevant requirements, which is the Building Regulations. So in essence, the PD must take all reasonable steps to ensure the design work on a project is coordinated to demonstrate compliance with the Building Regulations. 

So the new duty holders and duties form one part that came out from the Building Safety Act, now lets look at the gateway process. To strengthen regulatory oversight, a series of gateways have been introduced for HRB before planning is submitted to support a planning application, known as gateway 1, then the next is before work commences referred to as the Gateway 2 application and then  during construction and on completion ahead of occupation is the Gateway 3 application. 

Starting with Gateway 1, this is in preparation for a planning application whereby a Building Safety Regulator should be consulted and a ‘Fire statement’ is to be prepared to support the consideration of information on fire safety matters. This Fire Statement will need to be submitted if it relates to one or more relevant buildings, if the development is to an existing relevant building, if the development is within the curtilage of a relevant building and if it applies to a change of use where the new use makes the building ‘relevant.’ Such a statement is not required if the application relates to outline planning. 

Then we have Gateway 2, which essentially replaces the building regulations application, so before building work commences, the applicant must submit a building control approval application to the Building Safety Regulator and work can’t commence without this approval. The application typically takes 12 weeks for the Regulator to assess or 8 weeks for an existing building. 

Key documentation required for the regime include:

  • a competence declaration - confirming that the client is satisfied that their Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and any other person appointed in relation to the work are competent to carry out their roles; and provide a written record of the steps the client has taken to be satisfied of their competence. 
  • golden thread duties
  • construction control plan - which is aim is to describe the strategies for how building work will be managed to maintain building regulations compliance 
  • change control plan
  • mandatory occurrence reporting plan
  • Building Regulations compliance statement - which provides a pathway to demonstrate how the planned building work will comply with the relevant building regulations requirements. 
  • a fire and emergency file (where the applicant proposes occupation of part of the building before completion of the HRB work) - provided to ensure that the strategies for managing building safety risks, once the building is completed, have been considered from the early design stages. 
  • a partial completion strategy

This documentation must demonstrate appropriate strategies to manage the construction phase to support building regulations compliance and minimise risk. Then once approved, the Building Safety Regulator will agree a bespoke inspection schedule with the applicant. 

And then is Gateway 3, whereby before occupation, the applicant will need to submit a completion certificate application to the BSR and the building cannot be occupied without this. There is an eight-week determination period from receipt that should be factored into programmes. 

The submission requirements are in line with the Gateway 2 material, although for this application they should describe and reflect the work, as built (and consented) and a notice must be provided to the regulator with the date on which building work was completed, with plans showing HRB work, the stage of HRB work or work to existing HRB to demonstrate compliance with building regulations, as well as inclusion of:

  • As built plans and documents forming part of the golden thread of information
  • a copy of the change control log, updated to show all the changes for the project
  • a compliance declaration signed by all construction phase dutyholders including the principal designer and principal contractor that they are confident the building meets building regulations functional requirements 
  • Information captured during construction, commissioning and final functional requirements review 

And then the Building Safety Regulator will complete a final inspection to review all the information submitted in order to provide the Completion Certificate enabling occupation of the building. 

The regulations also allow for building control approval to be applied in stages which is only applicable where its not viable for an applicant to provide detailed plans for an entire development or building. When used there will be new procedures and information required by the BSR. A staged application will need to include full descriptions of the proposed stages, a timetable for each stage, and full details for the first stage. Sufficient information must be provided for subsequent stages to assure the regulator that all applicable requirements of the building regulations will be met. This will mean that subsequent stages must not have gaps in information or undecided design elements that may impact on compliance with building regulations requirements. This will require a more robust set of information to be submitted to BSR. A staged application could be appropriate for a complex building with multiple elements but it is key that all aspects of building regulations compliance are considered for the whole building. Design issues for subsequent stages that are not fully developed may have an impact on a previous stage, and it will be a requirement that sufficient information is provided to the BSR to demonstrate compliance with the functional requirements for these subsequent stages. 

Now I mentioned a few times from the gateways the Change Control Plan, this is a document which forms part of the Gateway 2 approval, its purpose is to show:

• a clear change control process during construction to ensure there is an accurate record of changes; 

• that the impact of changes are carefully considered and discussed with other parties as required; and 

• that the Regulator has oversight as necessary. 

Dutyholders must carefully consider the implications of changes from an original building control approval application before they are made, and all controlled changes must be recorded to ensure that plans and accompanying documents are updated to reflect the building work ‘as built’ rather than ‘as designed’. 

Maintaining accurate records during construction will also be vital to ensuring that the golden thread contains up-to-date information about the building work, which will be particularly important when it is handed over to the Principal Accountable Person and/or the Responsible Person on completion of building work. 

There are three types of changes, the recorded change which does not undermine the basis of the design and the Building Safety Regulator can pick up during an inspection. The second is a notifiable change which needs to be notified to the Building Safety Regulator within 10 days to review and if it constitutes a stop to the works, this can include for example a change to the construction control plan a change to a layout and so on. And the third is a major change, which undermines the basis by which the building control approval was granted and triggers a resubmission of the gateway 2 information to the Building Safety Regulator with a reviewing taking up to 6 weeks with a hard stop to the works. Such a change can include change to the structural design, or the number of storeys, an external wall and so on.

The change control plan should include a change control log which need to include: 

• the name of the individual recording the controlled change; 

• a description of the proposed change; 

• an explanation of the reason why the change has been proposed; 

• whether the change is recorded, notifiable or major; 

• a list of the name and occupation of each person, if any, whose advice was sought in relation to the proposed change and a brief summary of any advice provided; 

• an assessment of which agreed document is affected by the proposed change and confirmation that a revised version has been produced; and 

• an explanation, in relation to the proposed change, of how the higher-risk building work will, after the proposed change is carried out, meet all applicable building regulations and 

• the strategies, policies and procedures in relation to the higher-risk building work (including in relation to controlled changes, mandatory occurrence reporting, competence of persons or sharing of information and co-operation) will, after the proposed change is carried out, meet relevant requirements 

A change control application must then be made by the client, or someone on behalf of the client in writing, signed by the person making the application with a description of the proposed controlled change. The application must be accompanied by: 

  • an explanation of the reason why the change has been proposed; 
  • a list of the name and occupation of each person, if any, whose advice was sought in relation to the proposed change and a brief summary of any advice provided; 
  • where the change is to the number of flats, plans showing the number of flats it is proposed the HRB will contain; 
  • an assessment of which is affected by the proposed change; 
  • a compliance explanation in relation to the proposed change, and 
  • where the application is made by someone on behalf of the client, a statement signed by the client confirming they agree to the application being made and to the information contained in it. 

Then the Building Safety Regulator will confirm the validity of an application and they will inform the applicant of the outcome of a change control application within 6 weeks beginning with the date the application is received or will agree a longer period in writing. 

Other items which trigger a notification to the Building Safety Regulator includes:

  • Changing contractor which constitutes a notifiable change
  • Change of client which also constitutes a notifiable change
  • Change of principal contractor/principal designer which constitutes a notifiable or major change

The 'golden thread' has been implemented to support effective and efficient sharing of project information at the right time and with the right people, in an easily accessible, reliable and up-to-date format for HRBs. It is both the information about a building that allows someone to understand a building and keep it safe and it also consists of information management to ensure the information is accurate, easily understandable, can be accessed by those who need it and is up to date. 

It is not an 'end of the project’ activity, but an ongoing ‘live’, electronic record of the building information throughout the lifecycle of the building. This includes up-to-date safety information regarding the building design, build, and management. This information will be stored and transferred electronically and recipients must acknowledge receipt. The outputs include:

• A Controlled Change Log; 

• Inspection reports; 

• Body of evidence sufficient to support the completion certificate application; 

• Change control application for a major change; 

• Controlled change notifications; and 

• Enforcement action. 

The client will be the duty holder for the Golden Thread information ensuring the arrangements are in place to create and manage the golden thread through design and construction, but it is the Principal Designer that will manage the golden thread on a day to day basis through the design phase of the project. 

So the general strategy for the Golden Thread is:

  • That the designer will set the naming conventions and BIM Requirements
  • Then the Building Safety Advisor will provide a briefing on the type of information to be included in the Golden Thread
  • Then the design team members are to identify the information they will supply for the Golden Thread or the client will set the requirements within the employers requirements
  • Then the Building Safety Act Principal Designer is to audit the information supplied for the Golden Thread and ensure the requirements are met
  • During construction, the Principal Contractor will manage the Golden Thread information ensuring any design work done during the construction phase is captured with sufficient evidence showing: 
  • how the building work itself conforms to the design that was approved, including any approved changes; and 
  • how the building satisfies ALL the applicable functional requirements. 
  • And then at the end the Building Safety Act Advisor will audit the Golden Thread prior to Gateway 3 submission

Then once all the processes and information has concluded an the notifiable building work is complete, a completion certificate application can be submitted. This must include:

  • ‘as built’ plans and information; 
  • final versions of all accompanying documents that accompanied the initial application; 
  • any controlled changes and the change control log; 
  • information captured through construction; 
  • information captured through commissioning; and 
  • information captured through final functional inspections. 

And this information will be stored in the golden thread. Occupation is not allowed until the BSR is satisfied and issues a completion certificate, and the building is subsequently registered. This will be determined by within 8 weeks; and other parties, as appropriate, will be consulted. 

BSR will carry out final inspections of the building work and assess whether the completion certificate application meets the relevant requirements: 

• that the higher-risk building work is complete and complies with all applicable requirement of building regulations; 

• the required information and accompanying documents submitted as part of the completion certificate application are complete and accurate; and, 

• the golden thread information required to be handed over to the relevant person is complete and has been provided. 

And once the Building Safety Regulator is satisfied all requirements have been met they will approve the application and issue a completion certificate. If the BSR, however, is not satisfied with the information they can reject the application meaning the building can’t be legally occupied. In such instances, the BSR will agree an extension with the applicant to correct errors and provide additional information to avoid complete rejection of the application. 

So to sum up what I discussed today:

  • As part of the Building Safety Act, the gateway process has been introduced for higher risk buildings to strengthen the regulatory process by  supporting a planning application, known as gateway 1, then the next is before work commences referred to as the Gateway 2 application and then during construction and on completion ahead of occupation which is the Gateway 3 application. 
  • Gateway 1, this is in preparation for a planning application whereby a Building Safety Regulator should be consulted and a ‘Fire statement’ submitted
  • Gateway 2 replaces the building regulations application
  • And then is Gateway 3, whereby before occupation, the applicant will need to submit a completion certificate application to the BSR and the building cannot be occupied without this
  • Then we have the Change Control Plan, this is a document which forms part of the Gateway 2 approval
  • There are three types of changes, the recorded change which the BSR can capture in an inspection, the notifiable change which may constitute a hard stop, and the major change which is a hard stop to the works.
  • The 'golden thread' has been implemented to support effective and efficient sharing of project information at the right time and with the right people, in an easily accessible, reliable and up-to-date format for HRBs and is the responsibility of the client but managed by the Principal Designer on a day to day basis
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Maria Skoutari

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