Building safety act?

[Alan Ambrose]

"On 17 August, the government published new regulations for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) and major changes to the Building Regulations that will enable further parts of the Building Safety Act to be fully implemented in England on 1 October 2023. These changes, which implement what has previously been set out and consulted upon, will fundamentally reform the way that design and construction appointments are made."

 

https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/legal/will-the-building-safety-act-end-design-and-build-22-09-2023/#:~:text=The Building Regulations (Amendments etc,of clients%2C designers and contractors.

 

I appreciate we're not building 'HRBs' (well not in that sense  ) but has anyone figured already what this means for self-builders re CDM  and principal designers etc?

 

Maybe this is a better summary: https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/building-safety-act-regulations-updates-2023

Edited October 10, 2023 by Alan Ambrose

[ToughButterCup]

Here's the relevant paragraph.

 

Quote

However, for domestic projects, the client is unlikely to have sufficient competence to carry out this duty and therefore most of the client duties will be placed on those undertaking the design work and the building work. 

 

https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/building-safety-act-regulations-updates-2023  downloaded October 2023

[Alan Ambrose]

True but....

 

(And I guess this is an attempt to reduce some of finger pointing 'oh I didn't think it was my responsibility, I thought someone else was carrying the can' sad behaviour of the organisations associated with the Grenfell disaster.)

 

 

... if you have one or more principal designers & contractors, the domestic client is mostly 'off-the-hook' except that they are supposed to check and appoint the right people: "Although the client can delegate tasks, they cannot delegate responsibilities and must ensure that those they appoint have the right competencies to take on these roles."

 

"The new dutyholders being introduced under the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 will be the client (including domestic client), the principal designer and the principal contractor as well as duties on designers (including the sole or lead designer) and contractors (including sole contractor)."

 

This suggests that we self-builders should demonstrate that we've done due diligence on the 'principal designer' and the 'principal contractor'. "The client, meanwhile, must take all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the dutyholders are competent..." "Although the client can delegate tasks, they cannot delegate responsibilities and must ensure that those they appoint have the right competencies to take on these roles."

 

 

The model seems to be that a client will appoint a principal design & contractor (and those parties get to manage the rest of the contractors and designers) - which establishes a kind of chain of command. That's fine for big commercial projects, but a bit non-obvious unless you have a very hands-off approach to self-build where you let, say, an architect and a main contractor run the show.

 

[ToughButterCup]

@Alan Ambrose, have you had a read of this thread ? Apologies if you have: but it seems to me that that discussion will help you.  I may have missed something in my haste this morning ....

[Alan Ambrose]

@ToughButterCup

 

Sorry I only just saw your reply. Yes, I have read that and a few similar. I'm a bit vague on the details but I remember there seemed to be two sets of opinions: (I paraphrase) (a) 'domestic clients don't know jack and can't be expected to do CDM, that's for the professionals' and (b) 'it's your site and project and you are legally responsible for H&S'. I talked to an SE recently who pointed out that the rules changed Oct 1st.

 

The reason I started this thread is that the ground seems to be shifting onto putting responsibility on the customer / project owner and from there all along the chain. Presumably this is to stop (as I said above) the 'not my responsibility mate I thought x was taking care of it' stuff going on most obviously at Grenfell.

 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

As you pointed out in your summary, there seems to be some grey area. In my case, as we knew we wanted to use the 'Suffolk barn' trope, I've done the 'look-and-feel' design for planning. Thus no architect (and maybe that makes me PD) but note that architects are not automatically PDs and, to that end, RIBA is 'launching [its] Principal Designer Register'.  I have not completely wrapped my head around the implications of the new regulations, but these sentences from the article stand out:

 

"The client, meanwhile, must take all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the dutyholders are competent..."

 

"Under the new definitions, the client is the person responsible for commissioning the building work. They have overall control over the project and, therefore, it is appropriate that they are ultimately responsible for the golden thread information...."

 

"A provision that applies to any building work is that if at any time after a building control approval application is made or a building notice is given, the client appoints a principal designer (or sole or lead designer), the client must give notice to the relevant authority."

 

"Where there is more than one contractor, or it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will be working on a project, the client must appoint in writing (a) a designer with control over the design work as the principal designer for the purposes of these regulations, and (b) a contractor with control over the building work as the principal contractor for the purposes of these regulations. These roles are also referred to as the principal dutyholders."

 

"For domestic clients, the client duties will be carried out by the contractor (where there is only one contractor for the project), the principal contractor or principal designer (where the principal designer agrees to fulfil those duties with the client, agreed in writing). If a domestic client fails to make the appointments the designer in control of the design phase of the project (most likely an architect) is the principal designer, as under CDM."

 

"Where the client fails to appoint a principal designer (or a replacement principal designer) the client must fulfil the duties of the principal designer under these regulations until they appoint another person to that role."

 

re: ‘golden thread’ "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.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Alan Ambrose

[George]

There shouldn't be any change to how CDM operates.

 

The regulations are aimed at bringing the Building Control terminology and procedures in line with CDM. This introduces duties to ensure competence for the design and construction are completed in accordance with the Building Regulations (whereas CDM almost entirely relates to competence regarding safety). This should have happened anyway but now the duties and responsibilities are more clearly spelled out.