LABC has welcomed the publication by MHCLG of the draft Building Safety Bill as a key milestone for building safety in England. The draft Bill lays out the pillars of the biggest reform of building safety regulation since the introduction of the 1984 Building Act, but leaves much of the detail of reform to secondary legislation. Virtually every aspect of the system including design, specification, procurement, construction, hand-over and management of onward occupation will see changes.
Lorna Stimpson, LABC Chief Executive commented, “I welcome the publication of the Bill in draft form today, but there is still much to do to get the details right. LABC will be working across the industry to make sure the Bill when it finalised does all the things it needs to do to make our buildings safer – but the devil will be in the detail.
“So far what we know is the HSE will become the Building Safety Regulator with far reaching powers to appoint building control inspectors, for higher risk building work. And all building control practitioners will need to be licensed and have to prove their competence to practice. New defined standards and processes with legal responsibilities for those commissioning and managing buildings will be introduced and for the first time, local authorities and individual building control inspectors will be responsible and legally liable for their decisions.
“Local government across England needs to understand these changes and how they will affect not only their building control teams but their responsibilities more generally. Please don’t think because there are no high-rise tower blocks in your area it won’t affect you. It will.
“So you can see the impact of these changes on all English local authorities will be huge, with building control teams needing investment and additional learning so they can evidence their resourcing, competence, standards and resilience.
“We have to ensure public safety. Change has to happen and it has to happen now.”
Another association that has welcomed the bill is the The Association for Project Safety (APS)/ Lesley McLeod, Chief Executive comments: “Safety must be at the heart of every construction project. It is not a nice-to-have or an add-on but is central to everything the construction sector must be about. Building safely is vital to the lives, health and well-being of us all.
“The Association for Project Safety [APS] supports moves to improve building safety and believes a thread sewing safety into the fabric of every property – from design through use and on to final deconstruction – may help prevent safety from becoming invisible and of secondary importance.
“APS believes work on high rise buildings is important. But members want more – they want to see safety imbedded in every project, no matter how large or small, so we can all live and work in the certainty that proportionate risks have been assessment and properly managed.
“We all have an interest in making buildings safer. The Association for Project Safety [APS] will work to make the new Building Safety Bill effective. The association will consult its nationwide membership of experts in design and construction health and safety risk management to ensure safety is built-in with the bricks.”
