Building safety

Delays to gateway three approvals for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) may trigger financial “instability” among contractors, according to industry analysts. Their warnings came as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed 44 schemes are still awaiting a gateway three decision more than three months after those applications were submitted to the…

Dozens of higher-risk building (HRB) schemes have been stuck for months at the gateway three approval stage with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), new figures show. According to the data, revealed in a freedom of information (FOI) request from law firm Irwin Mitchell, 44 HRB schemes are still awaiting a…

Grenfell Tower material producer Arconic has claimed it is immune from liability in a £2.73m High Court legal action over cladding used on three other London high-rises – because it is based in France. In September, Equans launched a £2.73m High Court claim against Arconic Architectural Products SAS alleging that…

A former secretary of a leading structural safety body has resigned his Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) membership over its “lack of adequate response to the Grenfell tragedy”. Civil engineer John Carpenter left ICE on 4 February after being a member since the 1970s and a fellow for over 40…

A shortfall in construction capacity has held back the government’s attempts to remediate hospitals affected by dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a senior health department figure has admitted. The multibillion-pound programme to replace hospitals fitted with RAAC cannot move any faster without increasing costs, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)…

The Building Safety Regulator is set to operate as the shadow Single Construction Regulator (SCR) before the overarching body begins formal operations, officials said last week. Before Christmas, the government’s prospectus for the new regulator said the SCR would “take over [the BSR’s] responsibilities” and be the “foundation for an…

The industry is divided over whether the fire safety guidance offers a realistic response to the building safety crisis

The Building Safety Regulator has yet to sanction any building control bodies after assuming oversight of the sector in October 2024, Construction News can reveal. Information obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act shows that 11 complaints have been registered with the BSR against private registered building control authority…

Building control procedures for some telecoms works could be relaxed, following industry concerns over delays and compliance burdens. Officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the higher-risk building (HRB) control regime had created unintended consequences, with routine telecoms tasks now subject to the same oversight as…

Building Safety Regulator (BSR) chairman Andy Roe has played down the prospects of his body taking a hardline approach on legacy gateway two applications. The BSR said in a document released  on Tuesday (27 January) that it would reject projects stuck in the gateway if “achieving an approval within the…