Building safety

The collapse of Assent Building Compliance will have only a limited impact on the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) target to elimnate its backlog of gateway two applications by January, the quango said today. The collapse of Assent and two of its subsidiaries led to headlines yesterday (4 November) casting doubt…

Major building control firm Assent Building Compliance has ceased trading and is set to enter insolvency, throwing thousands of construction projects into uncertainty. The Wakefield-based firm, which supplies compliance, inspection, certification, training and safety services, sent alarm bells ringing when it issued risk of redundancy notices to some of its…

Efficiency East Midlands (EEM) has launched early market engagement for a £310m fire safety framework covering public sector buildings across England and Wales. The procurement consortium, which works on behalf of local authorities, NHS bodies, emergency services, and registered housing providers, is planning to replace its current passive fire protection…

The London Fire Brigade has called on developers to carry out fire safety tests on all modular construction projects before they are completed. The “very bespoke nature” of modular structures means each one should have an individual fire test "to enable full understanding of the performance of the structure when…

Assent Building Compliance has issued risk of redundancy notices to some of its employees, as it works “tirelessly” to save the business, Construction News can reveal. The Wakefield-based firm, which supplies compliance, inspection, certification, training and safety services, said “challenging” trading conditions had caused “significant pressures”. The Building Safety Regulator…

The lack of mandatory registration for subcontractors in the construction industry poses a “great danger”, according to the chair of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Giving evidence this morning (28 October) to the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee’s inquiry into issues at the BSR, Andy Roe (pictured) called…

Every school building with dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) will be remediated by 2029, the government has announced. It pledged to remove the crumbling concrete from 114 schools and colleges in England by the next general election. The commitment does not include more than 120 education sites with RAAC…

A mechanical and electrical job at London’s historic Guildhall has suffered a nine-month planning delay under the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Because there are two grace-and-favour flats in the venue, it is classed as a higher-risk building (HRB), which means work on the grade I-listed landmark has been caught up…

Building safety minister Samantha Dixon has ruled out offering higher wages to attract more registered building control inspectors to the Building Safety Regulator, amid ongoing efforts to reduce Building Safety Regulator (BSR) delays. In a Westminster Hall debate yesterday (23 October) on the performance of the BSR, she said the…

The construction sector must demonstrate competence rather than assume it if the Building Safety Act (BSA) is to deliver lasting cultural change, regulators and industry leaders told delegates at last week’s BESA Annual Conference. Jon Vanstone, chair of the Industry Competence Committee advising the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), said the…