The Building Safety Act 2022 is the biggest change to how buildings in England are designed, built and managed in a generation. It created a new regulator, a stricter regime for higher-risk buildings, and legal duties on every client, designer and contractor that carries out building work. This guide explains what changed, who it applies to and what you need to do.
What the Building Safety Act changed
The Act followed the Grenfell Tower fire and the independent review of building regulations and fire safety that came after it. Most of its effect comes through regulations phased in since 2022. The main changes are:
- A national Building Safety Regulator (BSR). BSR is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings and oversees the building control profession. It started life inside the Health and Safety Executive and became a standalone body, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 27 January 2026.
- A stricter route for higher-risk buildings. Approval stages, or "gateways", at planning, before construction and before occupation, with BSR as the building control body.
- Dutyholders for all building work. Since 1 October 2023, the Building Regulations 2010 include a Part 2A setting out duties for clients, principal designers, principal contractors, designers and contractors on every project, not only tall buildings.
- Competence. Anyone carrying out design or building work must be competent for it, and clients must take reasonable steps to check before appointing them.
- The golden thread. Accurate, up-to-date digital information about higher-risk buildings, kept from design through to occupation.
- Accountable persons. Named people responsible for managing fire and structural safety in occupied high-rise residential buildings.
- Changes to the Fire Safety Order. From 1 October 2023, every responsible person must record their fire risk assessment in full and record their fire safety arrangements, with stronger duties to co-operate and share information.
What is a higher-risk building?
For the occupation stage, section 65 of the Building Safety Act defines a higher-risk building as a building in England that is at least 18 metres high or has at least 7 storeys, and contains at least 2 residential units. Height or storeys is enough: a building does not have to meet both.
During design and construction the definition is wider: it also includes care homes and hospitals (with at least one overnight bed) that meet the same height or storey threshold. Hotels, secure residential institutions and military barracks are excluded. Height is measured from ground level to the floor surface of the top storey, using the government's method, and joined structures can count as one building, so check carefully if any part of a scheme is near the threshold.
Work to an existing higher-risk building can also fall into the regime, which matters for cladding remediation, refurbishment and fit-out in occupied blocks.
The Building Safety Regulator and the gateways
For a higher-risk building you cannot use a local authority or registered building control approver. Building control sits with BSR, and the project passes through three gateways.
Gateway 1: planning
Since 1 August 2021, planning applications for relevant high-rise residential buildings have had to include a fire statement covering fire safety principles, site layout, fire service access and water supplies. Fire safety is considered before the design is fixed.
Gateway 2: building control approval before work starts
You must have building control approval from BSR before construction starts. The application needs detailed design information showing how the building will comply with the building regulations, plus strategies for fire safety, change control, and how compliance will be managed and recorded. Unless an extension is agreed, BSR has 12 weeks to decide applications for new higher-risk buildings and 8 weeks for work to existing ones. Once approved, changes to the agreed documents are "controlled changes": they must be logged, notifiable changes reported, and major changes approved by BSR before that part of the work continues. There is also a mandatory occurrence reporting system for safety-critical issues found during the work.
Gateway 3: completion before occupation
At the end of the build, the client applies to BSR for a completion certificate, supported by the as-built information. The building must be registered with BSR before people live in it, and a completion certificate is needed to register. Gateway 3 is also when the golden thread is handed over to the people who will manage the building.
Dutyholders under Part 2A of the Building Regulations
The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 October 2023 and inserted Part 2A into the Building Regulations 2010. These duties apply to all building work that needs to comply with the building regulations, from a house extension to a new tower, with an exemption for certain minor works.
| Role | Main duties under Part 2A |
|---|---|
| Client | Make suitable arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the project, with enough time and resources, so the work complies. Appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing where there is more than one contractor. Check competence before appointing. Share information with the project team. |
| Principal designer | Plan, manage, monitor and co-ordinate the design phase so the design would comply if built. Make sure designers co-operate and share information, liaise with the principal contractor, and hand over information when the appointment ends. |
| Principal contractor | Plan, manage, monitor and co-ordinate the building work so it complies. Make sure contractors co-operate and share information, liaise with the principal designer, and hand over information when the appointment ends. |
| Designers | Check the client knows its duties before starting, take reasonable steps so their design would comply, provide information and raise concerns. |
| Contractors | Check the client knows its duties before starting, carry out compliant work, supervise their workers, share information and raise concerns. |
Competence requirements
Regulations 11F to 11H set the competence rules. Individuals need the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for the work, and organisations need the organisational capability to make sure their people meet that standard. Where the principal designer or principal contractor is an organisation, it must name a competent individual to manage the role. Before appointing anyone, the client must take reasonable steps to satisfy itself that they are competent, and anyone who stops meeting the requirements must say so. Government guidance points to PAS 8671 for the recommended competence of principal designers and PAS 8672 for principal contractors. On higher-risk building work, clients must also ask about relevant past serious sanctions before appointing.
The golden thread of information
For higher-risk buildings, the golden thread is the accurate, up-to-date information that shows how the building was designed and built to comply, and how it is kept safe. During design and construction the client, principal designer and principal contractor keep it. In occupation the accountable persons take it over.
Government guidance describes it as a building's single source of truth. It should be held digitally, kept secure from unauthorised access, have version control so changes can be seen, and be in a usable, plain English format. At completion the client must show that the information has been handed to the principal accountable person, and to the responsible person for any non-residential parts, and the recipient confirms they have received it in a format they can use.
Set the information system up at the start: rebuilding design decisions and product data at the end of a job is slow and rarely complete.
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person
Once a high-rise residential building is occupied, Part 4 of the Act applies. An accountable person is someone who holds a legal estate in the common parts or has a repairing obligation for them, typically a freeholder, a landlord or a management company with repair duties. Where there is more than one, the principal accountable person is the one responsible for the structure and exterior of the building.
Each accountable person must assess and manage the risks of fire spread and structural failure in the parts they are responsible for, and keep the golden thread for those parts. The principal accountable person must also:
- register the building with BSR, with information about its structure and fire safety, and keep that information up to date;
- prepare and keep up to date a safety case report and send it to BSR when asked, including when BSR directs them to apply for a building assessment certificate;
- prepare a resident engagement strategy and run a complaints system;
- operate a mandatory occurrence reporting system; and
- provide key building safety information to residents.
These duties sit alongside the Fire Safety Order, not in place of it. The responsible person still carries out the fire risk assessment and the fire door checks, and the two roles must co-operate.
How the Act links with CDM 2015
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 cover health and safety during construction. Part 2A covers compliance with the building regulations. The role names are the same and the structure is similar, which helps, but the duties are different.
- CDM principal designer (regulation 11): plans and co-ordinates the pre-construction phase to eliminate or control health and safety risks, and prepares the health and safety file.
- Building regulations principal designer (regulation 11M): plans and co-ordinates design work so the building complies with the building regulations.
- CDM principal contractor (regulation 13): plans and manages the construction phase for health and safety, with a construction phase plan under regulation 12.
- Building regulations principal contractor (regulation 11N): plans and manages the building work so it complies.
The same person or organisation can hold both roles, and often does. Regulation 11D(2) lets a client certify in writing that its CDM principal designer or principal contractor is also appointed under the building regulations. Check first that they are competent for both: strength in health and safety risk does not guarantee the ability to co-ordinate building regulations compliance, and the reverse is also true.
What clients of ordinary projects still need to do
Most projects are not higher-risk buildings, but the Act still changes what clients must do. For an office refurbishment, a new school block, a warehouse or a low-rise housing scheme:
- make suitable arrangements for the project to comply with the building regulations, with realistic time and resources;
- appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing where there is more than one contractor, under both Part 2A and CDM 2015 regulation 5;
- take reasonable steps to check the competence of everyone you appoint, and keep a record of how you did it;
- provide the information your designers and contractors need, and keep your own records;
- notify HSE under CDM regulation 6 if the work will last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers at the same time, or exceed 500 person days; and
- if your project could become a higher-risk building, for example by adding storeys or changing use to residential, check the thresholds early, because the route to approval is very different.
Building Safety Act: common questions
Does the Building Safety Act apply to buildings under 18 metres?
Yes. The higher-risk regime, with BSR approval, gateways and accountable persons, only applies to buildings that meet the height and use thresholds. The dutyholder and competence duties under Part 2A of the Building Regulations apply to all building work that must comply with the building regulations, whatever the height, apart from certain minor works.
Can our CDM principal designer also be the building regulations principal designer?
Yes. The roles can be held by the same person or organisation, and regulation 11D(2) lets the client certify in writing that the CDM principal designer is also appointed under the building regulations. The client must still be satisfied that they are competent for both roles, because the duties are different.
What happens if the client does not appoint a principal designer?
For a commercial client, failing to appoint where more than one contractor is involved breaches both Part 2A and CDM 2015, and under CDM regulation 5 the client must then carry out the principal designer and principal contractor duties itself. For a domestic client, the designer in control of the design phase becomes the principal designer by default, and the contractor in control of the work becomes the principal contractor.
Who regulates higher-risk buildings now?
The Building Safety Regulator. It was set up within the Health and Safety Executive and became a standalone body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 27 January 2026. It is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings and oversees registered building inspectors and approvers.
Is the golden thread only for new buildings?
No. It applies to higher-risk buildings during design and construction and continues once they are occupied, when the accountable persons must keep and maintain it. Existing occupied high-rise residential buildings need golden thread information too, so building managers should gather what exists and fill the gaps over time.
Getting help with your duties
Resilient Consult is a Wigan-based construction and compliance consultancy working across the North West. We can act as principal designer under CDM 2015 and the building regulations on suitable projects, help clients set up their dutyholder appointments and records, and arrange the fire safety surveys and assessments that feed the golden thread. Send us the details of your project and we will tell you what applies.
