The Building Safety Regulator and high rise buildings
On the 1st October 2023, the Building Safety Act 2022 comes into force. The Building Safety Act creates a new regulator known as the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) which is part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Building Safety Act 2022 requires that any building which is classed as high-risk to be overseen by the Building Safety Regulator. A high risk building is defined by the Building Safety Act as any building at least 18m in height or 7 storeys with two or more dwellings.
This means that the Local Authority will no longer be the building control body for these types of buildings.
From the 1 October 2023 the Building Regulations compliance process for in-scope high risk building works will be administered by the Building Safety Regulator. The Building Safety Regulator may ask the local authority to provide advice to help them oversee the project. Where Slough Council Building Control provides advice to the Building Safety Regulator our hourly charge is £96 plus VAT until April 2024.
If you plan to build a new high-risk building, change, extend or alter an existing building in a way which would create a high risk building or carry out work on an existing high-risk building, you need to submit your application to the building safety regulator for approval.
To submit your application, please visit the Building Safety Regulator submissions portal - Manage a building control application for a higher-risk building (GOV.UK)
For further guidance you can also visit the Health and Safety Executive - Building Safety Regulator website.