Building Safety Act 2022 – October 2023

Part of: Building control news and updates

The Building Safety Act 2022 gained Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and the changes came into force on 1 October 2023.

The Act makes provision for the safety of people in and about buildings and the standard of buildings Building Safety Act 2022.

Higher Risk Buildings (HRB)

The Building Safety Act 2022 amends the Building Act 1984 to: 

  • create powers to prescribe requirements on those who procure, design, plan, manage and undertake building work
  • introduce new enforcement powers for building control authorities

Once secondary legislation is commenced on 1 October 2023, you will need to follow the new building control regime if you:

  • plan to build a new higher-risk building (HRB)
  • create one through change of use or alteration / extension
  • plan to undertake building work to an existing HRB

To check if your building meets the definition of an HRB, please refer to the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023.

If your building meets the definition please also see The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023.

This means that: 

  • you submit a building control approval application to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to obtain approval before you can start any building work
  • you obtain approval when you make major changes to the proposed work
  • the work is suitably completed to meet the functional requirements of the building regulations
  • you construct the work in accordance with those approvals and that at the end of the project you provide evidence (please refer to Storing building information – the golden thread HSE guidance) through a completion certificate application to demonstrate that you built what you said you would or were given approval for
  • the work is suitably completed to meet the functional requirements of the building regulations

To help navigate the legislation and support the new building control approval process for higher-risk buildings, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has developed some new guidance.

If you have already submitted a Full Plans application (before 1 October 2023) or an Initial Notice relating to a Higher Risk building, please familiarise yourself with the transitional arrangements.

Amendments to other Building Control legislation

In addition to the Building Safety Act 2022 amendments, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published other secondary legislation that applies to the new building control framework.

The following regulations will come into force on 1 October 2023:

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