Building Consents – here to help you meet Building Act requirements

Building Regulations in England and Wales are currently undergoing a complete overhaul with the Building Safety Bill likely to proceed into law in Spring 2022. Already the Government has introduced a series of measures for high rise residential buildings, notably the “Gateway process” which requires projects to be assessed at three key stages:

• Planning Gateway One – at the planning application stage
• Gateway Two – before building work starts
• Gateway Three – when building work is completed

Most developers are already aware of Gateway One - the need to supply fire safety information as part of their planning applications for new projects - and this process was introduced in August 2021. However, developers now need to be prepared for the requirements for Gateways Two and Three which will be enacted in 2023.

Gateways Two and Three are stop/go decision points that must be passed before a development can proceed to the next stage, strengthening regulatory oversight of design and construction.

Both Gateways require developers to provide detailed evidence of compliance before allowing work to start or be eventually signed off as complete. If you are already planning high rise projects then 2023 is an imminent date and the requirements will affect you.

As Approved Inspectors who have experience of working with high rise projects over the past decade, here at Building Consents we are fully aware of the requirements needed at each of the Gateway stages and we are already working with some of our clients to ensure that their project complies.

Glyn Thomas, managing director of Building Consents Ltd comments: “You can wait for the Building Act to become law but smarter developers are the early adopters. They are already taking steps to ensure they have the systems and partners in place to help them move seamlessly to the new process.”

He added, “The developers who act early will be the ones who will be able to prove their development complies, avoid unnecessary delays at the outset and construct projects that are safe.”

If you’d like to know more about the Building Safety Act and how we can help, then please contact us.