New York News
By partner Alexandra Gower, associate director Matt Kyle and senior knowledge lawyer Tessa Garner at Osborne Clarke
The government’s much-awaited response to the consultation on the new building control regime for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) has landed, along with various sets of regulations that provide detail about how the new regime will operate.
The new provisions are extensive, but the main aspects to consider include the “Gateway” regime, the transition period, the change-control process, and what needs to be included in the “golden thread” of information. The majority of the new regulations will take effect on 1 October 2023.
Many of the measures addressed have been widely trailed and are largely unchanged from those set out in the government’s original consultation. However, there have been some important deviations from previous proposals.
Gateway regime
A primary area of concern for the industry surrounding the new building control regime for HRBs is the potential for delay at the preconstruction Gateway 2 and post-completion Gateway 3 stages of a project. Each stage will require sign-off from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) in order for the construction and ultimate occupation of an HRB to take place.
Both of these applications will be subject to a statutory maximum period for determination by the regulator:
- For Gateway 2 applications, this period will be 12 weeks for new HRBs and eight weeks for building works to e