Over three years since the Hackett report was published, the Building Safety Bill has been introduced in Parliament to kickstart reforms of how residential towers are built and managed.

One such reform is the creation of a Building Safety Regulator, who will oversee a new supervision system that enables residents to escalate concerns that they feel are being ignored by the owners or managers of their building.

Residents will also have 15 years – up from 6 – to claim compensation for sub-standard construction work – a measure that will apply retrospectively.

Building owners, meanwhile, will have greater responsibility for managing safety risks during design, construction, completion and occupation, and will be required to provide a golden thread of information covering each stage of a building’s lifetime, right from the earliest stage of planning.  Owners will also need to demonstrate that effective, proportionate measures are in place to manage safety risks.  Criminal charges may be brought against building owners who don’t meet their obligations, so it is vital the new legislation is acted upon.

While the Home Builders Federation has welcomed the Building Safety Bill, noting that the industry “is committed to continuing to work with government as it develops a framework to ensure the safe design, construction and maintenance of buildings and introduces a Building Safety Regulator,[1]” critics suggest some of the measures put forward are not strong enough, with Jonathan Frankel, litigation partner at Cavendish Legal Group, highlighting the increased compensation period as having no benefit to leaseholders “without helping [them] fund potential legal actions.”

While the Building Safety Bill may not implement all of the changes pushed for within the construction industry, it must surely be seen as an improvement over existing standards and certainly as something that raises awareness of the importance of safety.

At Classic Folios, we are acutely aware of the importance of helping developers ensure compliance with new regulations, and our Fire Safety Packs and Spaciable portal offer ideal platforms in which developers can handover details about the fire safety measures and protocols in place within abuilding, as well as upload safety certificates, guidelines and updates for residents in an easily accessible location.