The Building Safety Regulator has published its enforcement policy statement detailing how it will enforce the building safety regime.
The BSR is the Building Control authority established by the Building Safety Act 2022 with responsibility for higher-risk buildings in England.
The policy outlines how it will take action to enforce the law where it identifies non-compliance, hazard or serious risk during the building or alteration and management of higher-risk buildings.
Enforcement during the building of HRBs
When acting as a Building Control authority for higher-risk buildings, the BSR can serve the following:
- a compliance notice when a duty holder contravenes, or is likely to contravene, a provision of building regulations;
- a stop notice when building work contravenes a provision of building regulations and the use of the building would present a risk of serious harm to people in or around the buildings, or where work is taking place without Building Control approval, or a compliance notice has been contravened;
- a notice requiring alteration or removal of offending work can be served where building work contravenes a provision of building regulations.
Enforcement during the management of HRBs
When regulating occupied higher-risk buildings, the BSR can:
- serve a compliance notice on an accountable person when it appears to the regulator that there is a contravention requiring action to be taken within a certain period. If the contravention places people in imminent danger, the BSR can specify that the contravention notice is an urgent action notice.
Failure to comply with any of these enforcement notices is a criminal offence and can result in prosecution.
The BSR can also apply to a tribunal to appoint a special measures manager for an occupied higher-risk building.
The regulator will consider this action where the accountable person is repeatedly failing to manage building safety risks, is not taking action to comply with duties, and residents are put at risk of serious harm.
How the BSR will regulate the Building Control profession
The BSR is also responsible for regulating the Building Control profession and can fine, strike off, or prosecute building controllers that fail to comply with the Code of Conduct, the Professional Conduct Rules, or the Operational Standards Rules (OSR).
Through its enforcement powers, the BSR can:
- make disciplinary orders;
- vary, suspend or cancel registration for Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs) and individual Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) and/or
- impose financial penalties on RBCAs and RBIs;
- prosecute criminal offences relating to registration and the OSR;
- issue an improvement notice to a local authority (LA) or RBCA if it appears they have contravened the OSR;
- issue a serious contravention notice to an LA or RBCA if it appears that either the OSR have been contravened and, as a result, the safety of persons in or about building has been, or may have been, put at risk; or they have been given an improvement notice and failed to remedy the contravention(s) contained within that notice;
- recommend to the secretary of state a transfer of an LA’s Building Control functions to another LA or the secretary of state.
