BSI have welcomed the introduction of the Building Safety Bill, claiming that the bill will “bring a much needed change of culture to the entire Built Environment sector.”

Scott Steedman, Director-General, Standards at BSI said: “We welcome the new measures set out in the government’s Building Safety Bill. The Bill provides a new regulatory framework that will steer the improvement of practices in the design, construction and building management sector, particularly in relation to safeguarding the safety of residents in high-rise residential properties.

“BSI is working closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the new Building Safety Regulator to support the implementation of the Bill in our role as the UK National Standards Body. Our Built Environment Competence Standards programme, launched last year, will support the new legislation, along with the industry training and qualification schemes that will follow and provide a basis for third party accreditation of building safety competence at all levels and across all roles, functions, tasks and activities.

“We will be publishing specific standards aimed at the competence requirements of the three key roles regulated under the Building Safety Bill, which are those of Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and Building Safety Manager.

“Over time we expect that the combination of the new Bill and the competence standards will bring a much needed change of culture to the entire Built Environment sector and long term benefits to the public, living and working in buildings, to the workers in the sector and to the building owners.”

New measures in the Building Safety Bill introduced will:

• Ensure there are clearly identified people responsible for safety during the design, build and occupation of a high-rise residential building.
• Establish a Building Safety Regulator to hold to account those who break the rules and are not properly managing building safety risks, including taking enforcement action where needed.
• Give residents in these buildings more routes to raise concerns about safety, and mechanisms to ensure their concerns will be heard and taken seriously.   
• Extend rights to compensation for substandard workmanship and unacceptable defects.    
• Drive the culture change needed across the industry to enable the design and construction of high-quality, safe homes in the years to come.

Commenting on the Building Safety Bill, Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:    ”This Bill will ensure high standards of safety for people’s homes, and in particular for high rise buildings, with a new regulator providing essential oversight at every stage of a building’s lifecycle, from design, construction, completion to occupation.

“The new building safety regime will be a proportionate one, ensuring those buildings requiring remediation are brought to an acceptable standard of safety swiftly, and reassuring the vast majority of residents and leaseholders in those buildings that their homes are safe.”