Gateway to safer buildings

The Building Safety Act 2022 established the new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Ron Alalouff speaks with Mark Wilson, the Lead for Planning Gateway One, and Colin Blatchford-Brown, Gateways and Building Control Lead, on the prospects for the new regime.

The new Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) remit is a threefold one: to deliver the new regulatory regime for high-rise residential buildings, to promote competence across the built environment, and oversight of the entire built environment.

Planning Gateway One is part of the BSR and is a new statutory consultee on fire safety matters for planning applications that include high-rise residential buildings. It began operation in August 2021, and from October 2023, the BSR will effectively be the building control authority for high-rise residential buildings in England, so will oversee the design and construction of these buildings, as well as managing the safe occupation of existing buildings.

The BSR will give advice to local regulators, landlords and building owners, the building design and construction industry, and residents. It aims to be evidence-led and enforce its powers proportionately and on the principle that it is the responsibility of those who create risk to manage and control it.

As part of the Fire Protection Association's continuing commitment to increase fire safety awareness across the built environment, a number of informative feature articles are available to read on our website.?You can read the full article here.