The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023

Made: 9th August 2023

Laid before Parliament: 17th August 2023

Coming into force - -: 1st October 2023

The Secretary of State has consulted the Building Regulations Advisory Committee for England and such other bodies as appear to be representative of the interests concerned in accordance with section 14(3) of the Building Act 1984[^f00003] and has consulted the regulator and such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in accordance with section 7 of the Building Safety Act 2022.

PART 1 — Preliminary

Citation, commencement, extent and application

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 and come into force on 1st October 2023.

• (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

• (3) These Regulations apply in relation to England only.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 1984 Act” means the Building Act 1984;

• “the 2022 Act” means the Building Safety Act 2022;

• “the 2010 Regulations” means the Building Regulations 2010[^f00004];

• “active fire safety measures” includes sprinkler systems (including isolating valves and control equipment for that system), smoke control systems (including heating or ventilation and air conditioning systems with a smoke control function), fire or smoke dampers, fire alarm systems, lifts and lift shafts (including evacuation or fire-fighting lifts), and fire main and hydrants;

• “agreed document” means— a description, plan or document in relation to HRB work, stage of HRB work or work to existing HRB that was approved by virtue of regulation 7(8) or (10) (building control approval applications for HRB work or stage of HRB work: decisions) or regulation 15(8) or (10) (building control approval applications for work to existing HRB: decisions), or where such a description, plan or document is revised— in relation to a major change, the plan or document that was approved in accordance with regulation 24(8) or (10) (change control applications: decisions); in relation to a notifiable change, the version of the plan or document that accompanied the notice to the regulator[^f00005] given under regulation 20(1) (change control: notification requirements); in relation to a recordable change, the version of the plan or document that was revised in accordance with regulation 18(2)(b) (change control) and in respect of which a record was made in accordance with regulation 18(2)(a);

• “building”— in the application of any provision of these Regulations to the construction of a higher-risk building, has the meaning given in regulation 4 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023[^f00006]; in any other case, has the same meaning as under the 2010 Regulations;

• “building control approval application for HRB work” has the meaning given in regulation 3 (building control approval for HRB work or stage of HRB work);

• “building control approval application for a stage of HRB work” has the meaning given in regulation 3 (building control approval for HRB work or stage of HRB work);

• “building control approval application for work to existing HRB” has the meaning given in regulation 11 (building control approval for work to existing HRB);

• “Building Regulations compliance statement” means a document in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 1;

• “change control application” has the meaning given in regulation 18(5) (change control);

• “change control log” has the meaning given in regulation 19(1) (change control: record-keeping);

• “change control plan” means a document in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 1;

• “commercial unit” means a part of a building in separate occupation which does not contain a flat or a residential room;

• “completion certificate application” has the meaning given in regulation 40 (completion certificate applications);

• “competence declaration” means a statement in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 1;

• “compliance declaration” means— where any appointment of a principal contractor (or sole contractor) or principal designer (or sole or lead designer) ends before a completion certificate application is submitted to the regulator, a statement provided in accordance with regulation 29(3) (new principal contractor or principal designer etc: notification); in any other case, has the meaning given in regulation 40 (completion certificate applications);

• “compliance explanation” has the meaning given in regulation 19(2)(g) (change control: record-keeping);

• “construction control plan” means a document in accordance with paragraph 2 of Schedule 1;

• “controlled change” has the meaning given in regulation 18 (change control);

• “exempt work” has the meaning in regulation 57 (exempt work);

• “fire and emergency file” means a document in accordance with paragraph 5 of Schedule 1;

• “fire safety compliance information” has the meaning given in regulation 12(3) (building control approval applications for work to existing HRB);

• “fire safety information” has the meaning in regulation 39 (information to be provided where work is scheme work);

• “golden thread information” has the meaning given in regulation 31 (golden thread);

• “HRB work” means— the construction of a higher-risk building[^f00007]; work to an existing building that causes it to become a higher-risk building together with any work to the building carried out at the same time as that work; such work, if any, which is necessary to ensure a building that undergoes a material change of use to become a higher-risk building complies with the applicable requirements listed in regulation 6 of the 2010 Regulations (requirements relating to material change of use) together with any work to the building carried out at the same time as that work;

• “major change” has the meaning given in regulation 26 (change control: major changes and notifiable changes);

• “mandatory occurrence reporting plan” is a plan describing the mandatory occurrence reporting system;

• “mandatory occurrence reporting system” means a system required under regulation 32 (mandatory occurrence reporting system);

• “notifiable change” has the meaning given in regulation 26 (change control: major changes and notifiable changes);

• “passive fire safety measures” includes the cavity barriers, fire door sets, duct dampers, fire shutters and other fire separating elements;

• “partial completion certificate application” has the meaning given in regulation 45 (partial completion certificates);

• “partial completion strategy” means a document in accordance with paragraph 6 of Schedule 1;

• “recordable change” means a controlled change which is neither a major change nor a notifiable change;

• “regularisation certificate application” has the meaning given in regulation 47 (regularisation of unauthorised building work);

• “relevant day” means any day excluding Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971[^f00008];

• “relevant person” has the meaning given in regulation 38 (handover of information on completion etc);

• “residential room” means a room, or a suite of rooms, which is not a flat and which is used solely by one or more persons to live and sleep and includes a room in a hall of residence or a residential home, but does not include a room in a hospital, or similar establishment, which is used for patient accommodation;

• “scheme work” means work to which— regulation 20 (provisions applicable to self-certification schemes) of the 2010 Regulations applies, or regulation 20A (provisions applicable to third party certification schemes) of the 2010 Regulations applies.

• “work to existing HRB” means any higher-risk building work[^f00009] which is not HRB work;

• “working day” means any day excluding Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.

• (2) In these Regulations—

• (a) “building work”, “client”, “contractor”, “designer”, “domestic client”, “flat”, “material change of use”, “principal contractor”, “principal designer”, “project”, “sole contractor” and “sole or lead designer” have the meanings given in 2010 Regulations[^f00010];

• (b) a reference to appointment as a principal contractor or principal designer is to appointment under regulation 11D (principal designer and principal contractor) of the 2010 Regulations, and that reference includes an appointment which is certified under regulation 11D(2) of those Regulations.

PART 2 — Building control approval

CHAPTER 1 — New HRBs

Building control approval for HRB work or stage of HRB work

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Before any person starts HRB work or starts a stage of HRB work, the client in relation to that work (in this Chapter “the applicant”) must—

• (a) submit an application for building control approval in relation to the work to the regulator (a “building control approval application for HRB work” or, where the work is done in stages, a “building control approval application for a stage of HRB work”) in accordance with regulation 4 (building control approval applications for HRB work or stage of HRB work),

• (b) be granted building control approval for the work,

• (c) fulfil those requirements, if any, which in accordance with the building control approval must be fulfilled before the work or, as the case maybe, the stage of the work is started, and

• (d) notify the regulator of the date on which the work or the stage of the work is to start in accordance with regulation 9(2) (notice before starting on site and further notice when work is “commenced”).

Building control approval applications for HRB work or stage of HRB work

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• (1) A building control approval application for HRB work must be made in writing, signed by the applicant, and must include—

• (a) the name, address, telephone number and (if available) email address of the client;

• (b) the name, address, telephone number and (if available) email address of the principal contractor (or sole contractor) and the principal designer (or sole or lead designer);

• (c) a statement that the application is made under this regulation;

• (d) where HRB work consists of work to an existing building, a description of the existing building including—

• (i) details of its current use, including the current use of each storey;

• (ii) its height as determined in accordance with regulation 5 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023[^f00011];

• (iii) the number of storeys it has as determined in accordance with regulation 6 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023;

• (e) a description of the proposed HRB work, including—

• (i) details of the intended use of the higher-risk building, including the intended use of each storey;

• (ii) the height of the higher-risk building as determined in accordance with regulation 5 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023;

• (iii) the number of storeys in the higher-risk building as determined in accordance with regulation 6 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023;

• (iv) the number of flats, the number of residential rooms and the number of commercial units it is proposed the higher-risk building will contain;

• (v) the provision to be made for the drainage of the higher-risk building;

• (vi) where paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 to the 2010 Regulations imposes a requirement, the precautions to be taken in the building over a drain, sewer or disposal main to comply with the requirements of that paragraph;

• (vii) the steps to be taken to comply with any local enactment that applies;

• (viii) a statement as to when it is proposed the work is to be regarded as commenced in accordance with regulation 46A (lapse of building control approval: commencement of work) of the 2010 Regulations[^f00012].

• (2) A building control approval application for HRB work must be accompanied by—

• (a) a plan to a scale of not less than 1:1250 showing—

• (i) the size and position of the building and its relationship to adjoining boundaries;

• (ii) the boundaries of the curtilage of the building, and the size, position and use of every other building or proposed building within the curtilage;

• (iii) the width and position of any street on or within the boundaries of the curtilage of the building;

• (b)

• (i) such other plans as necessary to show that the HRB work would comply with all applicable requirements of the building regulations[^f00013];

• (ii) a competence declaration;

• (iii) a construction control plan;

• (iv) a change control plan;

• (v) a mandatory occurrence reporting plan;

• (vi) a Building Regulations compliance statement;

• (vii) a fire and emergency file;

• (viii) where the applicant proposes occupation of part of the building before completion of the HRB work, a partial completion strategy;

• (c) where the application is made by someone on behalf of the client, a statement signed by the client confirming they agree to the application being made and that the information contained in the application is correct.

• (3) A building control approval application for a stage of HRB work must be made in writing, signed by the applicant, and must—

• (a) include the information required by paragraph (1);

• (b) where the application relates to the first stage of the work—

• (i) be accompanied by a statement (“staged work statement”) setting out a detailed description of the first stage and of the subsequent stages of the project (including an estimate of the time when each stage will start);

• (ii) be accompanied by the documents referred to in paragraph (2) with the following modifications—

• (aa) the plans referred to in paragraph (2)(b)(i) are such plans as necessary to show that the work for the first stage would comply with all applicable requirements of the building regulations and a summary of plans for the work beyond that stage;

• (bb) the Building Regulations compliance statement referred to in paragraph (2)(b)(vi) must set out the design principles and building standards to be applied to the work for the first stage and a summary of the design principles and building standards to be applied beyond that stage;

• (c) where the application relates to a stage after the first stage—

• (i) be accompanied by a statement (“subsequent stages statement”) setting out a detailed description of the stage to which the application relates and of the other stages of the project (including an estimate of the time when each remaining stage will start);

• (ii) be accompanied by the documents referred to in paragraph (2) with the following modifications—

• (aa) the plans referred to in paragraph (2)(b)(i) are such plans as necessary to show that the work comprised in the stage to which the application relates would comply with all applicable requirements of the building regulations and a summary of plans for work beyond that stage;

• (bb) the Building Regulations compliance statement referred to in paragraph (2)(b)(vi) must set out the design principles and building standards to be applied to the work comprised in the stage to which the application relates and a summary of the design principles and building standards to be applied beyond that stage.

Building control approval applications for HRB work or stage of HRB work: validity and time limit

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• (1) Where the regulator receives a building control approval application for HRB work or a building control approval application for a stage of HRB work which is valid the regulator must—

• (a) notify the applicant to that effect, and

• (b) determine it within 12 weeks beginning with the date the application is received by the regulator or within such longer period as at any time the regulator and the applicant agree in writing.

• (2) Where the regulator receives a building control approval application for HRB work or a building control approval application for a stage of HRB work which is not valid the regulator must notify the applicant to that effect giving reasons (and where the applicant is not the client, also give a copy of the notification to the client).

• (3) A building control approval application for HRB work or a building control approval application for a stage of HRB work is valid if it complies with regulation 4 (building control approval applications for HRB work or stage of HRB work).

Building control approval applications for HRB work or stage of HRB work: consultation

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (5), before determining a building control approval application for HRB work or a building control approval application for a stage of HRB work the regulator must consult—

• (a) the enforcing authority (within the meaning of article 25 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005[^f00014]) for the proposed higher-risk building, and

• (b) where paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 to the 2010 Regulations imposes requirements in relation to the work, the sewerage undertaker for the proposed higher-risk building.

• (2) Where the regulator is required to consult a person under this regulation the regulator—

• (a) must give the person sufficient plans to show whether the HRB work or the stage of HRB work would, if carried out in accordance with those plans, comply with—

• (i) in the case of the enforcing authority, the applicable requirements of Part B (fire safety) of Schedule 1 to the 2010 Regulations, and