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England’s Building Safety Act 2022 has changed construction by making higher-risk building work an approval-led process with named dutyholders, earlier evidence requirements, controlled changes and a digital record that must survive handover. The most important practical point is sequence: establish whether the regime applies, appoint and check the right people, obtain Building Safety Regulator (BSR) approval before covered work starts, maintain the required information throughout construction and secure completion approval before occupation.
This guide focuses on the design-and-construction higher-risk building regime in England. The Act is a framework of legislation and regulations rather than one universal checklist, so the statutory definitions, applicable regulations and current BSR guidance must be read together.
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What has the Building Safety Act changed for construction projects?
The Act has moved higher-risk building control from a sign-off arranged around construction to a structured process that starts in pre-construction and continues through design, site work, change management and handover. For an in-scope project, the client must ensure the application is made and approval is obtained before required work begins. The BSR is the building-control authority for that work, and the client remains accountable even when a representative prepares or submits the application.
Project teams now need to demonstrate, not merely assert, that the design and construction will comply with building regulations. That means identifying named dutyholders, checking their competence, coordinating their work, preparing control plans, operating mandatory occurrence reporting and keeping a current digital record of building information known as the golden thread. The process also creates regulatory gates: work cannot proceed on a part affected by a major change until the required approval is in place, and a newly built higher-risk building cannot be occupied until completion approval and a completion certificate have been issued.
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The rules do not put every building project through the BSR. The first management decision is therefore a documented scope assessment, followed by a clear route for any work that is outside the higher-risk regime.
Does your project count as a higher-risk building?
For the design-and-construction regime, a building generally has to meet both a specified use test and a height or storey test. The criteria apply in England and are explained in the government’s criteria guidance. Legal definitions and exclusions still matter, so borderline cases should be checked against the current guidance rather than decided from a headline threshold.
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| Scope question | What the criteria say | Project implication |
|---|---|---|
| Where is the project? | The cited higher-risk design-and-construction guidance applies to England. | Do not transplant this process automatically to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland; use the applicable jurisdiction’s building-control rules. |
| What is the building used for? | It generally contains at least two residential units, is a care home or is a hospital. | Confirm the planned use and any statutory definitions or exclusions before selecting the approval route. |
| How tall is it? | The building is at least 18 metres high or has at least seven storeys. These are alternative thresholds. | Assess height and storeys using the statutory criteria and detailed guidance, not an informal site measurement. |
| Which project phase is being assessed? | Design-and-construction criteria are separate from the occupation-phase definition. | A building’s status and duties can differ between construction and occupation; record which test you are applying. |
| What work is proposed? | Covered work is subject to the higher-risk route, while specified exempt work, competent-person-scheme work, specified fibre-optic work and emergency repairs have separate rules. | Describe the actual work package and verify whether an exception applies; do not assume that an in-scope building makes every task subject to the same process. |
| Who controls the work? | The BSR is the building-control authority for higher-risk building work. Local authorities or registered building control approvers deal with non-higher-risk work. | Some developments can contain packages with different building-control routes, which must be mapped and coordinated. |
The government’s technical criteria guidance concerns a building being designed and constructed. It should not be confused with the separate criteria and registration duties that apply during occupation.
How should a client establish the scope before design starts?
Make scope a recorded project decision, not an assumption made by a designer or contractor after mobilisation. A short scope record should identify the geography, proposed use, height, storeys, project phase, work category and intended building-control authority.
- Define the building and its intended use. State whether it will contain two or more residential units, operate as a care home, operate as a hospital or fall outside those use categories.
- Apply both height and storey tests. Check the 18-metre and seven-storey alternatives against the statutory measuring criteria. Keep the calculations, drawings and assumptions that support the conclusion.
- Check exclusions and work-specific exceptions. Separate the main building work from exempt work, competent-person-scheme work, specified fibre-optic work and emergency repairs. Obtain a documented view where the boundary is uncertain.
- Separate construction from occupation. Note whether the decision concerns design and construction or the later occupied building. Do not use an occupation-phase definition as a substitute for the construction test.
- Map the approval authority. Identify which packages require BSR approval and which, if any, follow local-authority or registered-approver routes. Put the interface on the responsibility matrix and programme.
- Revisit the assessment when the design changes. A change in use, height, storeys or work scope can alter the route. Keep the assessment in the project information record and link later decisions to it.
The BSR advises that non-higher-risk projects should not be sent to it for building-control approval. Getting the scope decision right prevents both an unlawful start and avoidable delay from applying to the wrong authority.
Who is responsible for compliance on a higher-risk project?
The design-and-construction dutyholder framework names the client, designer, principal designer, contractor and principal contractor. Each must plan, manage and monitor their own work so it complies with building regulations, cooperate and communicate with the other dutyholders, coordinate interfaces and have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours needed for the role.
| Dutyholder | Practical responsibility | Evidence to maintain |
|---|---|---|
| Client | Ensure suitable appointments, provide information, make sure the application is submitted and approval is obtained before required work starts, and remain accountable for the application. | Appointment and competence records, declarations, project information, control plans and the decision log. |
| Designer | Design in compliance with building regulations, coordinate design information and cooperate with the principal designer and other dutyholders. | Design records, specifications, calculations, assumptions, coordination comments and responses to design risks. |
| Principal designer | Plan, manage and monitor design work, coordinate designers and support the client’s application and construction-control information. | Design-management arrangements, competence declaration, coordination records and information supplied for the application. |
| Contractor | Plan and manage the work under its control, use competent people, follow the approved information and report issues or occurrences through the project system. | Method and quality records, competence information, inspections, non-conformance records and change submissions. |
| Principal contractor | Plan, manage and monitor construction, coordinate contractors, operate the construction-phase controls and maintain reporting and information routes. | Construction control plan, site coordination records, mandatory occurrence reports, inspection evidence and change-control records. |
The client can authorise someone to manage or submit an application, but that delegation does not transfer the client’s accountability. Before appointments are final, the client should keep written competence checks and provide the required competence information in the relevant declaration and construction-control plan. The guidance also requires reporting certain serious sanctions involving appointees and explaining how associated risks will be managed.
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What must be ready before higher-risk work starts?
Covered work needs BSR building-control approval before it begins. The application is therefore a pre-construction deliverable, not paperwork to assemble after the site has opened. The BSR’s building-control approval guidance explains when approval is required, who must apply and what information must be supplied.
A client should build the following into the pre-construction plan, subject to the current application requirements:
- Drawings and plans that describe the proposed building work clearly enough for the regulator to assess compliance.
- A competence declaration covering the relevant dutyholders and the information required about their skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours.
- A construction control plan explaining how the work will be planned, managed, monitored and coordinated so building regulations are met.
- A change control plan setting out how proposed changes will be identified, classified, assessed, approved and recorded.
- A mandatory occurrence reporting plan describing how relevant safety occurrences will be reported and handled during construction.
- A golden-thread facility in electronic form, with access arrangements for the dutyholders who must maintain and update the record.
- Information about the project team and management arrangements, including responsibilities, competence evidence and routes for communication.
Do not treat the list as a universal form. The regulations and current BSR application guidance determine the information required for the particular project. Keep a submission index showing what was supplied, which revision was approved and where the live project record is held.
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No. Where the higher-risk building regime requires approval, the client must ensure that approval is in place before the relevant building work starts. The BSR states: “Carrying out building work without the required building control approval is a criminal offence” in its building control approval guidance.
“Start” should be treated as a programme and site-control issue. Put an approval hold point into the procurement and mobilisation schedule; make sure subcontract orders, enabling works and early packages are checked against the scope decision; and prevent release of construction instructions for covered work until the approval status is confirmed.
There are separate rules for specified exempt work, work carried out under a competent-person scheme, specified fibre-optic work and emergency repairs. An exception should be recorded with the reason and evidence that its conditions are met. It should not be used as a general workaround for an approval delay.
How should teams manage compliance during construction?
Compliance is an active management activity throughout the build. The principal contractor and principal designer need working arrangements that turn the approved information and control plans into site decisions, while the client keeps oversight of the dutyholder system and the information record.
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- Use the approved information as the baseline. Brief supervisors and trade contractors on the approved design, specifications, interfaces and constraints. Make the current revision easy to identify at the point of work.
- Coordinate interfaces deliberately. Hold structured coordination between designers, contractors and specialist trades. Record decisions, unresolved assumptions, responsibilities and the information needed to close each issue.
- Check competence before work is allocated. Keep evidence for appointments and subcontract packages, and escalate gaps rather than relying on informal assurances.
- Operate mandatory occurrence reporting. The principal designer and principal contractor must have a system through which workers can report relevant safety occurrences and the project can assess, escalate and retain the reports. Explain the route during induction and make it usable for people who are not permanent employees.
- Inspect and record construction evidence. Retain the records needed to show that installed work matches the approved design and that defects, non-conformances and remedial decisions were controlled.
- Feed information into the golden thread as work progresses. Do not postpone record updates until practical completion. Record approved changes, as-built information, test and inspection evidence and decisions while the people and context are still available.
- Escalate uncertainty early. If a design issue, site condition or proposed substitution could affect compliance, send it through the change-control process before instructing the affected work.
The BSR’s design and building work guidance describes the dutyholders’ obligations to plan, manage, monitor, cooperate and coordinate. The practical test is whether the project can show a traceable route from requirement, through decision and installation, to retained evidence.
What does the golden thread mean for a construction project?
The golden thread is the required digital record of information about the building. It is not a particular software brand and buying a platform does not, by itself, demonstrate compliance. The client must provide an electronic facility, and relevant dutyholders must be able to access, maintain and update the information they are responsible for.
The record should let an authorised person find accurate information at the stage when it is needed. In practice, that means controlling revisions and permissions, identifying who created and approved information, retaining the reasoning behind significant decisions, and linking design information to construction evidence. The record should develop from the early design and application material rather than being recreated from scattered emails at handover.
Useful controls include:
- a single index of current and superseded information;
- clear naming, revision and approval conventions;
- role-based access for the client, designers, contractors and other relevant dutyholders;
- a change log linking each approved change to drawings, specifications, assessments and site evidence;
- records of competence checks, occurrence reports, inspections, tests, defects and remedial work;
- routine checks that information remains accurate, accessible and backed up; and
- a handover process that confirms the receiving team can use the record, not merely download a file set.
The BSR’s golden-thread guidance says the record must be kept current as design and building work progress. Treat it as an operational record that supports safe decisions later, not as a compliance archive assembled at the end.
What happens when the design or construction changes?
Changes must be assessed through the project’s change-control arrangements before the affected work proceeds. Not every change has the same classification, so the team should use the current BSR change-management guidance to determine whether it is a major change or another category with different controls.
- Describe the proposed change. Identify the affected element, reason, originator, timing and relationship to the approved information.
- Assess its effect. Consider building-regulation compliance, fire and structural safety, interfaces, sequencing, competence, information and any effect on the scope assessment.
- Classify it under the applicable guidance. Record why the team considers the change major, not major or otherwise controlled.
- Obtain the required decision. A major change requires BSR approval before work on the affected part proceeds.
- Update project information. Revise drawings, specifications, control plans, the golden thread, programme and briefing material so the site is not working to conflicting versions.
- Verify implementation. Inspect the installed change and retain evidence that the approved decision was followed.
If a major change is proposed, the official guide says work must stop on the relevant part until BSR approves it. A site-wide shutdown is not automatically implied; the control is tied to the affected work, but teams should isolate interfaces safely and obtain competent advice where the boundary is unclear.
What is required at completion and handover?
Handover is a regulatory gate, not just a document exchange. For a newly built higher-risk building, the client must obtain completion approval and a completion certificate before the building can be occupied. A residential higher-risk building must also be registered with the BSR before people live in it.
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Prepare for completion throughout construction:
- close design and construction changes through the approved process;
- complete inspections, tests, commissioning and defect records;
- assemble accurate as-built information and link it to the golden thread;
- confirm that the dutyholder declarations and competence information are complete;
- show how mandatory occurrence reports and outstanding actions were handled;
- make sure the receiving building-management team has access to the electronic record; and
- track the completion-approval application, certificate and registration status as formal deliverables.
The BSR’s completion guidance and the wider approval guidance should be checked for the current application route and information requirements. Do not promise occupation in the programme on the assumption that a practical-completion date is equivalent to regulatory completion.
How is the higher-risk route different from ordinary building control?
The key difference is not that non-higher-risk work has no building-regulation duties. It is that higher-risk building work in England has a BSR-led approval route, named statutory dutyholders, prescribed information and change gates that must be built into project delivery.
| Project feature | Higher-risk building work | Non-higher-risk work |
|---|---|---|
| Building-control authority | Building Safety Regulator | Local authority or registered building control approver, as applicable |
| Start of covered work | Required BSR approval must be in place first | Follow the approval route that applies to the project and work category |
| Dutyholder management | Client, designer, principal designer, contractor and principal contractor have defined planning, management, monitoring, cooperation and competence duties | Other building-control and health-and-safety duties still apply, but the higher-risk process described here may not |
| Changes | Use the approved change-control process; major changes require approval before the affected work proceeds | Apply the change rules for the relevant building-control route |
| Information record | Maintain a digital golden-thread record accessible to relevant dutyholders | Maintain the records required by the applicable regulations and contract |
| Occupation | Completion approval and a completion certificate are required for a newly built higher-risk building; residential higher-risk buildings must be registered before occupation | Follow the completion and occupation requirements for the applicable route |
A large development can have mixed characteristics or work packages. Establish the authority and evidence route for each part, then define who owns interfaces so that a package is not left without a valid approval path.
What is changing in 2026, and how can project teams keep up?
The BSR building-control approval guidance was updated on 1 October 2026. The current design-and-construction higher-risk buildings collection lists approval, application, change-management and completion guidance, so it should be a routine reference point rather than a one-off check at project launch.
The government’s September 2026 Grenfell Tower Inquiry progress report described a proposal to require a senior-manager statement from the principal designer with Gateway 2 applications. The report presented that as an intended statutory requirement, not as confirmation that the rule was already in force. It also described a review of the dutyholder regime and consideration of principal-contractor licensing. Treat these as proposals or work in progress unless later legislation or official guidance confirms commencement.
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- Check the current BSR collection and approval page before each application, major change and completion submission.
- Reconfirm scope when the use, height, storey count, design or work package changes.
- Maintain a regulatory change log with the date checked, source page, project impact and owner for any action.
- Review dutyholder appointments and competence evidence when roles, organisations or proposed requirements change.
- Version-control plans and the golden thread so the project can show which guidance and approved information governed each decision.
- Ask the regulator or qualified legal/building-control adviser about uncertainty rather than relying on summaries, old templates or supplier assurances.
The safest way to keep up is to make official guidance checks part of the project’s governance calendar. A saved copy of a page is not enough if the team cannot show which current requirement it applied to a live decision.
What should a client put on the project compliance checklist?
A concise checklist can prevent the most expensive sequencing errors:
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- Confirm that the project is in England and identify the relevant phase.
- Record the building use, height and storey assessment, including exclusions and assumptions.
- Identify the building-control authority for every work package.
- Name the client, designer, principal designer, contractor and principal contractor where applicable.
- Complete and retain competence checks and declarations.
- Prepare drawings, plans, the construction control plan, change control plan and mandatory occurrence reporting plan.
- Provide the electronic facility for the golden thread and define access, ownership, revision and backup controls.
- Obtain BSR approval before covered work starts.
- Brief the site team on reporting, coordination, approved information and stop-work escalation.
- Classify and approve changes before work on an affected part proceeds.
- Keep the golden thread current during design and construction.
- Secure completion approval and the completion certificate before occupation, and complete residential registration before people live in the building.
- Check the current BSR guidance collection and record the date of each regulatory review.
The Act’s practical effect is disciplined project governance: scope is decided early, responsibility is visible, evidence is maintained as work happens and occupation is held until the required regulatory gates are cleared.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a project team use a building-control approver instead of the BSR if the building is close to, but below, the threshold?
The authority follows the legal scope test, not a project’s preference. Keep the height, storey, use and work-category assessment that supports the conclusion, and check the current criteria guidance if later design changes could move the building into the higher-risk definition.
What if one development contains both higher-risk and non-higher-risk buildings?
Map each building and work package separately, identify the authority and approval route for each, and assign an owner for interfaces such as shared services or phased infrastructure. A mixed development should not be treated as having one blanket building-control route without that analysis.
How should subcontractors participate in mandatory occurrence reporting?
Give subcontractors a simple reporting route during induction, explain what information must be passed to the principal contractor or principal designer, and retain the resulting assessment and escalation record. The system should work for temporary and specialist workers as well as direct employees.
What should happen to the golden thread when the main contractor changes?
The client should preserve the electronic record, permissions and revision history, then document the transfer of responsibility and access to the incoming team. Reconcile the record against current drawings, approved changes and site evidence before the replacement contractor relies on it.
How can a team tell whether a proposed 2026 policy change is already law?
Check the wording and status in the latest legislation and BSR or government guidance, noting the publication and update dates. A progress report or consultation proposal should be recorded as a future possibility until an official source confirms that the requirement has commenced.
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