Over the course of the last couple of years, we have watched with interest as the Building Safety Act made its way through Parliament and, earlier this year, finally became law. As discussed in previous blogs (here and here, for example), the Act represents a wholesale revision of the planning and construction approval process for developments with a residential angle, as well as introducing a more rigorous and stringent safety regime which takes effect once a building is occupied, thereby safeguarding the wellbeing of the building's residents and hopefully avoiding a repeat of the tragedy we witnessed at the Grenfell Tower in 2017.
The legal obligations created by the Act are numerous and will have a significant impact for developers and owners of residential buildings. In order to help navigate the new statutory framework, we have created an interactive flowchart, which allows you to establish which obligations will apply to a development or existing property, and to learn more about how these will operate in practice. The topics covered include (amongst others) the change to the limitation periods for claims under the Defective Premises Act 1972, the introduction of Remediation Orders and Remediation Contribution Orders in order to facilitate the remediation of defective buildings, the new construction gateway regime and the safety management procedures which will apply to higher-risk buildings once occupied.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
