What the introduction of the Building Safety Act means

The Building Safety Act was introduced in the aftermath of the calamitous Grenfell Tower fire in London in June 2017. Because so many residents sadly lost their lives, with the cladding being the primary focus of investigations into how the fire spread so quickly, it was recognised that some sort of legislation was required for high-rise buildings in the future.

Most of the detail of the Parliamentary Act is aimed at builders and architects, although, because they must have an awareness of the legality of building structures, chartered surveyors need to have a knowledge of it too so that they can adequately assess the state of the structure of the buildings they are surveying to give an accurate report to the client.

Residents in a high-rise building will also need to the provisions of the Act as the affect their daily lives and what remedial actions can be taken in the event of an issue with the building being identified.

The Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has provided a very helpful Frequently Asked Questions list, but here we extricate some of the key points as they pertain to those living in such a high-rise building.

The Act is clear that the onus for building safety falls firmly on the owner(s) of the building whether they are in public or private ownership. 

Moreover, the responsibility starts at the planning and design stage to the point where residents come in and, crucially, for the lifetime of the building. Their responsibility comes in a clear demonstration of risk assessment and how the action is taken and managed in the event of the problems arising.

Any incidents coming under the building safety banner will have to be reported to the Building Safety Regulator, which is under the control of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who have the responsibility for ensuring the problem is satisfactorily rectified.

One of the key changes under the Act is that a high-rise building's residents and tenants will have a greater say in the management of their building. 

If there any concerns regarding the safety within the building, they will have the legal right to raise them with the owner(s) of the building, who, in turn, have a legal duty to listen to them and take appropriate action.

There may be occasions when the building owner is not responding, or the resident feels that their concern has not been accepted. In such cases, they also have a right to escalate the problem to the Building Safety Regulator.

There is also a restructure of the compensation process in the event of health issues or loss of property created by the identified flaw, with an extended time limit in which to make claims and receive financial recompense in the event of a problem having caused such physical or material harm.

Furthermore, landlords (the owners of the high-rise buildings) will be legally and financially culpable for remedying any historical building defects.

For residents in high-rise buildings, the government has produced a booklet, Your home, your safety - Making Buildings Safer, that provides clearly stated details of the changes under the provision of the Act.

Thinking of buying or leasing a residence in a high-rise building? Worried about the level of safety of the construction and what defects there might be?

That's where it is really worth contacting Surveyor Local! Because Chartered Surveyors not only look at bungalows, maisonettes and houses, they also have the knowledge and skills to survey other types of homes including flats located in high-rise buildings.

Surveyor Local only works with members of RICS to offer home buyers a comprehensive range of surveys that are affordable and will provide the information required on a property. 

Your appointed surveyor will be local to the property you are buying so they will know the area and bring that knowledge to their assessment and their analysis of the issues with the new home.

Not only will the surveyor work hard to find all the problems affecting the property, they will also be keen to adopt new and proven technology in order to give the best survey possible.

Surveyor Local will provide a quote that will not change - what you are quoted is what you pay. 

Next-day bookings are usually available, and your appointed surveyor will look after arranging access to the property with the estate agent and the seller. Once the survey is complete, they will send you a PDF copy of the report by email.

Call  to get your survey quote started, or to discuss your concerns with the acquisition of your planned property.

Or you can get a quick quote, using Surveyor Local's easy-to-use quote generator. We'll do the rest once you confirm your acceptance of the quote.