Building Safety Act 2026 – key developments and what to expect

This article summarises the key updates in recent years and those which we anticipate in 2026, as the legislative landscape in building safety evolves. These further changes are set to continue reshaping the industry, with new regulations focusing on building safety, compliance, and risk management. From staged applications for building control approvals to stricter fire safety measures, these changes impact how the industry approaches Higher-Risk Buildings. It’s imperative therefore to stay informed on crucial updates from government consultations to emerging safety requirements and ensure your projects meet the latest standards.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is the building control authority for Higher-Risk Buildings and manages how the design proposals comply with building regulations requirements.

The BSR was originally overseen by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). On 27 January 2026, the BSR exited the HSE and was converted into a standalone executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

This will create a specialised focus on building safety, rather than sitting within a workplace safety body, as well as a direct line of accountability to the Secretary of State for the MHCLG. It follows the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report (September 2024), which recommended the creation of a ‘single construction regulator’ to reduce fragmentation and complexity in the way the built environment is regulated.

Learning lessons from the Grenfell Tower Tragedy and implementing the subsequent Hackitt Review and the Phase 1 and 2 recommendations, the creation of a new independent BSR was clearly a necessary step-change in building safety. The under-resourced implementation and lack of guidance to date has left the industry scrambling to know how or when to interact with the BSR. This has caused delays to wider house building and governmental targets. Nevertheless, the BSR has been working on reducing backlogs (see below) and so we expect the industry to feel buoyed by the efforts to increase capacity and unlock projects for development in 2026.

In December 2025, the Government released its prospectus to create a single regulator for buildings, construction products and building professions, again in line with Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation.

• Absorbing the BSR’s current role and expanding upon those services in future if required;
• Overseeing testing and certification across all construction products;
• Introducing new accreditation and/or licensing for fire risk assessors and principal contractors wishing to undertake work on higher-risk buildings;
• Maintaining a publicly available library of test data, reports on serious fires and academic papers.

• The government is expected to publish its annual report on progress to deliver the Inquiry’s recommendations in February 2026;
• Responses to the prospectus are welcome until 20 March 2026;
• Calls for evidence on the strategy for regulation of construction professions and a Construction Products White Paper is expected in Spring 2026;
• The Government response to the consultation is expected in Summer 2026;
• Legislation will be required to implement proposals, if parliamentary time allows.

In December 2025, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) published new guidance notes on Staged Applications and key steps between Gateway 2 to Gateway 3 to achieve Building Control Approval for new Higher-Risk Buildings (the CLC Guidance).

An applicant (either the client or someone authorised to act on their behalf) for new Higher-Risk Building must pass through three ‘gateways’: Planning, Building Control Approval, and Completion Certificate.

Applications were initially expected to be submitted as a full application whereas complex buildings formed of multiple blocks might require staged applications. Now, the CLC Guidance sets out how individual buildings can submit staged applications thereby enabling initial groundworks and basement works to be approved and commenced before full design details for the rest of the building/block are submitted.

The CLC guidance sets out the key steps for dutyholders and the Building Safety Regulator between Building Control Approval (Gateway 2) and Completion Certificate (Gateway 3) for a new Higher-Risk Building.

The Building Safety Act introduced a new design and construction regulatory framework for higher-risk buildings. The Building Safety Act established three gateways at key stages in design and construction. Gateway 2 applies before building works starts and applications must demonstrate to the BSR how the design proposals comply with building regulations requirements.

2025 saw the construction industry face significant backlogs in the Gateway 2 system which were stalling several hundred Higher-Risk Buildings projects at a time.

Since August 2025, the BSR’s newly launched Innovation Unit (IU), started to accept applications for new Higher-Risk Buildings applications.

The IU saw approval rates drop from 37 weeks for old cases to 12 weeks for new cases. Yet delays persist in the retrofit space (which is overwhelmingly represented by safety refurbishment jobs) where the number of open cases and new applications outstrip the number of decisions being granted. By October 2025, planning had begun for a remediation equivalent to the IU but was experiencing recruitment challenges. Perhaps 2026 will see the decks cleared and the IU stabilised such that recruitment can be focused on sorting out the remediation backlog.

This is the final stage of the approval process. It ensures the BSR has the required information to issue a completion certificate, which must be obtained before occupants move in.

Whilst the construction industry has focused on the Gateway 2 backlogs, it appears that the BSR is also being overwhelmed by Gateway 3 applications. New Freedom of Information data reveals that whilst Gateway 3 approvals are intended to be completed within eight weeks, out of 158 applications submitted in 2025, 55 took more than three months to receive a decision. 44 schemes remained undecided more than three months after submission, with the longest case waiting 550 days for approval.

We remain optimistic that the added spotlight on the Gateway 2 and 3 backlogs will help the BSR understand where things have gone wrong and how to improve. As the industry embraces changes to the new regulatory regime, we hope to see much shorter wait times over the course of 2026.

Whilst the Building Safety Act is applicable in England and Wales, the specific applicable regulations are location specific and a different regulatory regime for properties located in Wales has been adopted.

The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (Wales) Regulations 2025 and Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 6) (Wales) Regulations 2025.

The new Regulations come into force on 1 July 2026.

These implement the Building Safety Act in Wales and introduce a new procedural framework for building control in relation to Higher-Risk Buildings, which is broadly in line with the regime in England.

A Higher-Risk Building in Wales is a building at least 18 metres in height or with at seven storeys or more and which contains one or more residential units – subject to some carveouts. A new dutyholder regime and a new staged approval system for planning, pre-construction and completion stages will apply.

The building control authority for HRBs will be local authorities, whereas in England it is the BSR.  The HRB definition in England requires two or more residential units, whereas in Wales it will be one or more.

This is essential knowledge for all construction professionals and developers who are operating in Wales, so they understand the subtle but impactful changes to each parties’ obligations under the Building Safety Act and under the Regulations whether they are operating in England or Wales.

The Building Safety Levy (the Levy) is a tax that developers must pay on certain building control applications or notices if the work involves a new building or an existing building gaining extra floorspace on a major residential development (being 10 or more dwellings or 30 or more purpose-built student accommodation units).

1 October 2026 onwards.

Yes, for: smaller projects, housing associations and certain buildings such as hospital or schools.

Local authorities.

It is intended to fund repairs on unsafe buildings.

It is based on the gross internal floorspace and rate per square metre. The rates vary by local authority – areas with higher house prices will have higher rates (although discounts will be available for building on brownfield sites).

Only after the Levy has been paid can a completion certificate be issued or first occupation take place – whichever comes first.

In December 2025, the MHCLG released its proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, a consultation on Government proposals to meet housing targets, which invites responses until 10 March 2026.

The Government is seeking views on an updated set of proposals to support SME developers, with the aim to finalise its reforms in 2027. The proposals include a new definition of ‘medium development’, being 10 – 49 homes (inclusive) on sites with an area of up to 2.5 hectares. The Government has asked for responses on whether, if a medium sized sites threshold were introduced, the small development exemption from the Levy should be extended to align with medium sites, thereby potentially lifting more contractors out of the tax regime.

The potential impact the Levy will have on wider housebuilding targets and projects which fall within the Higher-Risk Building category is yet to be determined. However, it will undoubtedly make the proposition of building larger developments and/or the involvement of smaller firms in such projects, less attractive and profitable, to the detriment of the margins of all those involved in the supply chain.

One of the key areas where question marks have been raised by construction professions are the competency levels of each dutyholder. Put simply, across the supply chain parties want guidance on what ‘good looks like’. The new competency guidance referred below may start to shed some light on this and offer welcome guidance to all involved.

The British Standards Institute’s Publicly Available Specification (PAS) documents set out the recommended competence requirements in relation to ensuring adherence to the Building Safety Act 2022 and/or CDM 2015 when developing, designing and building projects.

PAS 8673: management of safety in residential buildings

PAS 8671: individual Principal Designers

PAS 8672: individual Principal Contractors

They set out the recommended competence requirements and help demonstrate and assess competence.

Amendments to Approved Document B (which relates to complying with fire safety within Building Regulations) state that, in England, blocks of flats with a storey 18m or more in height should have more than one common staircase.

This takes effect on 30 September 2026.

This amendment will not apply to buildings where a building notice, initial notice, or plans are deposited before this date and work starts and is “sufficiently progressed” within 18 months.

It is essential that construction professionals understand these new requirements when working on buildings that require at least two common staircases, so they comply with fire safety standards.

The MHCLG updated its Remediation Acceleration Plan in July 2025 setting out the government’s plans to accelerate the remediation of residential buildings with unsafe cladding in England.

By 2029, every 18m+ residential building in a government funded scheme will be remediated and every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or its landlords will be liable for penalties.

In addition to landlords’ new ‘Duty to Remediate’ (compelling landlords to remediate their buildings within fixed timescales or face criminal prosecution), they will face strong sanctions whereas local authorities and Homes England will have more powers to undertake remedial works themselves directly.

Local authorities and Homes England will have more powers to undertake remedial works themselves directly. A Remediation Enforcement Unit within the BSR will be established to help enforcement where 18m+ buildings with unsafe cladding are not progressing fast enough.

Whilst a new Remediation Bill to bring these remediation goals into effect is yet to be given sufficient parliamentary time, this is a likely policy area to watch out for in 2026.

In December 2025, the MHCLG released its Code of Practice for the remediation of residential buildings to assist resident’s needs can be met during remedial projects that are designed to make them safer, but can cause significant distress without proper planning and project management.

A ‘Plain English’ version was also created in order to help residents more easily understand.

Hopefully, this means that remediation projects going forward into 2026 and beyond provide residents with appropriate information and keep them meaningfully engaged in the project (and potentially unlock resident-led delays).

The MHCLG has published regulations that make technical amendments to ensure continuity of the current policy which enables ‘CE’ marked construction products to be sold in the UK. These amendments are necessary as a result of the EU’s new Construction Products Regulations which came into force in January 2025.

8 January 2026.

The Government will publish its Construction Products Reform White Paper before spring 2026 which it is anticipated will set out the Government’s ambitions for increasing product safety and quality controls within the construction products market to ensure products for building are fit for their purpose and users are provided with accurate product information.

In 2021, the Government established the National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP), to prioritise safety and drive effective enforcement. In February 2025, the government published the Construction Products Reform Green Paper. Since the NRCP’s establishment, it has increased market surveillance of the construction products sector, including business inspections and product testing. Its interventions have resulted in non-compliant products being removed from the UK market, such as insulation material.

The construction products market consists of a large number of companies ranging from micro entities to multi-national enterprises. The Government envisages that the regulation of construction products will involve changes to policies data, testing and enforcement. Furthermore, one of the key findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was a fundamental failure of the product manufacturers (such as cladding providers) to correctly certify and test the adequacy of such products. In addition, it was found that the product manufacturers may have sought to intentionally deceive purchasers of their products in relation to the safety of the products being provided and the correct use for the same.

Clearly, better regulation of products which may be relevant to building safety requires more regulation to ensure construction professionals can trust that the products being sold to them and recommended are suitable for use – as has been argued from voices across the industry for some time, including in ‘Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen’ by Peter Apps.

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025.

It imposes new obligations on ‘Responsible Persons’ of certain high-rise residential buildings to protect disabled residents.

From 6 April 2026.

This includes owners, landlords and building managers.

Examples include preparing evacuation plans and sharing information with the local fire and rescue authority.

A ‘specified residential building’ (i.e., a building which contains two or more sets of domestic premises and which is at least 18 metres in height above ground level and has at least seven storeys, or is more than 11 metres in height above ground level and has a simultaneous evacuation strategy).

A ‘relevant resident’ is a resident of domestic premises in a specified residential building, where the domestic premises are that person’s only or principal residence, and whose ability to evacuate the building without assistance in the event of a fire is compromised as a result of a cognitive or physical impairment or condition.

The construction sector is navigating significant regulatory changes aimed at improving safety and accountability. As new laws come into effect, it is essential for construction professionals, dutyholders, landlords and developers to stay ahead of these developments. Adapting to these changes will be critical to ensuring safer, more compliant buildings for the future.

Please contact our team if you have any queries as to the developing landscape of the Building Safety Act and compliance with new, existing, and anticipated legislation and regulation.