Government moves to make higher-risk building safety requirements more proportionate

The objective is to strike the right balance between maintaining robust oversight of safety-critical works, allowing necessary building work to proceed efficiently, avoiding unnecessary delays and reducing excessive documentation and administrative requirements.

Early signs of a more proportionate approach

Telecommunications works

The first indication of this new proportionate approach relates to telecommunications infrastructure. Following earlier consultation, the Government has now confirmed that from 1 September 2026, and subject to specified conditions, there will be a dispensation of the procedural requirements of the Building Regulations in relation to the drilling of small holes in the internal or external walls of existing buildings for the purposes of installing fibre optic cables (both for HRBs and non-HRBs), and for the installation of mobile communication masts on rooftops for HRBs.

For further information see: Improving proportionality and safety outcomes in building control: telecommunications work: Consultation Response.

Category A and Category B works

The Government has also indicated, after consultation, that it is currently minded to exclude most building work within residential units of HRBs from being classified as Category A works for the purposes of securing BSR approval, instead allowing these works to be classified as Category B works, and so alleviate some of the administrative burden of the building control process. However, no final decision has been made pending on-going work to clarify precisely which types of work would fall outside Category A works.

The Government is also continuing to review whether small-scale works in communal areas should be similarly excluded.

For further information see:  Improving proportionality in building control: categorisation of higher-risk building work: Consultation response

Reforming the emergency repairs regime

More significantly perhaps are the proposals around the current emergency repairs exception under the HRB building control regime.

The current position

In most cases, building work to an HRB cannot commence until Gateway 2 approval has been obtained from the BSR. There are limited exceptions, including where work:

• is exempt from building control requirements;
• is undertaken under a Competent Person Scheme; or
• qualifies as an emergency repair.

Where the emergency repairs exception applies, work may proceed without prior BSR approval, although retrospective approval would be required to demonstrate Building Regulations compliance.

Under the current regime, “emergency repairs” are repairs which are necessary to be carried out as a matter of urgency because of a risk to the health, safety or welfare of people in or around the building and where it would not be practicable to obtain prior BSR approval.

Why is reform is proposed?

In practice, the word “repair” has caused some practical difficulties in its application. The emergency repairs provision applies where there is a sudden breakdown in equipment or where something is discovered to have broken during planned building work. Many urgent safety issues in HRBs that are not “repairs” such as replacing broken fire alarm systems, defective sprinkler systems or damaged fire doors would require a full Gateway 2 application before they can proceed. As a result, temporary measures, such as waking watches, may need to be relied on for longer, and in extreme cases residents of HRBs may temporarily need to be relocated while approval is awaited.

Two options for change are proposed in the most recent consultation to address these concerns:

Option 1: Expand the emergency repairs route

The first proposal would broaden the current exemption by replacing emergency “repairs” with emergency “works”.

This would allow urgent replacement and upgrade works to proceed without prior Gateway 2 approval where immediate action is required. For example, a failed fire alarm system could be replaced where a repair is not possible, or where upgrading a fire alarm may be as cost effective as replacing it.

This approach should provide greater clarity, reduce delays in carrying out urgent safety works; and lessen reliance on temporary risk mitigation measures.

Option 2: Introduce a new critical works route

Alternatively, the Government is considering creating a separate compliance route for “critical works”.

Unlike the current emergency repairs regime, this route would consider a broader range of factors when determining whether urgent works should be permitted before regulatory approval is obtained.

In addition to physical safety risks, consideration could be given to factors such as the financial and emotional wellbeing of residents and the need to maintain essential public services providing a more holistic assessment of urgency than is currently available under the emergency repairs provisions.

Examples of circumstances that could fall within the proposed critical works route include:

• • situations where funding for waking watches or other temporary measures has unexpectedly run out;
  • extreme weather events that increase an existing safety risk;
  • replacement of essential fire or medical systems in hospitals;
  • the sudden availability of funding or building access for a limited period; and
  • works that have a particularly significant impact on vulnerable residents.

The proposals are aimed at altering the timing of regulatory approval rather than reducing the standards that must be achieved. Neither proposal would reduce the need to comply with the functional requirements of the Building Regulations.

Government is also seeking views on whether certain emergency works could be certified through a Competent Person Scheme, potentially further reducing regulatory delays.

The consultation on emergency repairs and critical works closes on 3 September 2026. Until any legislative changes are introduced, the existing requirements remain in force: Improving proportionality and building safety outcomes in building control: emergency repairs under the higher-risk building regime – GOV.UK

A more proportionate approach to Building Assessment Certificates

In a separate development, the Government is also reviewing the operation of the Building Assessment Certificate (BAC) regime: BSR to introduce more proportionate and targeted approach for higher-risk building assessments – GOV.UK

The BSR has so far invited building assessment applications for almost 2,000 buildings. The BSR has said the assessments have taken significantly longer than originally anticipated, while many applications have been rejected because they focus on evidencing procedural compliance rather than demonstrating how building safety risks are being effectively managed.

In response, the BSR is planning a more targeted and proportionate approach to future assessments. This could include calling for applications only where necessary until new processes are agreed and providing additional support for resident-led Principal Accountable Persons (PAPs).

The regulator is also reviewing the wider impact of the regime, including the costs incurred by leaseholders, before determining the future approach to assessment and certification.

Summary

The proposals signal a shift towards a more proportionate HRB regime, with greater flexibility particularly for lower-risk and urgent works in HRBs while maintaining robust oversight of building safety.

Dutyholders will of course still need to ensure that fire and structural safety risks are properly managed and documented.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or a comprehensive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should always be sought in relation to individual circumstances.

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