England higher-risk building regime: transitional design-and-construction rules, exemptions and ‘sufficient progress’ tests (initial notices, full plans, cancellations, lapses, Approved Inspector registration), 1 Oct 2023–6 Apr 2024

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Practice notes

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The design and construction phase duties under the higher-risk building (HRB) regime took effect on 1 October 2023, following a suite of secondary legislation laid by the government in August 2023. That legislation sets out transitional provisions identifying which HRB-related construction schemes must comply with the HRB regime’s regulatory requirements, and which continue under the previous building control regime and building regulations. A central element of these transitional rules is that, where parties notified a building control authority of proposals for HRB works before 1 October 2023 and then confirmed the works had ‘sufficiently progressed’ before 6 April 2024, those works are excluded from the HRB regime’s design and construction phase obligations. This Practice Note provides direction on the transitional provisions and the points parties need to assess when deciding whether their projects fall outside the HRB regime under these arrangements.

Background: the higher-risk building regime

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022), Parts 3 and 4, sets the statutory basis for a stringent regulatory system applicable to buildings classified as ‘higher-risk’ (HRBs)...

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