Zutec CMO Maria Hudson reflects on the rapid changes seen in building safety legislation in the past six years- and the next steps any company looking to stay compliant should take
The road to reform building safety legislation since the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017 was always going to be a complex one. When the timeline and transition plan of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) was first conceived and created via consultations, the industry didn’t know the expectations associated with it on multiple fronts. Aside from the additional responsibilities, requirements and costs associated with the BSA, the economic climate, material and labour supply issues have added to issues slowing project and roll out progress.
For the construction industry, knowing which way to turn hasn’t always been simple, but the Government has made the choice very clear, at least for those operating within the high-rise residential market. As the DLUHC Secretary recently clarified: those who are not willing to comply with the new regulations should find themselves another market to work in.
New building safety legislation is coming into effect across a variety of measures
The tidal wave of legislation currently washing over housebuilders, developers, and asset owners nationwide is not unexpected, but it’s no less daunting. With the second staircase rule announced a few weeks ago, and with the Building Safety Act, Gateways 2 & 3 now in force, alongside the Higher Risk Building Regulation subset legislation of the Building Safety Act, many will be busy getting their digital assets in order to stay compliant.
These landmark standards and benchmarks are ushering in a new era within the residential sector, and wider construction industry, where digital information and data become as important as the bricks and mortar they support. Yet it’s presented quite an undertaking for those within the sector to ensure they have the right data in the right place and available by all that need to access it.
For some in the industry, the changes necessary are quite formidable
Having spoken to a number of stakeholders about the incoming regulation, and the swathe of associated standards, the overall sentiment is that the reality of implementing them is getting quite overwhelming.
That’s not to say they’re not important, they should be introduced, but given we know change takes a while to establish itself. In the rush to comply, we must ensure things don’t get overlooked.
If the Government wants to get people to adopt better practices, then a more strategic, approach to aligning information to industry regulation, standards and system schemas is required. Here at BuildData Group, our clients regularly share their frustrations around this point, as they feel policy is open to interpretation on how all the pieces should come together so they can comply.
This is a tricky task as a lot of the standards and regulations overlap, sometimes very subtly, and it can be easy to miss some of the finer, but crucial, details.
That’s not all, developers, contractors and asset owners alike are also battling with constant updates to standards, which are not always well communicated. This means those responsible for information management need to keep an eagle eye day-in-day out to ensure the business doesn’t suddenly fall out of compliance and can deliver on the regulator’s requirements. The new BSA regulator is unlikely be accommodating even if requirements are overlooked in error, no matter the efforts taken to understand them, so businesses need to introduce their own safeguards.
A strong digital information system will allow you to keep up to date with the latest legislative developments
That’s why any business currently working within the residential construction sector should invest in systems, process and either a team or an individual, skilled at managing digital information and data, with an acute understanding of the regulatory requirements and how they contextually relate to the company. This will help streamline a nebulous process across systems and ensure a golden thread of information is established and properly managed.
There are no short cuts either, and it’s important to add that this responsibility and activity cannot just be a tack-on to someone’s existing role, but a dedicated division/service inextricably linked to your commercial operation.
Adequate provision to equip them with the best-in-class software to help these teams effectively manage the information will also be needed. Long gone are the days of filing cabinets full of paper and static Excel sheets, it’s now possible to have everything in one location on the Cloud. Fortunately, these tools, including our own portfolio of solutions, are mainstream, affordable and plug-and-play, while also being easy to assimilate with existing tech stacks and instantly operational. So there really is no excuse now.
Ultimately, we do sympathise with developers and asset owners who currently feel adrift in a turbulent sea of regulation, but it’s progressively ratcheting up and those who don’t comply with the new framework will not be able to operate. So, getting the right system and team on board to navigate you through these choppy seas will pay dividends in the future, keeping you in step with the regulator.
Maria Hudson
CMO
Zutec
