Matthew Jones, a partner on the commercial property team at Forbes Solicitors, examines how the golden thread can help construction companies enhance risk management through improved safety standards and project management
As further changes and responsibilities for builders are introduced as part of the Building Safety Act 2022, construction companies are looking to enhance their risk management and safey standards to meet the new requirements.
New regulation for high-risk buildings has come into effect
Recent focus around the Building Safety Act 2022 has been on Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs).
This follows the Building Safety Regulator becoming the control body for design and construction of such buildings from 1st October 2023, as well as new building control gateways coming into effect.
HRBs are classed as buildings that are at least 18 metres or seven storeys in height, and which have at least two residential units, or are care homes and hospitals meeting the height.
The Regulator will utilise new gateways to ensure that safety is considered at each stage of the building control process.
Gateway 1 has been in place since August 2021, when the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) became a statutory consultee for planning applications for high-rise residential buildings. Gateways 2 and 3 followed in October this year, with the second stage occurring prior to construction work beginning on an HRB. The third gateway covers completion and certification.
All three gateways are linked by a golden thread of information, which is ultimately designed to provide more comprehensive detail and a source of truth about a building’s safety standards.
What role does the golden thread play in enhancing safety standards?
During HRB design and development, the Building Safety Regulator will be looking for a golden thread of information that demonstrates an understanding of a building and the steps needed to keep both the building and people safe, now and in the future.
From a practical and regulatory perspective, the important points for builders are that the golden thread must be secure, transferable, accessible, relevant and proportionate.
This means that a construction company must keep digital records showing compliance with building regulations, with records being easy to access and use by any relevant party that needs them.
Guidance from the Regulator is for builders to think about what information they need, why they need it and how the information adds value.
This may seem like an administrative burden, but it is a process that can help to protect companies against possible liabilities and litigation by enabling them to improve risk management and fulfil their legal responsibilities.
As such, embracing the golden thread throughout all stages of project management can help builders to demonstrate transparency and accountability – key provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022.
The Building Safety Act protects both those in the buildings and those who built them
The Act was, in part, introduced to improve the safety of people in or about buildings. It strives to provide the home-building industry with a clear, proportionate framework to deliver more, and better, high-quality homes.
This has brought with it new rights to redress those responsible for contributing to the building safety crisis, ensuring they are in line for costs to rectify their mistakes.
Carefully planning and delivering a construction project, which has processes for gathering and documenting a thread of compliance information throughout, could help builders to clearly demonstrate how they’ve adhered to safety standards at all stages.
It can also prove the difference in drawing clear lines of responsibility throughout construction projects, both during and after completion, and avoid companies wrongly assuming responsibility for risks and problems outside of their remit and control.
