Guidance

Buildings included in the new more stringent regulatory regime: factsheet

Updated 5 April 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on 25 July 2022

This guidance is withdrawn as it is no longer current. Please see the latest guidance on the Building Safety Act.

What are we going to do?

Evidence suggests that only a small proportion of fires in high-rise buildings escape the room of origin, and there has been a general downward trend in the number of deaths from fire in people’s homes over the last two decades. However, the experience of Grenfell showed we can never be complacent.

The reforms being put in place by the Building Safety Bill will be able to adapt to future risks and challenges, with a particular focus on high-rise residential buildings, where the spread of fire or structural flaws can lead to loss of multiple lives.

The new regime introduced by the Building Safety Bill is a strengthened regulatory regime for high-rise and other in-scope buildings (higher-risk buildings), improving accountability, risk-management and assurance.

Higher-risk buildings in the Bill are defined by their height and use. These internationally used factors are an industry-accepted way of identifying buildings where the consequences from a fire or a structural failure can be significant.

The new regime applies to buildings that are at least 18 metres in height or have at least 7 storeys and have at least two residential units. It also applies to care homes and hospitals meeting the same height threshold during design and construction.

Parts 2 and 4 of the Bill will also apply to buildings owned or occupied by the Crown which meet the scope criteria so, for example, any buildings which are owned or occupied by the Crown Estates, Duchy of Lancaster or Duchy of Cornwall, or by Government Departments. This is in line with the Fire Safety Order and Health and Safety at Work Act which apply to Crown buildings.

This new regime ensures proportionate steps are taken to deal with building safety risks through prevention, control, mitigation and ongoing management throughout the lifecycle of a building.

The Bill defines building safety risks as fire spread (for example, from one flat to another or one floor to another) and structural failure. Those accountable for occupied buildings within scope of the new regime will have to take all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of fire spread or structural failure.

How are we going to do it?

The scope of the regime will be defined through both primary and secondary legislation.

Primary Legislation:

The primary legislation sets out the height criteria in metres and storeys for the design and construction elements of the regime.

For the occupation regime, the primary legislation sets out the height criteria, and that the building must contain at least two residential units. A residential unit can be a dwelling, a flat, a bedroom in a hall of residence or any other unit of living accommodation.

Secondary Legislation:

We have published the secondary legislation, in draft, alongside introduction of the Bill. The draft secondary legislation set outs technical definitions, excludes certain buildings from the regime and, for the design and construction regime, defines the use criteria for a building to be covered.

An example of a technical definition is that height will be measured from ground level on the lowest side of the building to the floor surface of the top storey (which does not exclusively contain roof-top machinery or a plant area).

We are doing this to ensure the public, industry and Parliamentarians have full sight of our proposals during passage of the Bill. This secondary legislation will be subject to consultation, and the affirmative Parliamentary procedure, once the Building Safety Bill has gained Royal Assent.

To retain flexibility in the regime, in the future, the Secretary of State will be able to use secondary legislation to amend the parts of the definition written in the Bill. Any change to the definition in the bill would be also subject to a range of checks and balances including consultation and the affirmative procedure.

The secondary legislation could also be changed in the future. The changes would be subject to a range of checks and balances including consultation and, if the change affected which buildings were excluded or which building uses fell within the scope of the design or construction phase, would be subject to the affirmative Parliamentary procedure, meaning it would need to be debated and approved by both houses of Parliament.

Background

Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety recommended that the “new regulatory framework should apply to residential properties which are 10 or more storeys high in the first instance”.

Feedback from industry and residents was that this did not go far enough; the government agreed and proposed that scope of the stronger assurance regime should start with high-rise residential buildings at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys (whichever is reached first).

In July 2020, we published the draft Building Safety Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. To give residents and industry more certainty, the Committee recommended that the scope of the regime should be within the Bill, rather than in secondary legislation. The Committee also recommended that the Building Safety Regulator should consider whether the stronger assurance regime should, in future, cover buildings that are predominantly occupied by those unable to evacuate themselves or who might evacuate slowly.

We have included hospitals and care homes, which are at least 18 metres in height and at least 7 storeys, in the design and construction elements of the new regime.

The NHS has unique risks when compared to other higher-risk buildings and a key issue is therefore that the buildings are optimally designed and constructed, especially as such buildings can have an operational life of 30 years. The ‘in-occupation’ parts of the regime will not cover these NHS buildings, as they are regulated through the Fire Safety Order and by the Care Quality Commission.

Why does the Building Safety Bill define scope based on height and use?

Both height and use are factors used internationally in building safety legislation, though we recognise that height and use are not the only indicators of risk. Using simple, objective factors, such as height and use, provides more certainty to those determining whether their building will be in scope of the new regulatory regime.

How many residents will be affected by the changes in this bill?

We estimate that the total number of residents in residential buildings over 18 metres or at least 7 storeys tall in England is 1.31 million residents as of February 2021. Overall, the proportion of the population of England living in high-rise flats is approximately 2%.

Why has 18 metres or more been used to define scope?

Our approach prioritises action on buildings 18 metres and above because the risk to multiple households is greater when fire does spread in buildings of this height.

How are residents protected in buildings below 18 metres?

The government has taken action to protect all residents, including reducing the height threshold for requiring sprinkler systems in new residential buildings.

The Fire Safety Act 2021 clarifies the Fire Safety Order applies to the external walls (including balconies and windows) and flat entrance doors in all multi-occupied residential buildings.

Regulations to implement the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations for protecting residents’ safety are to be laid shortly. Parts of these regulations will apply to multi-occupied residential buildings below 18 metres.

These new measures sit alongside existing protections under the Fire Safety Order and standards under the Housing Act, which is assessed using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

Will the scope of the regime change in the future?

The scope of the new regime could be amended in the future.

For the new regime to cover a new type of building, the Regulator must recommend it, or provide advice, after considering a three-part test and a cost benefit analysis must be written. This change would be subject to the affirmative procedure in the Houses of Parliament.

Why does the Building Safety Bill define building safety risks as relating only fire spread and structural failure?

Government commissioned researched by the Health and Safety Executive concluded the major accident hazards in a higher-risk building would largely be rapid onset escalating fire, structural, or explosion events. Though explosion events can trigger a rapid onset escalating fire or a structural failure.

Other risks can result in a major incident when they trigger a spreading fire or a structural collapse, e.g. flooding causing structural damage.

Key facts

Key facts^{[footnote 1]}:

• Total number of high-rise residential high-rise residential buildings of 18 metres or more in height, or at least 7 storeys (whichever is reached first) in England is estimated as of April 2020 to be 12,500.
• 6,500 (52%) are private sector buildings (private residential buildings and student accommodation).
• 6,000 (48%) are social sector buildings.
• Over 95% of buildings were identified as flat dwellings, with the remaining proportioned across Houses in Multiple Occupation, residential education and sheltered accommodation.
• We have identified 1,500 (12%) residential buildings that are seven storeys but under 18 metres in height, 7,000 (56%) buildings between 18 metres and 29 metres and the remaining 4,000 (32%) buildings 30 metres or more in height.

1. Source: Building Safety Programme Monthly Data Release England: 31 March 2021 ↩