Dutyholders: factsheet
Updated 5 April 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-bill-factsheets/dutyholders-factsheet
What are we going to do?
It is right that those who commission building work and who participate in the design and construction process take responsibility for ensuring that buildings are safe and compliant with the relevant regulations, thereby ensuring that residents are safe, and feel safe.
Current building regulations require that all building work must be carried out in compliance with building regulations, but where there is a failure to comply, the system has too often fallen short in holding to account all those who have a stake in the project. This includes clients, designers and contractors.
We will use powers within the Building Safety Bill to make new regulations that place duties on those who procure, plan, manage and undertake building work. We have published the regulations, in draft, alongside introduction of the Bill. We are doing this to ensure the public, industry and Parliamentarians have full sight of our proposals during passage of the Bill. These Regulations will be subject to consultation once the Building Safety Bill has gained Royal Assent.
What will these draft regulations do?
These draft regulations set out the framework of duties for those persons and organisations (“dutyholders”) who commission, design and undertake building work to which building regulations apply.
They make clear who those dutyholders are and impose duties on them. These dutyholders will be:
- Client
- Principal Designer
- Designers
- Principal Contractor
- Contractors
Dutyholders will need to work together to plan, manage and monitor the design work and the building work, ensure they cooperate and communicate with each other, coordinate their work and have systems in place to ensure that building work, including design work, complies with all relevant building regulations.
The regulations will also set out the competence requirements (i.e. the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours) that those dutyholders will need to have to undertake work and ensure that those they appoint are also competent to carry out that work.
What will the draft regulations achieve?
These draft regulations make clear that those who commission building work, and those who have key roles in the design and construction process, are responsible for ensuring that the building is designed and built (or refurbished) to be safe and compliant with building regulations. This will further improve the effectiveness of the building regulation system and ensure that all those involved in building work can be held to account for the work they do.
Placing duties on all those who plan manage and undertake building work will embed standards of competence and behaviours within the project, reinforce individual and collective responsibility, and require the key dutyholders to work together and share information to ensure compliance with building regulations.
How are we going to do it?
The draft regulations set out that the dutyholders in the design, build and refurbishment of buildings will be those people or organisations who commission the building work (the client), and undertake the design (designers) and construction/refurbishment work (contractors).
The regulations specify who should be appointed, when and how they should be appointed, and the duties of all involved in the procurement, design and construction process. The requirement to appoint these dutyholders, and the duties they will have, will ensure that the various parties to building work on residential property i) work together and ii) are clearly identified, thus ensuring that houses and flats are built properly and are safe to live in once complete.
The building safety regulator will have a range of assessment and enforcement powers to ensure that those participating in the design, build and refurbishment of buildings will be held to account and to ensure compliance with the building regulations.
Background
Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety identified that the current system of building regulations and fire safety was not fit for purpose and that a culture change was required to support the delivery of buildings that were safe. It also concluded that there was lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of those procuring, designing, constructing and maintaining buildings.
These draft regulations will provide clarity about the dutyholders and their roles and ensure that those who have a stake in the project can be held to account.
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) identify and place health and safety duties on those who commission construction work and those who are key in the design and construction process. These dutyholders are the Client, the Principal Designer, the Principal Contractor, designers and contractors. These new regulations will impose additional, building safety duties on those duty holders.
The CDM client is required to make appointments in writing of a Principal Designer to be in control of the pre-construction phase, and a Principal Contractor to be in control of the construction phase of the work.
CDM is embedded in the industry and has driven a cultural and behavioural change in health and safety. The people and organisations procuring and undertaking the work are the same as those who should be considering compliance with building regulations, so these regulations take the same approach.
The new regulations will impose building safety duties on everyone involved in building and design work, including clients, principal designers, designers. principal contractors and contractors. These are the same dutyholders identified by CDM for health and safety duties. We don’t expect duplicate dutyholders, but they will need the right competence for the work they are engaged to do. The client may decide to appoint a Principal Designer or Contractor for CDM, and a Principal Designer or Principal Contractor for building regulations.
Key questions
What is building work?
The legal term ‘building work’ generally includes constructing new buildings, making buildings bigger, altering buildings and changing what they are used for. It also covers installing a ‘controlled service’ or a ‘controlled fitting’.
A boiler is an example of a controlled service and a replacement window is an example of a controlled fitting.
‘Renovation of thermal elements’ is also building work. This includes roofs or external walls.
To which buildings will these regulations apply?
The regulations will apply to all work to which the Building Regulations 2010 apply.
The duties of cooperation, coordination, communication and competence will apply to the dutyholders (Clients, Principal Designers, designers, Principal Contractors, contractors) for building work associated with higher-risk buildings.
We will be setting out the details of the dutyholder roles and responsibilities in the building control processes in relation to these buildings in due course.
Who is a Client and what will they have to do?
The Client is the person for whom the building work is done; often the Client will be the developer or the building owner.
The Client has a major influence over the way a project is procured and managed – and, of course, how the work is funded. They control the contract, the finances and the time available for the project.
The Client should have suitable arrangements in place to ensure that the design work and the building work can be completed in accordance with building regulations. In practice, this means appointing the right people, with the right competencies (the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours or organisational capability) for the work, and ensuring those they appoint have systems in place to ensure compliance with building regulations.
Where there is more than one contractor working on the project, the Client will need to appoint a Principal Designer to be in control of design work and a Principal Contractor to be in control of the whole project during the construction phase.
The Client will need to be sure that the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor have the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (or competence) for the work they want them to do, including co-ordinating the broader work programme.
When CDM applies to the work, the client will be able to treat the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor for CDM as being appointed for this legislation. The client will need to be assured that the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor have the right competencies or organisational capabilities for the work and consider whether they are the right person or organisation for the job. The Principal Designer and Principal Contractor will need to ensure that any gaps in competence are identified and filled before they are appointed.
What is a Principal Designer and what will they have to do?
The Principal Designer is a designer appointed to be in control of all the design work.
Design decisions can have a significant effect on whether a project can be delivered in compliance with building regulations.
The Principal Designer will need to:
- plan, manage and monitor the design work, ensuring that the design, if built, would comply with building regulations
- ensure that they, and the designers in the team, cooperate, communicate and coordinate their work with the Client, the Principal Contractor, and other designers
- liaise with the Principal Contractor, and share information relevant to the building work
What is a Principal Contractor and what will they have to do?
The Principal Contractor is a contractor appointed to be in control of the whole project during the construction phase. The Principal Contractor will have similar duties to those of the Principal Designer, but in relation to the building work.
The Principal Contractor will need to plan, manage and monitor the building work ensure cooperation, communication and coordination between the dutyholders and liaise with the Principal Designer.
What happens when the Client chooses the ‘design and build’ procurement route?
When the client chooses the ‘design and build’ procurement route, the contractor or Principal Contractor appointed to undertake the construction work will also take on detailed design work.
In these situations, a designer or Principal Designer will need to be appointed so the design and build contractor will commonly (although not always) be appointed both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.
The Client should be satisfied that the contractor has sufficient skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (competence) to undertake both roles.