Building regulations and safety

Building regulations set standards for construction and refurbishment work in England. The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 led to changes to the rules and processes governing building safety.

In response, the government passed the Building Safety Act 2022. The 2022 Act created new rules for the construction, refurbishment and occupation of high-rise residential buildings (that are 18 or more metres high or have seven or more storeys). The new rules took effect between October 2023 and April 2024.

Building regulations and safety are devolved matters. This briefing focuses on England; for information about building regulations and safety in other parts of the UK, see section 6 of this briefing.

What are building regulations?

Most building work that is carried out in England must adhere to building regulations, under the Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations 2010. Building regulations set standards for building work that aim to protect the safety, health and welfare of people in and about a building. They also set standards for accessibility, water use and energy use.

Building regulations apply at the time when building work is taking place, for example, when new building is constructed, or certain changes are made to an existing building. There is no requirement to retrofit existing buildings to comply with updated building regulations.

Generally, building regulations set standards that need to be met (such as energy performance standards) rather than how they need to be achieved (for example, building regulations do not require the use of a particular type of insulation). The government publishes Approved Documents to provide guidance on how builders and developers can meet the requirements.

How are building regulations enforced?

It is the responsibility of those commissioning and carrying out design and building work to ensure that their work complies with building regulations. For work to which building regulations apply, builders or developers must usually seek approval from a building control authority:

• To build or carry out building work on residential buildings 18 or more metres high (or have seven or more storeys), developers need to obtain approval from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), a new independent body the government created in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
• For other buildings, developers need to obtain approval from the local authority or a private building control professional (called a ‘registered building control approver’).

Local authorities and the BSR have enforcement powers to require developers to fix non-compliant work. They can also pursue prosecution against people who violate building regulations.

Response to the Grenfell Tower fire

The Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 resulted in the death of 72 people and injured more than 70 people. It drew attention to the regimes governing the fire safety of high-rise residential buildings in the UK.

Following the fire, the government commissioned the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and a review of building regulations and fire safety (the ‘Hackitt review’). In response to the Hackitt review and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the government introduced the Building Safety Act 2022.

The 2022 Act introduced a new regime for ‘higher risk buildings’. These are high-rise residential buildings that are 18 or more metres high or have seven or more storeys. To oversee the new regime, the government created a new, independent body: the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), which sits within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

A new regime for higher-risk buildings

The 2022 Act created new rules for the construction, refurbishment and occupation of higher-risk buildings:

• Developers need to obtain approval from the BSR to build new higher-risk buildings and make changes to existing higher-risk buildings. These new rules took effect in October 2023.
• Higher-risk buildings must have an ‘accountable person’ who must assess and manage building safety risks (which are risks to people’s safety from the spread of fire or if a building were to collapse). The BSR will check whether they comply with their duties.