Journey
Building Safety Act for SME contractors
A learning path for small and medium construction businesses working on higher-risk building projects under the Building Safety Act 2022. Covers what the Act means for contractors, your duties on HRB projects, golden thread responsibilities, change control, and handover obligations.
Why the Building Safety Act matters for your business
If your construction business works on residential buildings that are 18 metres or higher (or 7+ storeys), the Building Safety Act 2022 affects you directly. The Act creates personal criminal liability for contractors and their directors - non-compliance can lead to unlimited fines and imprisonment.
A 2024 BESA survey of building services businesses found that while 88% were aware of the Act, most small and medium-sized enterprises found its requirements overwhelming. This learning path breaks it down into the essentials you need to know as a contractor.
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Understand the Building Safety Act basics
Before working on any higher-risk building project, understand the regulatory framework. The Act created the Building Safety Regulator (an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) which oversees a mandatory three-gateway approval process for higher-risk buildings.
Understanding the Building Safety Act
Comprehensive overview of the Building Safety Act 2022, who it affects, the gateway process, and penalties for non-compliance.
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Know your duties as a contractor
The BSA creates specific duties for contractors on higher-risk building projects. If you are appointed as Principal Contractor, you have additional coordination and compliance responsibilities. Even as a sub-contractor, you must cooperate with the Principal Contractor and comply with the construction control plan. Remember too that the building regulations dutyholder and competence duties created under the Act apply to all building work in England with more than one contractor - not just higher-risk buildings.
Building safety duties for contractors
What the Building Safety Act requires of contractors on higher-risk building projects, including competence declarations, cooperation duties, and record-keeping.
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Understand your golden thread responsibilities
The golden thread is a digital record of building safety information that must be maintained throughout the building's lifecycle. During construction, the Principal Contractor is responsible for maintaining it. All contractors must contribute accurate information to the golden thread.
Create and maintain the golden thread
How to set up and maintain the golden thread digital information management system, including what must be recorded during design and construction.
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Follow the change control process
Once Gateway 2 has been approved, you cannot simply make changes to the design or construction as you would on a non-HRB project. Major changes require BSR approval before work proceeds. Notifiable changes must be reported to the BSR before starting the changed work. Only minor changes can proceed without notification.
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Prepare for Gateway 3 handover
At completion, the client, Principal Designer, and Principal Contractor must all sign the Gateway 3 application. This is a legal declaration that the building as constructed complies with building regulations. You must hand over the complete golden thread to whoever will be the Accountable Person during occupation.
Hand over the golden thread at completion
How to prepare the golden thread for handover from construction to occupation, including what records must be transferred and in what format.
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Understand the consequences of non-compliance
The BSA created some of the most severe penalties in UK construction regulation. Prosecution time limits for building regulation contraventions have been removed - the offence is now triable either way (previously prosecution was limited to 2 years) - and local authorities can serve section 36 enforcement notices up to 10 years after completion of the work.