Are you equipped to provide The Principal Designer role (Building Control) on your building projects?
Published: 20/11/2023
October 2023 saw the introduction of the Principal Designer (Building Regulations) role which has changed the way the building industry needs to operate. How prepared are you?
The Building Safety Act 2022 became law in England in April 2023, bringing various reforms to how residential buildings are built and maintained. In October 2023, the secondary legislation was implemented.
One of the key pieces of secondary legislation is the introduction of the Principal Designer (Building Regulations) role, where it will be a requirement that all projects involving a multi-disciplinary design team must be led by a Building Regulations Principal Designer (PD).
Uncertainty
With such change comes uncertainty. Developers, Architects, and Contractors are faced with a cultural shift in the way the industry needs to deal with safety. Many of these changes are procedural, some are technical, but all have an impact on the way that the industry will now need to operate.
The proposed Building Regulations PD role will have far-reaching implications for all projects where a Building Regulations application is required and the new role stems from the amendment of the Building Act 1984, via the Building Safety Act. It applies to all projects where building work is being undertaken, with more stringent requirements for the role where a project includes one or more higher-risk buildings.
Two Principal Designers?
In essence, there could now be two Principal Designers on a project, one for CDM and one for Building Regulations compliance. The two roles could be undertaken by the same individual or organisation, but this will have the potential to cause confusion. That being said, it is unlikely that the traditional health and safety focused CDM Principal Designer will have the required knowledge and experience to undertake the new Building Regulations role.
The main role of the PD is to plan, manage and monitor the design before work starts on-site to ensure that the design complies with the relevant Building Regulations. Individuals or organisations can conduct the role, but each must have the required competency, skills and established management processes to undertake the role.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities consultation document states that it may be a team with complimentary sets of expertise which delivers the new PD role, which is likely to be the most appropriate solution on larger complex projects with at least a thorough knowledge of all Building Regulations, including fire safety requirements. In comparison, on small-scale projects, the role could be undertaken by a sole practitioner or small company.
Golden Thread
Competency guidance has been published by British Standards in the form of BSI Flex 8670, which covers the required core competencies for those working in building safety roles. In addition, PAS 8671 addresses specific competence thresholds that individuals are expected to meet when managing the duty-holder functions of the PD role.
For higher-risk building projects, it is proposed that the PD will be responsible at the design stage for collating the Golden Thread pack of information before handing it over to the Principal Contractor. In addition, they will also be responsible for Mandatory Reporting concerning the design following a project’s receipt of Building Control Approval (known as Gateway 2).
Gateway 3
We can assume that this mandatory reporting relates to post-application design changes which affect the structural or fire performance of the building to such a degree that there could be a resultant incident involving a major injury or fatalities. For projects including higher-risk buildings, the new PD must provide a signed compliance declaration at the Completion Certificate Application stage (Gateway 3), which states that all reasonable steps were taken to meet their statutory duties. This implies that this new PD will work for the Client duty holder for the duration of the design and construction stages.
The obligations of the new duty holders are intended to improve coordination and collaboration between duty holders and promote competence to ensure compliance with the building regulations and are an essential part of the new building safety regime introduced by the BSA.
Failure to comply with these duties could have various repercussions, ranging from the rejection of an application for building control approval (incurring delays and additional costs) through to the inability to secure a building control completion certificate (meaning that the building cannot be handed over for occupation). Individual duty holders could also face significant fines or risk imprisonment.
Finally, on the subject of insurance, it will be interesting to see how the professional indemnity insurance market reacts to these new BSA requirements, in an industry where there are already challenges. It remains to be seen how insurers will respond to the regulations, particularly where consultants wish to adopt one of the new principal duty holder roles.
Harris Associates can offer a bespoke solution to enable you to comply with the latest legislation. We are experts in statutory compliance and fire safety-related matters with experienced and qualified technicians, surveyors, engineers, and project managers. We have national coverage and can help with all aspects of construction oversight, principal designer and clerk of works matters. We also manage façade remediation projects from FRAEWs through to the coordination and delivery of complex façade remediation contracts.
For more information on our services, assistance, or advice on these latest developments or any related fire safety or regulatory matter please contact Shaun Harris, Ben Stewart or Richard Stone via phone or email at shaun@harrisassociatesuk.com, bens@harrisassociatesuk.com or richard@harrisassociatesuk.com call 0203 195 0857, 0161 615 3679 or 0121 213 6307.
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