Building safety news – a round up of legal updates for the construction sector

The Industry Safety Steering Group’s fifth report – 6 July 2026 (ISSG)

Gateway applications: the Report raises concerns that the Building Safety Regulator is still receiving poor quality Gateway applications for Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs) under construction and Building Assessment Certificate applications for works to existing HRBs: “The difference between what duty holders should be providing and what they are providing is stark”.

Attitudes: the ISSG says that “parts of the construction industry are still not engaging with the new regime and are instead carrying on with business as usual and disregarding the new obligations.” 

Contract forms: the ISSG is “deeply concerned that certain forms of contract continue to cause the wrong behaviours within industry, creating a ‘race to the bottom’. We continue to see that clients are prioritising costs over value and quality, minimising the assurance measures needed to verify compliance with building regulations, specifications, and user needs.” Is this an attack on design and build contracts?

Good news includes that the ISSG is pleased that the Office for Product Safety and Standards “has done good work on developing new standards for bringing new products to the market.” The OPSS has sponsored the developer of Publicly Available Specification PAS2000:2026 Construction Products – Bringing Safe Products to Market - Code of Practice: PAS 2000:2026 | 28 Feb 2026 | BSI Knowledge

Construction Products Reform White Paper

The government published the Construction Products Reform White Paper in February. We don’t yet know when any of its proposals will come into force. The White Paper highlights the systemic problems in testing and certification found in the post-Grenfell Hackitt Review and in the entire construction products system by the Morrell-Day Review, stating that:

• Both reviews found conflicts of interest, lack of transparency and inconsistent testing in some conformity assessment bodies.
• Dishonest and misleading marketing were uncovered.
• There is inadequate digitalisation and poor access to product data plus limited traceability from manufacture to installation.
• Almost no enforcement action took place until the national regulator for construction products was created in 2021.
• There remains a widespread lack of competence across the supply chain.

The Paper emphasises that construction product marks do not currently certify safety – they are designed to support EU trade. It also mentions poor integration between product and building regulations.

The Paper proposes:

• A new General Safety Requirement for construction products.
• The imposition of minimum transparency requirements on certification schemes.
• The National Regulator for Construction Products (currently the Office for Product Safety and Standards) will have powers to require disclosure of relevant test information.
• Support for a new digital construction library.
• Prison sentences and potentially unlimited fines for breaches.

Two staircases

From 30 September new residential buildings seeking building regulation approval that will exceed 18m in height must have two staircases. Also: “Any building (regardless of height) where:

• there are flats that are not separated from the common stair by a protected lobby; or
• a maximum travel distance of 7.5m in one direction or 30m in multiple directions is exceeded.”

There is a transitional period for buildings for which a building notice, initial notice, or building control approval application with full plans was submitted to the relevant authority before 30 September 2026. In relation to these, the project must be "sufficiently progressed“ by 30 March 2028, i.e. concrete pouring must have started for the permanent placement of trench, pad, or raft foundations, or for the permanent placement of piling by that date or the project will fall under the new regime. Also, developers must notify the relevant building control authority within 5 working days of that stage being reached.

Retentions and statutory interest

The Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill will, if and when enacted and brought into force, ban retentions in building contracts and enforce a new 60 day maximum payment term and a right to statutory interest on late payments at 8% above the Bank of England base rate and deadlines for disputing invoices.

The Remediation Bill

We await the details but this, if enacted, will, in England and Wales, and amongst other measures:

• introduce a new legal duty to remediate dangerous cladding on specified buildings with residential elements, compelling those who are responsible for the safety of their buildings to identify, assess and fix issues without delay.
• make construction product manufacturers liable to contribute towards the cost of making buildings safe, and enable developers, contractors and others who have paid to make buildings safe to pursue manufacturers properly, rather than being blocked by technical legal barriers.

Remediation deadline

The government proposes to bring in a new law requiring that, by the end of 2029, any landlord who has failed to remediate a residential building over 18 metres - without reasonable excuse - could face criminal prosecution, with unlimited fines and/or imprisonment. Remediation Acceleration Plan update, July 2025 - GOV.UK – updated 11 June 2026. 

More funding

The government proposes to provide funding where buildings under 11m in height with dwellings in them have life-critical fire safety risks from cladding and do not have an alternative route to funding.

Where some of the funding will come from

The Building Safety Levy will come into effect on 1 October 2026 and is hoped to raise £3.4bn over ten years.

New College of Fire and Rescue

In response to the Grenfell Report recommendations, HMG proposes to set up in England a new College of Fire and Rescue. It will ensure high standards of training and research and greater consistency across England’s 44 Fire and Rescue Services. Wales and Scotland have devolved powers.

A thought – Clerks of Works

The ISSG (see above) has commented that some forms of contract contribute to the wrong behaviour.

There are other ways of tackling the “race to the bottom” as well, including the emphasis on competence and attempts to change culture.

Another practical thing that could be done and that might help is for the government to mandate the use of Clerks of Works/site inspectors on construction projects above a certain scale or of particular types. Project managers/contract administrators don’t have the time or, necessarily, the expertise to check works on site all day each day. AI tools can now help but specialist clerks of works should be an invaluable tool for clients and developers instructing works – to ensure that the correct materials are used and the works carried out in the right way without corners being cut.

What are the reasons for clerks of works not being seen as a vital part of the necessary emphasis on quality and safety?

The JCT has a good feature about them: The Role of the Clerk of Works – The Joint Contracts Tribunal

If you are looking for advice on any of the issues featured in this article, please contact Andrew Harbourne on 020 8776 3883, or a member of the Construction team on 020 8290 0440.