HSE’s second building safety conference, which took place in May in Birmingham was attended by over 1,400 industry leaders, regulators and resident representatives.
The conference featured almost 40 sessions and panel discussions providing detailed information on a breadth of topics including:
the building control application process for high-rise residential buildings
ways of working for the building control profession
more information on how to build a safety case and a resident engagement plan
If you missed the opportunity to attend the BSR conference in May, you can watch back all of the key note speeches and sessions on HSE’s Youtube channel.
Amongst the many topics covered, sessions include updates on : Building Control Assessment process, Resident Engagement, Building Control profession, the Golden Thread, and Planning Gateways.
An open letter from the Housing Minister and the Director of Building Safety regarding charges associated with managing safety in high rise buildings.
In a joint letter to building managers, housing minister Lee Rowley and Phillip White, the director of building safety at the Health and Safety Executive, said they have been made aware of ‘unacceptably high’ charges for services related to producing safety case reports in recent months.
The letter acknowledged that pulling together evidence to produce the safety case report for some buildings ‘can be a challenging process’ and that building managers may need to commission investigations in some cases.
The housing minister and director of building safety issued a warning that they will “continue to monitor very closely the actions of those within this sector and, should we see evidence of inappropriate behaviour, will not hesitate to call it out publicly in the future”.
They added: “Most of this sector is already doing the right thing; others should take heed of this letter and the advice contained therein immediately”.
However, it stressed that leaseholders should be able to understand what they’re being charged for and why, and that existing building safety assessments should be used where possible
The BSR has today published a ‘Safety Case Toolkit’ guide which is accessible here.
The information within the guide is aimed at accountable persons (defined under section 84 of the Building Safety Act 2022) to assist them in preparing a safety case report. A safety case report must demonstrate that all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent building safety risks happening and reduce the seriousness if they do.
Following the secondary legislation published last month, the Health and Safety Executive has today (19th Sept 2023) published a new set of guidance documents for the in-occupation parts of the new building safety regulatory regime for high-rise buildings in England, overseen by the Building Safety Regulator.
The new guidance covers:
• Preparing a Resident Engagement Strategy
• Preparing a Safety Case Report
• Safety Case for a High-Rise Residential Building
• Building Safety Guides for Accountable Persons
There is also updated guidance from the Home Office on Fire Door Checks (published 18th Sept 2023)
You can find them all on the GOV.UK page here