Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Closed
Legislative scrutiny
The Draft Building Safety Bill was published on 20 July 2020 and will, according to the Secretary of State, “deliver the biggest changes to building safety for nearly 40 years and make residents safer in their homes.” The draft Building Safety Bill takes forward the Government’s commitment to fundamental reform …
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53
Recommendations
23
Conclusions
1
Report
5
Oral sessions
14
Letters
5
Events
Activity timeline 21 events
7 Sep
2021
2021
19 Jul
2021
2021
13 Jul
2021
2021
7 Jul
2021
2021
24 Nov
2020
2020
Report published
23 Oct
2020
2020
23 Oct
2020
2020
19 Oct
2020
2020
Oral evidence
16 Oct
2020
2020
16 Oct
2020
2020
6 Oct
2020
2020
5 Oct
2020
2020
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
19 Oct 2020
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Oral Evidence
Chandru Dissanayeke · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Michael Wade OBE · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Lord Greenhalgh · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
5 Oct 2020
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Oral evidence
Dame Judith Hackitt · Building Control Independent Panel
Peter Baker · Health and Safety Executive
Sarah Albon · Health and Safety Executive
28 Sep 2020
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Oral evidence
Dr Nigel Glen · Association of Residential Managing Agents
James Dalton · Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Martin Boyd · Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
Richard Silva · Long Harbour
Victoria Moffett · National Housing Federation
21 Sep 2020
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Oral evidence
Dr Debbie Smith OBE · BRE Group
Dr Scott Steedman · British Standards Institution
Mrs Lorna Stimpson · Local Authority Building Control
Peter Capelhorn · Construction Products Association
Steve Wood · National House Building Council
The Lord Porter of Spalding CBE · Local Government Association (LGA)
14 Sep 2020
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Oral Evidence
Adrian Dobson · Royal Institute of British Architects
Graham Watts OBE · Construction Industry Council
Roy Wilsher · National Fire Chiefs Council
Sir Ken Knight · Building Safety Independent Expert Advisory Panel
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fifth report: Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bi… | HC 466 | 24 Nov 2020 | 76 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
13 results
12
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We do not think it necessary to establish the building safety charge separate from the...
We do not think it necessary to establish the building safety charge separate from the service charge. Aside from the unnecessary additional bureaucracy and administration costs, a separate charge means additional, separate, bills for leaseholders at intervals and within periods …
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Government Response
The government rejects the view that a separate building safety charge is unnecessary, providing detailed reasons why it is appropriate, including ensuring transparency, statutory rights, and greater certainty for leaseholders compared to existing service charge provisions.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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13
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
The Government should provide for recovery of ongoing building safety costs through existing service charge...
The Government should provide for recovery of ongoing building safety costs through existing service charge provisions while improving the transparency of such charges, preferably by implementing the Committee’s previous recommendations for standardised forms for service charge invoices. The building safety …
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Government Response
The government rejects the recommendation to recover ongoing building safety costs through existing service charge provisions, stating that such provisions vary and cannot guarantee clarity or recovery. Instead, it maintains that a separate Building Safety Charge will provide greater transparency and certainty.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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16
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We recommend that the Government specify in the Bill itself by way of a requirement...
We recommend that the Government specify in the Bill itself by way of a requirement to “have regard” the factors that must be considered in the future when the scope of the regime is expanded and that the ability of …
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Government Response
The government rejects specifying factors for future scope expansion as a 'have regard' requirement in the Bill and declines to set a timetable for review, stating the Regulator will monitor continuously. However, it has widened the regime's scope to include care homes and hospitals.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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35
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are concerned that the Bill only removes dutyholder choice in respect of higher- risk...
We are concerned that the Bill only removes dutyholder choice in respect of higher- risk buildings. As a result, the majority of building control work will remain exposed to the weaknesses and conflicts of interest identified by Dame Judith Hackitt. …
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Government Response
The government explicitly rejects the committee's implied recommendation to remove dutyholder choice and replace it with independent appointment for all out-of-scope work.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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36
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We recommend that dutyholder choice be removed entirely from the building control system and replaced...
We recommend that dutyholder choice be removed entirely from the building control system and replaced by a system of independent appointment, and that this be made explicit either in the Bill or in secondary legislation to be published alongside it.
Government Response
The government explicitly rejects the recommendation to remove dutyholder choice entirely from the building control system and replace it with independent appointment.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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37
Conclusion
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We understand the concern from the private building control profession about the conflict of interest...
We understand the concern from the private building control profession about the conflict of interest arising from the regulator’s dual role as building control body for higher-risk buildings and regulator of the building control profession. While we recognise that starting …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the perception of conflict regarding the regulator’s dual role but considers the benefits of a single regulator outweigh this concern, thus not addressing the implicit need for change.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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38
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
The Government should provide clear justification for combining in one body both regulation of the...
The Government should provide clear justification for combining in one body both regulation of the industry and decision-making in relation to higher-risk buildings. If this is desirable, there must be a clear statutory requirement that those involved in decision-making about …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the perception of conflict in combining regulatory and decision-making roles but maintains that the benefits of a single regulator outweigh this, thus rejecting the call for further justification or a statutory requirement for operational independence.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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39
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We understand the argument that local authority building control teams should be audited in the...
We understand the argument that local authority building control teams should be audited in the same way as registered building control approvers, and we are only partially convinced by the provisions allowing for the duties of a failing local Pre-legislative …
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Government Response
The government agrees that ensuring competence and monitoring of local authority building control teams is important, but rejects the recommendation to include explicit provision in the Bill for the regulator to monitor and assure their competency comparably to registered building control approvers.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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40
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We recommend that the Bill place an explicit duty on the regulator to monitor and...
We recommend that the Bill place an explicit duty on the regulator to monitor and assure the competence of local authority building control teams through provisions comparable to those for the registration of building control approvers, perhaps by mandating UKAS …
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Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of ensuring the competence of local authority building control teams but rejects the recommendation to place an explicit duty on the regulator in the Bill to monitor and assure this competence comparably to building control approvers.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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61
Conclusion
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We would encourage the Government to consider making it clear on the face of the...
We would encourage the Government to consider making it clear on the face of the Bill whether the power in clause 87 includes authorising the use of force but express no view on the conclusion to be reached.
Government Response
The government considered the suggestion but explicitly decided not to clarify on the face of the Bill whether the power in clause 87 includes authorising the use of force.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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70
Conclusion
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
The construction products regulatory regime envisaged in the Bill and accompanying documents fails to recognise...
The construction products regulatory regime envisaged in the Bill and accompanying documents fails to recognise that a single product may have more than one application and that it might be considered safety critical in one application but not in another. …
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Government Response
The government disagrees with the committee's conclusion, stating that the regulatory system for products already recognizes that a single construction product may have multiple applications.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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71
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We recommend that the Government set out, either in the Bill or in secondary legislation...
We recommend that the Government set out, either in the Bill or in secondary legislation to be published alongside it, how the regime will certify individual products, as opposed to product families, and take account of products with more than …
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Government Response
The government disagrees with the premise, stating that the current regulatory system for products already recognizes multiple applications for a single product and implicitly rejects the need for new provisions.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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74
Recommendation
Rejected
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We cannot judge the adequacy of European harmonised standards, but we agree with the industry...
We cannot judge the adequacy of European harmonised standards, but we agree with the industry that the Government should indicate soon whether it has any plans to review hENs and commission new standards. The Government should indicate whether or how …
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Government Response
The government explicitly states it has no current plans to review existing European harmonised standards. Its immediate priority is a smooth transition to a new UK regulatory system, and it mentions a future Construction Products Standards Committee will advise on UK regulatory standards.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Government Response AI assessment · 76 of 53 classified
Accepted
36
Acknowledged
12
Deferred
2
Rejected
13
Total
53 recs + 23 conclusions
Correspondence 14 letters
7 Sep 2021
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety to the Chair dated 31 August 2021 concerning the Government response to the Committee's pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
19 Jul 2021
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety dated 19 July 2021 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
13 Jul 2021
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety to the Chair dated 5 July 2021 concerning the introduction of the Building Safety Bill into the House of Commons
Parliament page
23 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from Dr Jonathan Evans to the Chair dated 20 October 2020 concerning building safety and regulation
Parliament page
23 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chief Executive of the Health & Safety Executive to the Chair dated 21 October 2020 following the evidence session on 5 October
Parliament page
16 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from Long Harbour to the Chair dated 5 October 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
16 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety to the Chair dated 1 October 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill, with additional fact sheets
Parliament page
6 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety dated 5 October 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
29 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to Lord Blencathra dated 28 September 2020 concerning the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
29 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from Sir Ken Knight to the Chair dated 16 September 2020 following up his oral evidence on 14 September
Parliament page
15 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety and Communities dated 14 September 2020 in response to his letter of 9 September
Parliament page
14 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety and Communities to the Chair dated 9 September regarding the draft Building Safety Bill, with additional factsheets
Parliament page
8 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety and Communities to the Chair dated 29 July 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
8 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety and Communities dated 31 July 2020 regarding pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page