Chief Philip White says regulator鈥檚 attempts to engage developers rather than turn applications down have contributed to delays
The 性吧电台 Safety Regulator (BSR) is looking at taking a 鈥渇irmer approach鈥� by rejecting more gateway 2 applications outright as it seeks to decrease delays in building control approval, the organisation鈥檚 chief has said.
Since taking over the building control for higher-risk buildings, the regulator has been subject to a stream of criticism from the housing development sector over delays of up to 11 months to approval at the 鈥榞ateway 2鈥� pre-construction stage.
In a statement published on the government鈥檚 website, Philip White, chief inspector of buildings at BSR, he stressed that 鈥渋ndustry needs to step up and comply with the process鈥� in providing good quality applications.
White indicated that the regulator could begin taking a different approach in how it handles poor quality applications in order to ensure more complete submissions are not delayed.
He said that the regulator鈥檚 attempts to engage with applicants rather than simply rejecting submissions had meant that applications 鈥渢ake longer and appear to be delayed鈥�.
鈥淥f course, the time we spend on those incomplete applications is time we can鈥檛 spend on others, some of which would be perfectly good to go,鈥� he said.
He said a shift in method could mean the regulator takes a 鈥渇irmer approach to rejecting those applications that aren鈥檛 making the bar straight away鈥�.
He explained that a backlog of cases which built up last summer was 鈥渁lmost cleared鈥�, but the regulator was still struggling with poor quality applications.
White explained that application volumes had been 鈥渟teady鈥� when it first took on building control for higher-risk buildings, but that things changed in Spring 2024 when transitional arrangements from the pre-性吧电台 Safety Act regime came to an end and private building control suffered a collapse.
He said the 鈥渢emporary backlog of cases鈥� that subsequently built up before July 2024 had nearly been dealt with by the regulator.
While White said there were 鈥渁 small set of applications from the pre-July backlog that have been in the system for a long time鈥�, approval times had otherwise come down. He said that for other applications, the average Gateway 2 handling time was now around 16 to 18 weeks.
However, he stressed that 鈥渋ndustry needs to step up and comply with the process鈥� in providing good quality applications.
The most recent data showed 44% of applications were still being rejected at the validation stage, which is a simple administration check that all the required documents have been supplied.
He emphasised that the process was not 鈥渞ed tape for the sake of it鈥�, but that it was 鈥減reventing risks and problems from being designed into the built environment鈥�.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about making sure residents have safe and quality homes and avoiding costly works at a later date. Or homeowners not being able to secure lending and insurance,鈥� he said.
>> Read more: What the delays at the 性吧电台 Safety Regulator mean for high-rise development
He also outlined some of the most common and serious failures in applications. These included missing details on how key structural components connect, inadequate information on fire resistance of cladding, walls or barriers, corridors that don鈥檛 meet evacuation width requirements and poorly designed or unproven smoke extraction systems.
鈥淭hese aren鈥檛 minor omissions 鈥� they present significant safety risks and lead to delays in the approval process,鈥� he said.
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