Consultation on Building Work to Higher-Risk Buildings Ends on 28 May

All building work to existing HRBs must receive approval from the Building Safety Regulator (following submission of a Gateway 2 application) before the work can start,  unless the work is "exempt", carried out under a Competent Person Scheme or an "emergency repair" (as defined by the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023). Building work in HRBs is split between Category A and B. 

Category A works carry greater safety risks, including works to change the number of storeys or involving active fire safety measures. Submitting a Gateway 2 application Category A works therefore requires much more cost and time than Category B (MHCLG estimate 7-8 hours more per application). MHCLG also estimated that the volume of Category A applications is roughly five times more than originally anticipated.

The consultation is seeking to address a significant unintended consequence of the 2023 regulations: that minor, routine works to higher-risk buildings are being captured by Category A. This is a significant part of the BSR's workload, which MHCLG believes should be focusing on major remediation works and new builds.

The consultation proposes two options. These two proposals are not mutually exclusive, so the government is intending to investigate both options.

• Option 1 — Reclassifying most building work within individual flats from Category A to Category B, such as moving non-load bearing walls, building work to windows or fire doors within a flat.
  
  
• Option 2 — Reclassifying small-scale works in communal areas as Category B, where the work is carried out by three or fewer people, completed within five working days, and does not affect active fire safety measures, load-bearing walls or external walls. This includes, for example, electrical work to install new emergency lighting in a communal hallway.

The consultation also invites views on other long-term options, such as whether Competent Person Schemes could be extended to cover certain Category B works and whether minor works are removed from BSR oversight entirely.

Although the BSR has made improvements in processing Gateway 2 applications, approval times still cause significant delays in development timetables across the country. The proposals in this consultation are a welcome step, but the detail is important. MHCLG have not explained, for example, how they have arrived at the thresholds in option 2. Whether you are a landlord, developer, or contractor, particularly if you have experience in making Gateway 2 applications for seemingly minor works, please get in touch if you are interested to being part of our wider response to the consultation. Alternatively, you can respond to the consultation directly at: https://consult.communities.gov.uk/higher-risk-buildings/redefining-category-a-building-work-consultation/