Welcome to Building Safety F(ACT)s, where we explore the latest developments affecting the landscape of building safety law and practice in the UK. In this edition, we cover five key developments.
First, we look at the government’s plans to overhaul the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) by streamlining processes and addressing industry concerns, as well as the recently announced House of Lords inquiry into the BSR’s performance.
Following a review of the Construction Products Reform Green Paper, we examine recent case law testing whether a rooftop garden counts as a “storey” for the purposes of the Building Safety Act – a question with real implications for building at height. Linked to this and more generally, we consider the looming change in the definition of Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs), which could see a possible reduction in the height threshold for HRBs.
Finally we unpack in detail the landmark decision in URS v BDW, which touches on a multitude of issues – including the ability for developers to recover costs for historical building safety defects even where they no longer owned the property and no third-party claim has been brought against them, as well as clarification on the application of the 30 year retrospective liability period introduced by the Building Safety Act.
