(Title Image: ITV)
Last week, the Welsh Government launched a consultation on their white paper (pdf), setting out reforms to building safety in Wales.
The work has come about as a result of the Grenfell Tower disaster, as well as well-publicised examples of high-rise residential developments falling short of fire safety standards.
In summary, the white paper proposes:
- Introducing two categories of multi-occupancy residential buildings. Category 1 buildings (over 18 metres or 6 storeys in height) will be subject to stricter building safety requirements than Category 2 buildings (under 18 metres in height).
- Category 1 buildings must be subject to local authority building control (currently it’s optional) and will also have a regularly updated digital record (called a “Golden Thread”) concerning the ongoing management of the building.
- A licenced and trained person/point of contact for building safety (“duty holder”) will be required for all Category 1 and 2 buildings. Category 1 buildings will also need a named Building Safety Manager responsible for the day-to-day management of the building and who will also need to pass a fit-and-proper person test.
- The duty holder must undertake annual fire safety risk assessments, ensure compartmentation (to contain fires), properly record any incidents and safety issues and regularly update and consult with residents on matters of building and fire safety (with stricter requirements for Category 1 buildings).
- The establishment of a national Building Safety Regulator to provide oversight, deal with complaints, issue compliance notices, maintain the register of duty holders and to educate the public.
The scale of the problem in Wales is much smaller than England, with just 148 high-rise residential buildings in Wales compared to more than 12,000 in England. The majority of proposed Category 1 buildings are located in Cardiff and Swansea.
Some of the white paper’s proposals will be addressed via the UK’s Building Safety Bill. The Welsh Government will seemingly request for parts of that Bill to be extended to cover Wales, while other elements will be addressed through regulations or Welsh law.
The consultation is open until 12th April 2021 – more details here.
