BUILDING SAFETY | PLANNING GATEWAYS SAFE PASSAGE As the Building Safety Act comes into law, the industry is facing the biggest reform of building control ever seen. With the HSE raising concerns about 50% of designs at the first planning gateway of the new safety regime, its clearly essential to get to grips with the changes now. Phil Lattimore reports F ive years after the Grenfell Tower disaster marked a nadir for the construction industry, the new Building Safety Act is set to bring a fundamental change to the way building safety is regulated and controlled in England. The regulatory framework of the act will establish new duties and accountability for those responsible for the safety of high-rise and complex buildings, including three gateway decision points during the planning and construction process. Responsibility for the regime lies with a new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) under the auspices of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The changes are fundamental and there are signs that the industry has not yet got to grips with the new regime. In May, the Planning Gateway One (PGO) service at HSE raised concerns on more than half of applications it was required to be consulted on for the first safety decision point at design and planning stage. Gateway One, at the planning application stage, came into force through changes in planning law on 1 August 2021. It mandates statutory consultation with the HSE, and requires the developer to submit a fire statement setting out fire safety considerations specific to the development with a relevant full planning application. According to HSEs PGO service, a number of fire safety design issues have been identified with applications such as smoke vents and external wall openings close to neighbouring properties and restricted or non-existent access for fire appliances. The HSE also highlighted issues such as single fire shafts the only means of escape for residents on upper storeys that could easily become compromised where they connect with higher fire risk areas, such as car parks or waste storage facilities. Mark Wilson, operational lead for policy and PGO at HSE, said that more than 1,000 consultation requests from local planning authorities had been received since the PGO service had started, with concerns raised with local planning authorities on 50% of these. Feedback from local planning authorities is that they are supportive of what were doing, he said. They are rightly concerned about granting planning permission for developments that we have identified as unsafe, and reluctant to provide consent where fire safety concerns www.cibsejournal.com July 2022 41 CIBSE July 22 pp41-44 Building Safety.indd 41 24/06/2022 17:35