Credit: iStock – Marko Veskovic
An On the wire story
The Building Safety Regulator has admitted it does not have enough confidence in the data underpinning building control applications, a concern that adds to growing scrutiny of how the post-Grenfell regime is working in practice.
According to Construction News, the watchdog’s unease centres on the quality and consistency of the information being submitted, at a time when the approval system for higher-risk buildings is already under pressure.
That pressure is reflected in external analysis of the regulator’s own figures. A review of applications covering October 2023 to March 2025 found that half of submissions for existing higher-risk buildings and 45% of those for new-build projects were rejected, largely because they lacked sufficient detail or failed to meet statutory requirements.
Inside Housing reported that 69% of applications were either rejected for missing legally required detail, found not to show compliance, or withdrawn by applicants altogether.
The problem is not simply one of volume. The House of Lords has warned that the regulator needs to give multidisciplinary teams clearer guidance, after concluding that many refusals stem from basic mistakes and weak evidence on fire and structural safety.
The peers also suggested that smaller works may need to be taken out of the approval process to reduce bottlenecks and make the system more workable.
Further signs of strain have emerged in the way the regulator handles information internally. Construction Management reported that data processing at the BSR is still heavily manual, with staff reportedly segregating material by hand because current IT systems are not up to the task.
In parallel, the regulator has begun resetting parts of the regime for occupied higher-risk buildings, moving towards a more proportionate, risk-based and intelligence-led approach, according to Doortrace, while also promising additional support for those responsible for managing them.
Inspired by headline at Construction News [1]
• This On the wire article was created using Noahwire AI and reviewed by CIBSE Journal’s editorial team
