FPA Announces That Building Safety Manager Requirements To Be Removed From The Building Safety Bill

The UK government has presented amendments to the Building Safety Bill, including the removal of clauses 82 to 86, relating to the appointment of a Building Safety Manager.

The amendments were made in the House of Lords in the Report Stage prior to the Third Reading. Prior to these amends, the Building Safety Manager had a significant role in the Bill, with responsibilities to manage the Part 4 building safety risk for higher risk buildings, which is outlined in clauses 60 to 81.

These clauses relating to the building safety risk will remain in the Bill, but responsibility is now solely with the Accountable Person.

Higher risk buildings

The Building Safety Bill is at a crucial juncture in its journey to becoming law

The Building Safety Bill had previously stipulated that landlords who manage high-rise buildings needed to appoint a Building Safety Manager to take ownership of and comply with fire safety regulations.

The The Building Safety Bill is at a crucial juncture in its journey to becoming law is at a crucial juncture in its journey to becoming law, and will serve to implement recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.

According to the government, these changes will allow the Accountable Person to meet the requirements set upon them in a more efficient way for both the residents and the buildings, with forthcoming guidance by the Building Safety Regulator to be published to assist in these efforts. As such, it will now fall solely to the Accountable Persons to ensure that they are compliant with the new regulations.

Lower value properties

The amendments also made reference to leaseholders in lower value properties not being charged for remediation work, and additional protections for leaseholders that own up to three properties.

In a statement announcing the amendments, Michael Gove, said: “No leaseholder should pay the price for shoddy development and we have listened to their concerns, removing the requirement for a separate building safety charge and scrapping compulsory building safety managers, to help avoid unnecessary costs.”

As reported by Insurance Times, there are also implications for the insurance of affected buildings, as the Secretary of State can now impose additional requirements about new build home warranties.