Comments from APS Deputy CEO, Sofie Hooper

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published a suite of guidance on Building Control Approval Applications for a new Higher-Risk Building (Gateway 2) in England.

The Association for Project Safety (APS) welcomes the publication of the new guidance. This comprehensive suite of documents is a positive step forward in supporting both applicants and regulatory bodies in improving the quality and efficiency of Building Control Approval submissions for Higher-Risk Buildings.

The guidance offers practical recommendations on the submission of information and promotes a clear, consistent approach for those submitting and assessing applications for Building Control Approval for Higher-Risk Buildings. The guidance aims to help streamline Gateway 2 applications and will ultimately contribute to raising safety standards across the built environment.

The guidance has been produced in collaboration between the CLC, industry stakeholders and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). It seeks to provide practical guidance for those submitting and assessing .

The guidance itself may go further than the minimum one needs to do to comply with the law with regard to building safety, but by providing the guidance, it aims to drive up the quality of gateway 2 submissions in such a way that it will speed up the assessment process and cut approval times, and the existing backlog.

An application for Building Control Approval should provide quality, detailed information that clearly and comprehensively demonstrates how the design and construction of the Higher-Risk Building will comply with the Building Regulations 2010. Currently however many submissions lack the necessary information and documents which means there often is a lengthy and costly back and forth between the applicant and the Building Safety Regulator.

The guidance takes the form of seven separate notes, summarised into one document, covering: • Guidance Note 01 – The Building Safety Regime for a new Higher-Risk Building • Guidance Note 02 – Sufficient Level of Design • Guidance Note 03 – Approval with Requirements • Guidance Note 04 – Application Information Schedule • Guidance Note 05 – Application Project Brief • Guidance Note 06 – Application Document Management and Submission • Guidance Note 07 – Application Strategy

Further details can be found on the CLC website:Higher-Risk Buildings – Building Control Approval – Construction Leadership Council

APS runs a Building Regulations webinar series that seeks to support professionals with duties and responsibilities in this area, and our recent webinar on HRB gateways explained is available on demand here. You can book onto the remainder of the series here