The Welsh Government has given some insight into its direction of travel in terms of implementing the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) in Wales with the publication of the Building Safety Act 2022 Handbook for Wales Design and Construction Phase.

This confirms that the BSA will be implemented in Wales in phases. The handbook summarises the work that has commenced in the first stage including:

• defining what is a higher-risk building in Wales for the design and construction phase. This differs from the definition in England. For example, a higher-risk building in Wales need only contain one residential unit - as opposed to two in England.
• from April 2024, it is only local authorities that are able to oversee new higher-risk building work in Wales. In England, the Building Safety Regulator is the building control authority for higher-risk building work.
• regulating building inspectors and building control approvers and reforms to private sector building control.

This is covered in a previous article: Building control registration deadline nears. The Building Safety Regulator is the regulatory authority for the building control profession in England and Wales.

The handbook confirms that future changes “under consideration or consultation” include the introduction of dutyholders, reforming the monitoring and enforcement of local authority building control from 2025, as well as the introduction of the Golden Thread and building control processes for HRBs.

It also confirms that Part 4 of the BSA 2022 relating to HRBs in occupation does not apply to Wales and that the Welsh Government “will be bringing forward their own Bill regarding the safety of occupied buildings in due course”.

The handbook promises to be a key resource going forwards confirming that as “work to transform building safety continues, the handbook will be periodically updated to describe changes that have been adopted and how it may impact you”.