Building Safety Act: Duties, Liabilities and Remediation

The short answer: what the Building Safety Act does

The Building Safety Act 2022 is the main legislative response to the Grenfell Tower fire. It received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and has been brought into force in stages. The Building Safety Act creates a stricter regime for higher-risk residential buildings, gives a new Building Safety Regulator wide powers, protects many leaseholders from the cost of historical safety defects, and extends the time for bringing claims about defective homes.

For owners, developers, contractors, consultants and investors, the practical effects are significant. Liability for building safety defects now reaches further back in time and further across corporate groups. New buildings above the height threshold go through a more demanding approval process. And the costs of fixing older buildings are pushed towards those who built them or own them, rather than leaseholders.

Most of the Act applies in England. Some building control provisions also apply in Wales, while Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own building safety regimes.

The key building blocks

The Act operates through several distinct regimes: the Building Safety Regulator and building control reforms; the occupation regime for higher-risk buildings; leaseholder protections and remediation tools; extended limitation periods; and new causes of action relating to construction products. Each has its own triggers and dates, so it is important to identify which ones apply to a particular building or transaction.

The Building Safety Regulator

The Building Safety Regulator oversees the safety and performance of buildings, with a particular focus on high-rise residential buildings. It is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings in England, regulates building control professionals and promotes competence across the industry.

The regulator was originally established within the Health and Safety Executive. On 27 January 2026 it became a standalone arm's-length body under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, described by the government as a step towards a single construction regulator. The Act also created a National Regulator of Construction Products and a framework for a New Homes Ombudsman scheme, as the government's Building Safety Act guidance explains.

Design and construction of higher-risk buildings

New higher-risk buildings must obtain building control approval from the regulator before work starts and a completion certificate before occupation, often described as Gateway 2 and Gateway 3. Applications must show how the building will comply with building regulations, and dutyholders such as the principal designer and principal contractor have defined responsibilities for managing compliance. Major changes during construction require approval. Delays at these gateways have been a recurring industry concern, and the regulator has announced operational changes to speed up decisions.

Higher-risk buildings and accountable persons

For the occupation phase, section 65 defines a higher-risk building as a building in England that is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys, and contains at least 2 residential units. Regulations supplement the definition, for example on how height is measured and which buildings are excluded.

Every occupied higher-risk building must have one or more accountable persons, usually the freeholder or the party responsible for repairing the common parts. Where there is more than one, the principal accountable person is the one responsible for the structure and exterior. These duties cannot be contracted out of, although tasks can be delegated to managing agents.

Core duties under Part 4

• Registration: the building must be registered with the regulator before occupation. GOV.UK guidance on registering a high-rise residential building sets out the information required.
• Risk assessment and management: accountable persons must assess building safety risks and take proportionate steps to manage them.
• Safety case report: the principal accountable person must prepare a safety case report and provide it to the regulator when required.
• Mandatory occurrence reporting: certain safety occurrences must be reported to the regulator.
• Golden thread: prescribed information about the building must be kept and shared.
• Residents: a residents' engagement strategy and a complaints procedure are required.
• Building assessment certificates: the regulator assesses the building and issues a certificate, which must be displayed.

Contravening certain duties in a way that places people at significant risk of death or serious injury is a criminal offence. The regulator can also issue compliance notices and, in serious cases, apply for special measures.

Leaseholder protections and remediation

Section 116 and Schedule 8 protect qualifying leaseholders in relevant buildings from paying for historical safety defects. A relevant building, under section 117, is a self-contained building in England containing at least two dwellings that is at least 11 metres high or has at least 5 storeys, subject to exceptions such as leaseholder-owned buildings.

Under section 119, a qualifying lease is broadly a long lease of a single dwelling, granted before 14 February 2022, where at that date the dwelling was the tenant's only or principal home, or the tenant owned no more than two other dwellings in the UK. Qualifying leaseholders cannot be charged for cladding remediation, and their contributions to other historical safety defects are capped or removed depending on the landlord's circumstances.

Remediation tools

The Act gives interested parties strong tools. A remediation order under section 123 requires a landlord to remedy specified defects by a set time. A remediation contribution order under section 124 requires a developer, landlord or associated company to contribute to remediation costs where it is just and equitable. Our guide to remediation contribution orders explains how the tribunal approaches them.

Building liability orders under section 130 allow the High Court to extend certain liabilities to associated companies, piercing the traditional use of special purpose vehicles in development. Associated companies are widely defined, so group structures need careful review.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 made further amendments to these remediation and leaseholder protection provisions, so older commentary should be read with care.

Extended limitation periods

Section 135 of the Building Safety Act inserted a new section 4B into the Limitation Act 1980. For claims under section 1 or section 2A of the Defective Premises Act 1972, and under section 38 of the Building Act 1984, the limitation period is 15 years from when the right of action accrued.

For claims under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 that accrued before section 135 came into force on 28 June 2022, the period is 30 years. That change applies retrospectively, reviving claims that would previously have been time-barred, subject to protections for claims already settled or decided. The text of section 135 sets out the transitional rules.

Section 1 of the 1972 Act imposes a duty on those who take on work in connection with the provision of a dwelling to do it in a workmanlike or professional manner, with proper materials, so that the dwelling is fit for habitation when completed. The extension therefore exposes developers, contractors, designers and consultants to claims about homes built decades ago. See our wider guide to limitation periods for how these rules fit the general framework.

The Supreme Court decision in URS v BDW

In URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21, the Supreme Court dismissed a consultant's appeal in a claim by a developer that had repaired defective buildings. The court held that the developer could recover the cost of repairs it carried out even though it no longer owned the buildings, that the retrospective limitation period applied to the related claims, that a developer can be owed a duty under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, and that it could claim contribution without a prior judgment or settlement. The decision strengthens the hand of developers seeking to pass remediation costs down the supply chain.

Construction products and new causes of action

Section 148 creates liability for manufacturers and sellers of construction products. A claim can arise where a product fails to comply with a construction product requirement, is the subject of a misleading statement or is inherently defective, is installed in a relevant building and causes a dwelling to be unfit for habitation. Any term excluding or restricting this liability is void.

The Act also makes provision for claims about cladding products in some circumstances. Combined with the extended limitation periods, these provisions mean product manufacturers, suppliers and their insurers face long-tail exposure.

An illustrative scenario

This example is illustrative only and uses generic parties. A residential building of eight storeys was completed in the early 2000s by a developer that used a special purpose vehicle. Inspections now reveal combustible cladding and missing fire breaks.

Leaseholders who meet the qualifying lease test are protected from paying for the cladding works. The freeholder applies to the First-tier Tribunal for a remediation contribution order against the original developer and its associated group companies. The developer, in turn, reviews claims against the façade contractor and fire engineer under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, which are within the extended 30-year period for pre-2022 claims.

Because the building is over 18 metres and occupied, the principal accountable person must also have registered it, prepared a safety case report and engaged with residents. Each party needs advice on its own position, and early coordination of evidence and expert reports reduces cost and delay.

Responding to a building safety defect: step by step

1. Classify the building. Measure height and count storeys to establish whether it is a relevant building, a higher-risk building, or both, and record the evidence.
2. Secure the evidence. Commission fire safety and façade surveys, such as an external wall assessment, and gather as-built drawings, building control records and contracts.
3. Manage immediate risk. Put interim safety measures in place where needed, notify the regulator of any reportable occurrence and keep residents informed.
4. Check who pays. Identify qualifying leases, obtain leaseholder and landlord certificates and consider government remediation funding and developer schemes.
5. Identify responsible parties. Map the developer, contractors, designers, product suppliers and associated companies, and check limitation dates for each potential claim.
6. Choose the route. Decide between negotiation, a remediation order or remediation contribution order in the tribunal, or court proceedings, and preserve rights with standstill agreements where appropriate.

Risks and common mistakes

Investors, lenders and cross-border groups

Overseas investors and funders in UK residential property must understand the Building Safety Act before acquiring or lending. Remediation liabilities can follow a building, a landlord or an associated company, and building liability orders can reach parent entities. Due diligence should cover height and storey counts, cladding and fire safety reports, accountable person status, leaseholder protections and any tribunal proceedings.

Groups headquartered in Bangladesh, the Gulf or Asia with UK development subsidiaries should review their structures and intra-group arrangements. The definition of associated companies is broad, and liability may extend beyond the entity that signed the building contract.

Checklist for owners, developers and investors

• Identify which buildings are relevant buildings and which are higher-risk buildings.
• Confirm accountable persons and registration status with the regulator.
• Review leaseholder certificates and service charge practices.
• Audit historic residential projects for Defective Premises Act exposure.
• Check insurance, warranties and group structures for associated-company risk.
• Build Gateway timetables and regulatory risk into new development contracts.

TRW & Co's London office is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our building safety team advises owners, developers, contractors and investors, and our construction disputes and property litigation lawyers act in remediation and limitation claims under the Building Safety Act. Where advocacy in the higher courts is required, we instruct specialist counsel. To discuss a building, contact us at info@trw.co or +880 1779 127165.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and official materials

1. Building Safety Act 2022 — The Act, including higher-risk buildings, remediation and limitation
2. The Building Safety Act (GOV.UK) — Government overview of the Act and secondary legislation
3. Building Safety Regulator — Regulator for higher-risk buildings and building control
4. Register a high-rise residential building — Registration requirements for higher-risk buildings
5. Building Safety Act 2022, section 135 — Extended limitation periods for building claims
6. URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21 — Supreme Court decision on the Defective Premises Act and section 135

General information only, current as at 21 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor–client relationship. It reflects the law of England and Wales unless stated otherwise; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems, and the law changes frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.