Welsh government consultation on HRBs and building regulation changes

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitt's review of the building regulations and fire safety proposed a new safety framework for high-rise residential buildings, emphasising regulatory reform and increased professional competence. In response, Wales developed its own approach through the “Road Map to Safer Buildings in Wales” and the White Paper: Safer Buildings in Wales, which adapted Hackitt’s recommendations to the Welsh context.

These plans were enacted through the Building Safety Act 2022, which introduced key legislative reforms in design, construction, and building occupation. The Act granted Welsh Ministers powers to make secondary legislation, enabling detailed regulation and performance improvement across the sector.

Initial secondary legislation focused on registering and regulating the building control profession, requiring inspectors and companies to meet competency standards and register with the Building Safety Regulator as well as the introduction of new codes of and safety standards. Whilst the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report largely target England, many are applicable to Wales. The Welsh Government is beginning to address these through consultations, starting with proposals on documentation requirements for higher-risk building work as part of its broader commitment to safer building practices.

This next phase of the Welsh Government’s implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022 focusses on procedural reform for building control, introducing new duties and requirements for the key decision makers in building projects and giving local authorities new enforcement powers.

Whilst the new regulatory regime for higher-risk building is the focus of much of this consultation, it also covers a broad range of other issues:

• Dutyholders’ responsibilities and competence requirements.
• Golden thread of building information.
• Gateway processes for higher-risk building work.
• Mandatory occurrence reporting of safety issues during construction.
• Compliance and stop notices that give local authorities new enforcement powers.
• New process for local authorities wanting to carry out higher-risk building work.
• Reform of non-higher-risk building work applications.
• Automatic lapse of building control approval after 3 years.
• Public bodies carrying out higher-risk building work.
• Transitional provisions.

The government will refine the proposals from the responses received and, once regulations have been made, will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure the new regime operates effectively in practice.

The consultation was published on 26 March 2025 with responses required by 25 May 2025. For further information, the full document, questions asked and how to respond visit the Welsh Government site New building control regime for higher-risk buildings and wider changes to the building regulations in Wales.

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• Hackitt review of the building regulations and fire safety, final report.
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• Welsh planning policy.