New research from the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) shows that construction clients are “failing to engage with the new building safety regime”
The findings follow a series of regional meetings with BESA members “to gauge [the] take up of measures” introduced under the Building Safety Act (BSA), which came into force in 2022. This includes an awareness of the roles, responsibilities, and risks associated with the legislation.
BESA stated that “far from seeing evidence of any significant culture change, the pressure to deliver projects faster and more cheaply was increasing at the expense of quality and safety”.
Across all UK regions, it was confirmed that cost and speed were the primary drivers of project decisions, particularly by owners and developers whose buildings were not classified as higher risk. Many clients were under the assumption that the BSA only applied to those types of buildings. The ‘focus group’ meetings also revealed that most clients “erroneously considered” the legislation to be aimed at the construction industry, viewing it as a ‘Construction Safety Act, and not relevant to those owning, managing, and operating buildings throughout their lifecycle.
The trade association added that clients appeared to show a “total lack of engagement” with BESA members regarding compliance with the changes made in the BSA.
Director of Specialist Knowledge at BESA, Rachel Davidson said: “As there is currently very little enforcement of the legislation and, therefore, no apparent consequences, clients are still subjecting contractors to aggressive and sub-economic pricing.
“Not a single client has asked any of our members about compliance with the Act. Tenders are still being won on lowest price and still being value engineered throughout the project on non-HRB works.
“Several contractors who insisted on applying more rigorous safety measures said they had been priced out of projects as a result.”
The findings align with an industry-wide survey conducted by AMA Research on behalf of BESA between May and September 2024, aimed at assessing the preparedness, awareness levels, and understanding of changing legislative requirements. The data collected indicated that while 88% of respondents had at least some knowledge of the BSA, many contractors said that the changes were having only a “minimal impact” on their businesses, with only 9% reporting that they had made “significant changes” to help them comply.
Some of the biggest challenges faced by organisations were legal terminology and a limited understanding of how to ensure compliance with the BSA’s requirements. BESA noted that “contractors and clients were confused about their roles and responsibilities and there was little discernible change taking place”.
Davidson added: “Some firms have used the Act, and the wider post-Grenfell context, as an opportunity to re-set employees’ focus on what makes them good at their jobs and where they find deficiencies, to carry out more training.
“However, this is far from universal and access to appropriate training remains another key challenge for our sector and one that BESA is pursuing vigorously.”
There has been a call for increased support from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to help developers with the implementation of BSA requirements, including clearer guidance and a “closer and more productive relationship with the Regulator involving open channels of communication and a greater willingness to offer advice on how to comply with Act”.
Davidson noted that government also had a role to “properly resource” the regulator and ensure that this “potentially game-changing legislation [was] fully enforced”.
“Too many clients still think the Act does not apply to them, so they need to be the target of a major awareness programme. It cannot be left to individual contractors to try and educate their clients, particularly while cost remains king.”
You can access the full industry report here.