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The Expanding Scope of the Building Safety Act - New Duties for 11-Metre Buildings
The Building Safety Act's reach is expanding significantly in 2025. The government's Remediation Bill, anticipated for Summer 2025, will legislate a new legal duty for those responsible for residential buildings 11 metres and over to fix unsafe cladding within clear timescales. This is a major extension of the regime's focus, which was initially centred on buildings over 18 metres. This change will bring thousands of additional buildings onto the Building Safety Regulator's register and mandate their remediation. The government's goal is for every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding to have been remediated, or to have a completion date scheduled, by the end of 2029.
This expansion is being coupled with a dramatic intensification of enforcement powers. The BSR, as an independent body within the HSE, now has the authority to prosecute individuals acting for a corporate body, introducing the concept of personal liability for building safety offences. This means that directors and managers can be held personally accountable for breaches of the Act that are attributable to their consent, connivance or neglect. The penalties are severe, including unlimited fines and imprisonment for up to two years.
This shift to personal accountability is arguably one of the most profound changes in the Act. By placing the threat of criminal liability on individuals, building safety is elevated from a corporate compliance issue to a personal professional responsibility. This will fundamentally alter the risk profile for senior management, making it essential to review and potentially increase Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance coverage. The government is reinforcing its legislative actions with legal precedents. The first legal action brought by the government under the Act, the Vista Tower case, successfully sought a Remediation Order against a developer for delays in fixing fire safety issues. This demonstrates that the government and the courts are willing to use the new powers decisively to compel action.
