Yes, the Building Safety Regulator has the power to stop construction work.
If BSR believes that work is being carried out without approval, outside the agreed documents, or in a way that creates a serious safety risk, they can require work to stop. This can apply to the whole site or to specific elements of work.
In practice, this often happens when:
Stopping work is not a last resort. It is a regulatory control. Site teams should assume that unauthorised work can be halted at any time.
If BSR believes that work is being carried out without approval, outside the agreed documents, or in a way that creates a serious safety risk, they can require work to stop. This can apply to the whole site or to specific elements of work.
In practice, this often happens when:
- Approved designs are not being followed
- Major changes are made without approval
- Required evidence is missing or incomplete
Stopping work is not a last resort. It is a regulatory control. Site teams should assume that unauthorised work can be halted at any time.
For site teams, the key point is that stopping work is a compliance tool, not a punishment. It is used to prevent unsafe or unapproved construction from progressing further, especially where the consequences would be difficult to reverse later.
This means that progress on site must always be tied to approval status and evidence. Continuing work in the hope that issues can be resolved afterwards is no longer a safe approach. Once work is halted, restarting it often takes far longer than pausing to get it right in the first place.
The safest position for supervisors and managers is to treat uncertainty as a reason to pause, not to push on. If approval is unclear or evidence is missing, stopping and checking early protects the programme far more than dealing with a formal intervention later.
This means that progress on site must always be tied to approval status and evidence. Continuing work in the hope that issues can be resolved afterwards is no longer a safe approach. Once work is halted, restarting it often takes far longer than pausing to get it right in the first place.
The safest position for supervisors and managers is to treat uncertainty as a reason to pause, not to push on. If approval is unclear or evidence is missing, stopping and checking early protects the programme far more than dealing with a formal intervention later.
|
Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus
Founder, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |
