Gateway 2 is the building control approval stage that prevents higher-risk building work in England from starting until the Building Safety Regulator has approved it. For a new higher-risk building, and for most building work to an existing higher-risk building, the client must ensure approval is in place before the relevant building work begins.
The phrase “Gateway 2” is widely used across the industry, but the statutory process is a building control approval application for higher-risk building work. It is separate from planning permission, a contractor appointment and CDM approval. A project can therefore have planning permission and a main contractor in place while still being legally unable to start the regulated building work.
High-rise buildings in the City of London. Photograph: London Construction Magazine
What is Gateway 2?
The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 establish the building control process for higher-risk buildings. The explanatory memorandum to those regulations describes the pre-construction building control approval stage as “also known as gateway 2” and explains that approval creates a hard stop before building work begins. The Building Safety Regulator is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings in England. As of 2026, BSR operates as a standalone arm’s-length body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government rather than as part of the Health and Safety Executive.
Government guidance on the higher-risk building definition confirms that, during design and construction, the regime generally covers buildings that are at least 18 metres high or have at least seven storeys and contain at least two residential units, or are hospitals or care homes. Hotels and certain other building types are excluded by the detailed statutory definition, so height alone does not make a building an HRB. Existing buildings are also caught where building work is carried out to an existing HRB, or where the proposed work will make an existing building become, or cease to be, a higher-risk building.
What must be submitted and approved at Gateway 2?
Gateway 2 is not simply a drawing submission. BSR's application guidance requires a coordinated package showing both how the proposed work will comply with the Building Regulations and how compliance will be managed during construction.
| Gateway 2 information | What it must establish |
|---|---|
| Drawings and plans | The scope and technical design of the work and how the design complies with Building Regulations |
| Building Regulations compliance statement | How each relevant element of the proposed work meets the applicable functional requirements, standards and design codes |
| Construction control plan | How compliance, competence, cooperation, quality control and as-built evidence will be managed during construction |
| Change control plan | How proposed changes will be assessed, classified, recorded and escalated to BSR |
| Competence declaration | That the client has taken reasonable steps to establish the competence of the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor |
| Fire and emergency file | Fire and structural-safety strategy for a new HRB or relevant Category A work to an existing HRB |
| Mandatory occurrence reporting plan | How qualifying structural or fire-safety incidents and risks will be identified and reported |
| Site and project information | Building location, height, storeys, uses, drainage information, dutyholder details and other prescribed application information |
| Staged or partial completion information | Additional statements or strategies where staged construction or occupation before full completion is proposed |
LCM clarification: the Construction Control Plan is not the CDM Construction Phase Plan. BSR specifically warns applicants not to upload a construction phase health and safety plan in place of the Construction Control Plan, because the latter is concerned with Building Regulations compliance, competence, quality management and the evidence needed to support completion. The distinction between Building Regulations and CDM responsibilities is also central to the Principal Designer role. LCM has previously examined why BSR Gateway evidence and CDM Principal Designer duties are separate responsibilities even where the same organisation is involved in both roles.
Can enabling works start before Gateway 2 approval?
The term “enabling works” does not create an automatic exemption from Gateway 2. The legal question is whether the proposed activity constitutes building work that requires BSR approval. BSR guidance states that building control approval must be granted before building work starts. Carrying out building work without the required approval is a criminal offence. Work that consists only of specified exempt work or competent person scheme work may follow different rules, and there is also a narrow procedure for genuine emergency repairs to existing higher-risk buildings.
Site surveys or other activities that do not themselves constitute building work should not automatically be described as prohibited Gateway 2 work. Equally, piling, foundations, basement construction or permanent structural works cannot escape the regime simply because a project programme labels them “enabling works”. The actual scope and legal status of the work must be established.
Staged applications can allow an earlier approved stage
BSR now provides a formal staged-application route for qualifying new higher-risk building projects. For certain single-tower projects, for example, stage one may include the foundations, a basement level and the structure up to ground-floor level, with later building work submitted as subsequent stages. That is not permission to start those works while the application is still being assessed. Each stage must obtain building control approval before building work within that stage begins.
Planning permission does not equal Gateway 2 approval
Planning permission and Gateway 2 answer different regulatory questions. Planning controls the acceptability of the development through the planning system. Gateway 2 is building control and tests whether the proposed higher-risk building work demonstrates compliance with the Building Regulations and whether the project has suitable compliance-management arrangements. A planning approval therefore does not authorise higher-risk building work to start. Nor does a PCSA, preferred bidder decision, main contract award, demolition package or site mobilisation establish Gateway 2 approval. Each project milestone must be treated separately.
Who is responsible for Gateway 2?
The client is legally responsible for making sure building control approval is granted before building work starts and that the information supplied in the application is correct. The client may authorise another person to submit and manage the application, but the legal responsibility remains with the client. The Building Regulations Principal Designer coordinates design work so that the design, if built, complies with the Building Regulations. The Building Regulations Principal Contractor manages the building work during construction. These roles should not be confused with the separate CDM Principal Designer and Principal Contractor duties concerned with construction health and safety.
LCM's analysis of Building Regulations Principal Designer appointments at Gateway 2 explains why simply naming a Principal Designer is not enough where the submission cannot show effective coordination of the design evidence.
LCM clarification: BSR approval does not transfer design responsibility to the regulator. BSR is determining the building control application on the evidence submitted. Clients, designers and contractors retain their statutory duties for the design and construction work.
How long does a Gateway 2 decision take?
Once an application containing the required information is validated, BSR's published assessment periods are up to 12 weeks for a new higher-risk building and up to eight weeks for an application involving an existing higher-risk building, unless a longer period is agreed. Validation is not approval. If information is missing, BSR can request the missing material or reject the application. During assessment, the regulator may also ask for further information, and the actual time needed will depend on the quality of the application and complexity of the work.
Most importantly, expiry of the published assessment period does not create permission to start work. BSR's guidance is explicit that building work must not start until the application has been approved. For current approval rates, London performance and application volumes, LCM maintains a separate Gateway 2 Approval Index so that changing regulator performance data does not need to be hard-coded into this evergreen legal guide.
What does “approved with requirements” mean?
Gateway 2 is not always a simple approved-or-rejected decision. BSR can approve an application with requirements. In that situation, work can begin on the parts that have been approved, but work subject to an outstanding requirement must not begin until BSR is satisfied that the requirement has been met. Requirements may involve further plans, revised information or delaying a specific part of the work until further evidence has been accepted. This means project teams need to read the approval decision itself rather than treating the words “Gateway 2 approved” as unrestricted permission to build every element of the submitted scheme.
What happens after Gateway 2 approval?
Approval is the start of the regulated construction phase, not the end of regulatory control. BSR requires a notice of intention to start work at least five working days before the work begins. A further notice is required when the statutory commencement point is reached. The documents accepted as part of the building control application become the project's “agreed documents”. Changes to those documents are controlled changes and must be assessed, recorded and managed through the approved change-control process.
BSR's change-control guidance distinguishes recordable, notifiable and major changes. A notifiable change must be notified before related work starts. A major change requires a new BSR approval before the affected work can proceed; examples include certain changes to structural design or loading, external walls, escape routes, common parts and fire-safety measures. Gateway 2 approval also does not guarantee completion approval. At the end of the work, the client must apply for a BSR completion certificate and demonstrate that the completed building satisfies the relevant requirements. LCM's coverage of completion certificates and Gateway 3 examines the separate evidence required at that stage.
Before programming a start on any higher-risk building project, the next practical step is therefore to confirm that the building and proposed work fall within the HRB regime, establish whether a single or staged application is appropriate, complete the coordinated Gateway 2 evidence package and obtain BSR approval for the relevant work or stage. Only after that approval, and the required pre-start notice, should the approved building work begin.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus Founder & Editor, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |