News

Regulations and the technical detail underpinning the new, more stringent regime for the design and construction of higher-risk buildings bring changes for all buildings.

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, has signalled his intention to mandate second staircases in new build residential buildings over 18m, following confirmation from expert bodies that they support this threshold.

The industry continues to experience unprecedented changes in safety and this issue covers some of the considerations.

Details of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) Charging Scheme has been published, ahead of its implementation on 1 October 2023 – we explain what's chargeable, the triggers for charges and who is responsible for paying.

Total Training Development Ltd (TTD) has become the third organisation to obtain approval as an independent competence assessor for England. The Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) and the Building Safety Competence Foundation were named as approved providers earlier this year.

UK-based charity the Hamish Ogston Foundation has committed nearly £29m to heritage skills training globally.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) is highlighting changes to registration under the Building Control Act 2007 and registrants’ CPD.

A commercial director at Costain has become the first black President of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES), and he aims to "add value through collaboration".

A ban on installing new oil and LPG boilers, as well as new coal heating, for homes off the gas grid will be delayed from 2026 until 2035, the UK's Prime Minister has announced.

Lord Callanan, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance) was welcomed to the award-winning Leeds PIPES District Heat Network in August.

Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is to draft legislation supporting the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed from 1991-2013.

The recently updated PAS 2080:2023 standard sets out how we can tackle the challenges caused by climate change and promote sustainable practices in the built environment.

The Building Safety Alliance – a collaborative group of stakeholders from the occupation phase with more than 70 declared supporters, including CABE, has announced its intention to become a charity.

The Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce has published a new report that outlines six ‘high-level’ recommendations to solve the green skills gaps in central London’s sustainable commercial built environment sector.

A new report has found a wide range of problems facing the building safety profession in Wales, including significant staffing challenges.

Citizens Advice has called for urgent investment to tackle draughty housing, which it says will save lives, reduce fuel poverty and help the UK achieve net zero.

L&Q, the social housing provider in England, has been ordered to pay tenants more than £140,000 in compensation after the housing ombudsman found “severe maladministration” in tackling disrepair, and that complaints had received “dismissive” responses.

Cross-party MPs in parliament are backing a move to make swift bricks mandatory in new build homes.

The Department of Finance’s consultation on proposed amendments to Part E (Fire safety) of the Building Regulations and guidance in Technical Booklet E (Fire safety) in relation to a range of building types will close on 25 September 2023.

The government has published new measures to minimise the impact of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in education settings after a beam collapsed at a school during the summer that previously was thought to pose no risk to the public.