The new building safety regime
the risk is that (as we argued here) it will only overlay additional problems over
professions already overburdened with liabilities that should rightly lie elsewhere.
If it is to be pursued, then it surely must go hand-in-hand with a wholesale shift of the
designer’s standing and influence over the project and with it a re -writing of the
contractual documentation that governs their appointment. If the professions are
truly to take over the mantle of ensuring building safety, then the necessary corollary
needs to be the power to bring that about. And that means the way buildings are
procured under the Act needs careful consideration, and in all likelihood, a new
approach . The hope is that this aspect forms part of the ‘culture change’ the
Government are seeking to bring about.
The importance of the client
A welcome message in the consultation response is that the Government recognise
the crucial role clients, especially commercial clients, play in a project’s success or
failure. In the words of DLUHC they “have a major influence over the way a project is
pr ocured, managed and funded…they control the contract, the finances and the time
available for the project”.
As a result, a new section of the Building Regulations will be introduced which,
amongst other things, will require clients to make suitable arrangements to:
• Ensure design work is carried out so that the building work to which the
design relates, if built, would comply with the requirements
• Ensure building work is carried out in accordance with the requirements
• On high risk building work, arrange for certain information to be provided.
Many of the client’s new responsibilities are ‘absolute’ obligations which impose
onerous and wide-ranging liabilities. Government recognise that many ‘commercial’
clients will need help to undertake these duties, including having others undertake
them on their behalf. In common with CDM, whilst the client can delegate the
function, they cannot transfer accountability.
The Government also recognise that domestic clients will not have the capability to
discharge these responsibilities and therefore there is provision in the legislation for
these duties to rest with those undertaking design and building work.
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