Comment: Moving from plans into action - what next for the Building Safety Act?

One year after the Building Safety Act was enacted into, how much closer is the UK construction industry to tackling the issues that the Grenfell Tower incident tragically brought to light?

Building owners will soon face another important milestone, as those in charge of the safety of high-rise residential buildings now have until 1^st October to register with the new Building Safety Regulator. The head of the new regulator, Peter Baker, has called it a "landmark moment" and an opportunity for the industry to raise standards.

With the right mindset of collaboration and innovation, I believe there is an opportunity to establish best practices and lay the foundation for a safer, digitally-driven future in construction.

We’re already seeing change taking shape within the sector. Owners and contractors are increasingly appointing building safety champions, and dedicated teams for every project, similar to the way the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sparked a wave of data leadership hires across the business world in the mid to late 2010s. This dedicated focus is much needed, but there are two further areas that are key for the Building Safety Act to move from the theoretical to the practical.

Weaving the golden thread

The first one is data ownership – much has been made of the so-called “golden thread of information”, which can be quite daunting for certain operators and contractors. But it needn’t be. It essentially means collecting, storing and sharing data for the lifespan of a building; from planning and construction to occupation. Owners face arguably the biggest challenge here, and they’ll need to consider the optimum way to structure data and ensure it’s accessible and manageable at all times.

Lee Ramsey, design management and BIM director at Morgan Sindall, sees the golden thread as “pivotal” to providing a clear picture of data in an accessible way as the new build passes through the Gateway process.

Ramsey believes the Building Safety Act affects all parties involved in the building process; from contractors and architects to owners, adding that the legislation provides a rigorous framework for duty holders to demonstrate that work complies with the new regulations – all geared towards ensuring that the building is being built with occupant safety as paramount importance. The post-Building Safety Act era represents a major opportunity to establish best practice for new construction projects, but it is crucial that all organisations involved collaborate in the most efficient way. Data and digital tools are at the very heart of this ethos.”

Secondly, fire safety design information is a key requirement for the Building Safety Regulator and a clear step to address shortcomings in the wake of Grenfell. The purpose is to assign clear owners for tasks, events and information relating to fire safety, before, during and after an incident, establishing accountability and ownership for every high-rise building in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive has recently argued that this message has “not fully landed” since the Building Safety Act became law, so there is clearly more work and education to be done in this area.

A new mindset for safety

It is critical that every stakeholder involved in the construction or maintenance of a high-rise building understands the shift in processes and mindset signalled by the Building Safety Act, as well as the repercussions of non-compliance.

Mike King, executive technical services director at Robertson Construction Group, argues that to meet the UK’s ambitious infrastructure objectives and deliver on new plans, we need to break down some of the traditional barriers and silos that prevent us from being as collaborative as possible.

According to King, the Building Safety Act provides a regulatory framework to set the industry up for success, enacting systems and processes like the common data environment that help maintain a golden thread of information. King adds that digital tools, like 3D design and BIM, which improve collaboration and communication across teams, will also help to create new efficiencies and drive data-driven ways of working. With the right skills and technology in place to support this, UK construction can lead the way in developing a safer, more innovative industry and ultimately improve quality and productivity.

Using the Building Safety Act as a springboard, it is crucial to foster industry-wide cooperation and transparency. It's a tremendous opportunity to leverage data and digital tools for the construction of safer, more environmentally friendly buildings that truly prioritise residents. Starting with the approaching deadline set by the Building Safety Regulator, we must work together to turn make plans into reality.

Matt Keen, director, construction strategy at Autodesk