The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023

Made: 9th August 2023

Laid before Parliament: 17th August 2023

Coming into force: 1st October 2023

The Secretary of State has consulted the Building Regulations Advisory Committee for England and such other bodies as appear to be representative of the interests concerned in accordance with section 14(3) of the Building Act 1984[^f00003].

PART 1 — Introduction

Citation, commencement, extent and interpretation

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023.

• (2) These Regulations come into force on 1st October 2023.

• (3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

• (4) In these Regulations “the 2010 Regulations” means the Building Regulations 2010[^f00004].

PART 2 — Amendment of the Building Regulations 2010

Amendment of the 2010 Regulations

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The 2010 Regulations are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 17.

Amendments to regulation 2

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In regulation 2(1) (interpretation) of the 2010 Regulations—

• (a) in the appropriate places insert—

• “application for building control approval with full plans” means an application for building control approval[^f00005] in accordance with regulations 12(2)(b) and 14;

• “application for a completion certificate” in relation to a higher-risk building work, has the same meaning as “completion certificate application” in regulation 2 of the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023;

• “business” means a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not);

• “client” means any person for whom a project is carried out;

• “construction phase” means the period beginning when any building work on a project starts and ending when that project is completed;

• “contractor” means any person (including a client, but not a domestic client) who, in the course of a business, carries out, manages or controls any building work;

• “design work” means design of any building work;

• “designer” means any person (including a client, contractor or other person referred to in Part 2A of these Regulations) who in the course of a business— carries out any design work, or arranges for, or instructs, any person under their control to do so;

• “domestic client” means a client for whom a project is being carried out which is not in the course or furtherance of a business of that client;

• “principal contractor” means the contractor appointed under regulation 11D (principal designer and principal contractor) to perform the duties of a principal contractor under these Regulations;

• “principal designer” means the designer appointed under regulation 11D (principal designer and principal contractor) to perform the duties of a principal designer under these Regulations;

• “project” means a project which includes or is intended to include any building work and includes all planning work, design work, management or other work involved in a project until the end of the construction phase;

• “recipient”, in relation to a compliance notice or a stop notice, means the person to whom the notice will be or has been given;

• “relevant authority” means— in cases where the regulator is the building control authority by virtue of section 91ZB of the Act (the regulator: building control authority for other work), the regulator[^f00006]; in any other case, the local authority for the area in which the building is situated or the proposed building is to be situated;

• “relevant day” means any day excluding Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971;

• “sole contractor” means a person fulfilling the duties of the principal contractor by virtue of regulation 11D(6);

• “sole or lead designer” means a person fulfilling the duties of the principal designer by virtue of regulation 11D(7);

• (b) for definition of “building” substitute—

• “building”— in the application of any provision of these Regulations to the construction of a higher-risk building, has the meaning given in regulation 4 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023[^f00007]; in any other case, means any permanent or temporary building but not any other kind of structure or erection, and a reference to a building includes a reference to part of a building;

• (c) omit the definition of “full plans”.

Amendments after regulation 2

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After regulation 2 (interpretation) of the 2010 Regulations insert—

(2A) Subject to regulation 2B, these Regulations apply to all buildings in England including higher-risk buildings. (2B) The following regulations do not apply to higher-risk building work— (a) regulation 12 (giving of a building notice or an application for building control approval); (b) regulation 13 (particulars and plans where a building notice is given); (c) regulation 14 (applications for building control approval with full plans); (d) regulations 14A (determination of applications for building control approval with full plans); (e) regulation 14B (appeal against a local authority’s rejection of an application for building control approval); (f) regulation 14C (appeal against the regulator’s rejection of an application for building control approval for work that is not higher-risk building work); (g) regulation 15 (consultation with sewerage undertaker); (h) regulation 15A (consultation in relation to fire safety); (i) regulation 16 (notices in relation to building work); (j) regulation 17 (completion certificates); (k) regulation 17A (certificate for building occupied before work is completed); (l) regulation 18 (unauthorised building work); (m) regulation 18A (appeal against local authority’s refusal to grant certain certificates); (n) regulation 18B (appeal to regulator in relation to certain decisions); (o) regulation 19 (supervision of building work otherwise than by local authorities); (p) regulation 38 (fire safety information); (q) regulation 39 (information about ventilation); (r) regulation 40 (information about use of fuel and power); (s) regulation 40A (information about systems for on-site generation of electricity); (t) regulation 40B (information about overheating).

Amendment to regulation 10 and transitional provision

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• (1) In regulation 10 (exemption of Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime from procedural requirements) of the 2010 Regulations, for paragraph (2) substitute—

(2) The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime is exempt from compliance with these Regulations in so far as the requirements in these Regulations are not substantive requirements in relation to building work that is not higher-risk building work.

• (2) In relation to any building work to a higher-risk building of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the amendments made by these Regulations do not apply to that building work where it started before 1st October 2023.

• (3) In paragraph (2) “building work” has the same meaning as in the 2010 Regulations.

Amendments relating to dutyholders and competence

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• (1) After regulation 11 (power to dispense with or relax requirements) of the 2010 Regulations insert the following new Part—