The UK Levelling UP Secretary, Greg Clark, has announced that the building safety pledge contracts will soon become a legally binding requirement that all leading UK house builders must sign within a month. However, it will take a coordinated effort by all the stakeholders, including contractors, manufacturers, insurers, building owners, house builders, and many others, to achieve this challenging task.

The Building Safety Pledge

The Building Safety Pledge

The Building Safety Act is the most significant reform to building safety in a generation. Leaseholders will get protection from unfair bills. This law is believed to bring order to decades of sloppy practices. These include exorbitant bills generated in the garb of improving building safety measures. The Building Safety pledge was introduced to the house building industry in March 2022. Most of the country’s top house builders have pledged an estimated 2 billion to this landmark agreement. According to the government, many leading developers have signed the developer pledge letter, promising to abide by the contract. The government has given time until 10 August 2022 to leaseholders, residents, and other parties to finalize the terms of the contract and oblige by the principles stated in the pledge.

The Critical Elements of the Act

The Critical Elements of the Act

• It aims to provide residents the power to hold builders and developers accountable for defective services
• It will bring in sanctions against builders and developers who compromise on safety-related matters
• A golden thread of information must be created, stored, and updated through the lifetime of a building.

The Act places strong and clear responsibilities on the building owners. Regulators are empowered by the Act to take swift action if the building owners do not discharge their responsibilities to the leaseholders. Non-compliance with the rules can result in stringent penalties. The Act has the power to act strongly against those developers who do not fulfil the terms of the pledge. The real estate industry and the government expect the powers within the Act to be unflinchingly used to provide adequate protection to all concerned players. The new Act also provides the tools to penalize the homebuilders and those who have contributed to this problem. The law can be used on freeholders, contractors, and manufacturers of products used in the housing industry and not just individuals or companies. When house builders sign the building safe pledge contract, they are expected to fix critical safety defects of their buildings. Not fulfilling their commitments can lead to serious legal hassles and obstacles for them when they try to get planning permission on new sites.

For developers who have yet to show their commitment to abiding by the new Act, now is the time to join the others or face action. By signing the developer pledge letter, they can take responsibility for repairs and set right the flaws quickly. There is a whole other discussion running on the 40% or so of residential buildings constructed under Special Purpose Vehicles. SPVs often wound up getting resolved with no danger falling to the building safety fun or the taxpayer after the build was complete.

Mr. Clark also confirmed that alongside the new developer pledge contracts, there would be no backsliding on the 3 billion Building Safety Levy. It will be chargeable to developers when they apply for planning permission on new projects.

References:

References:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-developer-remediation-contracts

https://ringley.co.uk/blogs/safety-measures-for-highrise-flats

https://ringley.co.uk/blogs/building-safety-regulator