New legislation to improve building safety in Wales

New legislation to improve building safety in Wales has been laid before the Senedd today.

The Building Safety (Wales) Bill forms part of a wider programme of reforms aimed at improving safety in multi-occupied residential buildings across Wales.

The landmark Bill forms part of the Welsh Government’s broader response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy – a high rise fire which broke out in a block of flats in west London in 2017 killing 72 people.

Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant says the new legislation will seek to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.

Reforms

It includes a programme of work aimed at addressing fire safety issues in multi-occupied residential buildings of 11m and above.

The legislation will also see significant reforms to the building control system and the introduction of new regulations for high-risk buildings.

There will be clearer responsibilities for duty holders and mandatory registration and regulation of building control professionals.

The Bill will require building safety risks to be assessed and managed while buildings are in occupation with a robust enforcement regime.

Fire safety duties will also apply to certain houses in multiple occupation.

‘Accountability’

The Welsh Government says the legislation will create “clear lines of accountability” for duty holders who will have a legal responsibility to assess and manage building safety – ending confusion over who is responsible for the safety of residents and others.

Additionally, the Bill will see residents in all regulated buildings provided with greater reassurances about the safety of their homes and clear routes to raise building safety complaints.

Cabinet Secretary Jayne Bryant said: “This landmark Bill will fundamentally transform safety in multi-occupied residential buildings across Wales.

“Its key principles are safety, accountability and residents’ voices, and it goes wider and further than existing legislation in other parts of the UK.

“It creates clear legal responsibilities for owners and others, gives residents new rights and pathways to raise complaints, enables standards for professional assessments, and provides robust enforcement powers when safety requirements aren’t met.

“Because the safety and wellbeing of people in their homes must always be our priority.

“This Bill is part of a wider programme to ensure that buildings in Wales are safer, and that people are protected in their homes.

“The legacy of Grenfell Tower must be meaningful change. We owe it to those who lost their lives, their families, and the survivors to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again.”