Policy background
On 14 June 2017, a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey residential tower block in West Kensington, London. Starting on the Tower’s fourth floor, the fire quickly spread throughout the building and took 24 hours for firefighters to bring under control. 71 fatalities were confirmed by the coroner – and a further former resident passed away in January 2018.
	Following the fire, the Government commissioned the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, led by Dame Judith Hackitt. Dame Judith’s final report, Building a Safer Future 1 , was published on 17 May 2018. The Independent Review found that the system for ensuring fire and structural safety for high-rise residential buildings is not fit for purpose. The Independent Review made 53 recommendations, calling on the Government to:
create a more effective regulatory and accountability framework to provide greater oversight of the building industry;
introduce clearer standards and guidance;
put residents at the heart of a new system of building safety regulation, empowering them with more information, engaging them on how risks are managed in their building and ensuring effective routes for raising and escalating safety concerns; and
help to create a culture change and a more responsible building industry from design, through to construction, management and refurbishment.
	The Government accepted all the findings and recommendations of the Independent Review.
	Proposals for a new system for ensuring fire and structural safety in buildings were outlined in the consultation Building a Safer Future: Proposals for Reform of the Building Safety Regulatory System 2 , published on 6 June 2019.
	The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 2 April 2020 3 and a draft version of the Act was published for pre-legislative scrutiny on 20 July 2020 4 . The HCLG Committee reported on 24 November 2020 5 and Government responded on 26 May 2021 6 .
	The Welsh Government asked the UK Government to make a number of changes to the Building Act 1984 on their behalf. These will allow the Welsh Government to use the Building Act to implement a regime for design and construction that is appropriate for Wales, while bringing forward primary legislation through Senedd Cymru in relation to wider proposals, particularly those relating to the occupation phase. The Welsh Government has published a white paper, "Safer buildings in Wales" 7 , which sets out proposals for comprehensive reform of legislation that contributes to building safety in Wales, including how this Act is intended to apply to Wales.
	The Welsh Government has provided further detail on their intentions in relation to individual sections, where relevant, in the "commentary on provisions" section. The intention is that the regulation and oversight of the design, construction and refurbishment of higher-risk buildings and the building control system in Wales will be addressed through the extension of local authority and Welsh Minister functions. For example, the building control authority for higher-risk buildings will be a local authority, and Welsh Ministers or their delegated body will be responsible for the registration and regulation of registered building control inspectors and registered building control approvers in Wales.
	Alongside the new building safety regime, this Act amends provisions within the Fire Safety Order which applies to all non-domestic premises in England and Wales. As part of the Government’s response to the Independent Review, the Home Office issued a Call for Evidence on the Fire Safety Order in 2019, which informed the legislative proposals outlined in the Fire Safety Consultation in 2020 to strengthen the Fire Safety Order and implement recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report requiring changes in the law. The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 17 March 2021.
	The amendments to the Fire Safety Order build on the Fire Safety Act 2021, which clarifies that the FSO applies to the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors in buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises. The amendments require that all Responsible Persons (RPs) must record their fire risk assessments; must not appoint a person to assist them with undertaking a fire risk assessment unless that person is competent; must provide specific, comprehensible and relevant information about fire safety matters to residents of buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises, and must keep records of this information; must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to identify other RPs in the same premises, inform each other of their name and United Kingdom address and of the parts of the premises for which they consider themselves to be an RP and to record that information; that a departing RP must provide specific fire safety information to incoming RPs; and, for higher-risk buildings including a domestic dwelling, must identify and co-operate with Accountable Persons (as defined in the Building Safety Act) in the same premises. In addition, the Act increases financial penalties for three specific criminal offences under the FSO and expressly provides that compliance or non-compliance with guidance issued in accordance with Article 50 of the FSO may be relied upon by the Court as supporting compliance with or breach of the Order. The Welsh Government have expressed their consent for these amendments where relevant to extend to Wales.
	The following provides an overview of the proposals within the Act. This explanation is not organised in the same way as the provisions in the Act itself (see the "Overview of the Act" section for a summary of provisions as they are ordered in the Act). Detailed, section-by-section explanations of all of the Act’s measures are provided in the "commentary on provisions" section.