Other provisions Construction products
The previous regulatory framework for construction products, derived from the EU Construction Products Regulation 2011 (EU No 305/2011) as retained in UK law, covers some of the products placed on the UK market. This framework only applies to products where a designated standard has been adopted or a UK Technical Assessment applies - some 400 product families. The Act provides powers so that all construction products marketed in the UK fall under a regulatory regime, allowing them to be withdrawn from the market if they present a risk.
	The Act creates powers to make provision for regulation of all construction products placed on the UK market. Firstly, it takes powers to make regulations requiring manufacturers to ensure that the products they supply are safe.
	The Act also creates powers for the regulation of "designated products", which covers the same products regulated by the EU framework.
	The Act creates the concept of a "safety critical product" and gives the Secretary of State the power to make regulations to place safety critical products on a statutory list. The Act takes powers for the regulation of such products against safety critical standards.
	The Act creates powers to create new civil penalties and criminal offences for breach of the new regulations. The existing regime is mainly enforced locally by Trading Standards. The Act creates powers for an enforcement regime to support the new regulatory regime as well as create additional enforcement powers for the existing regulatory regime for the Secretary of State, which will pave the way for us to set up a national regulator for construction products within the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to discharge these powers. These powers will allow Trading Standards’ existing enforcement regime to be extended to cover the new regulatory requirements. The Act also creates powers to allow for charging and provide for recovery of costs.
	The Act creates powers to make regulations allowing the sharing of information about construction products between regulators, which could include, for example, between the new national regulator for construction products, the Building Safety Regulator and local authority building control.
	The Act provides an ambitious toolkit of measures which will allow those directly responsible for defective building work to be held to account.
	One of these measures introduces a new cause of action which allows for manufacturers and sellers of construction products to be held accountable where the use of a construction product in construction works causes or contributes to a dwelling being unfit for habitation on completion of those works. This applies retrospectively, in relation to construction products which are cladding products only, and where the relevant products are in breach of regulations, inherently defective, or have been mis-sold. Prospectively, it applies to all construction products, where the relevant product is in breach of regulations, inherently defective, or has been mis-sold. The limitation period for work completed before commencement will be 30 years; the limitation period for work completed after commencement will be 15 years.
	The causes of action in this act apply equally in England and Wales and Scotland. The Act provides a power for the causes of action to be extended, by regulations, to Northern Ireland.
	A further power in the Building Safety Act to make regulations will enable the Secretary of State to make a costs contribution order or apply to the court for an order to be made, to require construction products manufacturers, their authorised representatives, importers and distributors ("economic operators") to pay for or contribute towards the cost of remediation works.
	The Secretary of State would be able to use this power following a successful prosecution for non-compliance with construction product regulations, where use of the relevant product in the construction, or further works, has caused or contributed to making dwellings unfit for habitation.
	This power applies UK wide.