Part 3: Building Act 1984 Building control approvers and building inspectors Section 47: Higher-risk building work: public bodies Background
A public body is defined in section 54 of the Building Act 1984 as a body (corporate or unincorporated) that acts under an enactment for public purposes and not for its own profit and is, or is of a description that is, approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with building regulations. There are currently no public bodies approved by the Secretary of State under section 54.
	Historically, provision for public body notices under section 54 of the Building Act 1984 allowed public bodies to carry out supervision of their own building work. This means it is allowed to supervise its own building work only where a public notice has been accepted.
	Moreover, section 5 of the Building Act 1984 enabled public bodies to benefit from an exemption from procedural requirements of the building regulations. This meant that an "exempt body" does not have to notify a local authority when starting any works.
	Were such a public body to supervise their own higher-risk building work and/or have the ability not to notify the Building Safety Regulator there would be a potential conflict of interest.
Example
The Secretary of State becomes aware that a public body is proposing to build a residential building of 18 metres or higher, and the Secretary of State decides it is not appropriate for the public body to supervise its own higher-risk building work without the regulatory oversight of the Building Safety Regulator.
The Secretary of State decides to make regulations that prevent such public bodies from doing this and the body would be required to follow the construction Gateways etc. and proceed under the supervision of the Building Safety Regulator.