Part 3: Building Act 1984 Building control approvers and building inspectors Section 46: Higher-risk building work: registered building control approvers Effect
This section amends Part 2 of the Building Act 1984 in relation to higher-risk building work. Part 2 sets out the building control regime where building work is supervised by an Approved Inspector (to be renamed as registered building control approver by section 44 of this Act).
	The amendments to sections 47 and 51A of the Building Act 1984 remove the ability for persons carrying out any building work which is higher-risk building work to choose their own building control body. (Higher-risk building work is defined in section 91ZA(3), inserted by section 32, e.g. work to create a higher-risk building or any building work to a higher-risk building). Technically this change is achieved by prohibiting the submission of an initial notice or an amendment notice in relation to higher-risk building work.
	The effect of the amendments in this section is to provide that any initial notice (or other notice or certificate under Part 2) which specifies building work which is higher-risk building work will be invalid (i.e. will be void and have no legal effect) and Part 2 (including the immunity from enforcement action) would not apply if that building work is carried out. For the avoidance of doubt any work carried out in these circumstances will not have the enforcement protection provided for in sections 48(1), 51(3) or 53(2) of the Building Act 1984. Further it is irrelevant whether the local authority purported to accept the initial notice – as it is void ab initio any acceptance of it will also have no effect.
	Only the Building Safety Regulator can carry out supervision of higher-risk building work (see section 91ZA of the Building Act 1984, inserted by section 32). A person wishing to carry out building work which is higher-risk building work is unable to use a registered building control approver (currently known as Approved Inspectors) or a local authority to supervise that work.
	New section 52A is inserted into the Building Act 1984 to deal with the situation where there are changes to original plans after an initial notice has been submitted i.e. where the original initial notice did not specify higher-risk building work but plans are changed later so that the work, if built, would result in some or all of the works being higher-risk building work. In this scenario the registered building control approver (or the person carrying out or intending to carry out the work) must cancel the relevant part of the original initial notice. The local authority is also required to cancel the relevant part of the initial notice if it becomes aware that some or all of the work is higher-risk building work.
	Additionally, in England only, where the relevant part of an initial notice is cancelled under new section 52A the registered building control approver, person carrying out or intending to carry out work or local authority who cancelled it is under a duty to inform the Building Safety Regulator of the cancellation.
	It is a criminal offence if without reasonable excuse the body or the person fails to cancel the relevant part of the notice or, in England, fails to give a copy of the notice to the regulator.
	New section 52B is inserted into the Building Act 1984. It applies only where an initial notice is cancelled under new section 52A i.e. where the original initial notice did not specify any higher-risk building work, but plans subsequently changed. Section 52B(2) provides that where the relevant part of an initial notice is cancelled under section 52A and a final certificate has been given and accepted in relation to some or all of the work, then that work will have enforcement protection. The new section 52B also provides that the Building Safety Regulator will enforce building regulations in respect of all of the uncertified work, regardless of whether it is in relation to a period before or after the work became higher-risk building work.
	Subsection (5) of section 46 creates a right of an appeal where a local authority cancels an initial notice under section 52A(4). The person carrying out the work or the registered building control approver may appeal to the magistrates’ court (in Wales) or the First-tier Tribunal (in England) on the grounds that the initial notice was not properly cancelled. Where the court or tribunal rules that the local authority has wrongly cancelled the notice, the original notice is not reinstated, however any issued final certificate persists, if accepted prior to the cancellation. The person carrying out the work and a registered building control approver may submit a new initial notice within seven days of the court or tribunal’s ruling being handed down. This can be with either the original registered building control approver or another one. If the registered building control approver of the new initial notice is different to the registered building control approver of the original initial notice, then the certificate and transfer report process in sections 53B to 53E apply.