You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
BSR confirms building inspector deadline in letter to council bosses
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will not be delaying the implementation of the fast-approaching new building control regime, despite warnings of a staffing crisis.
A letter sent on 1 March, seen by Inside Housing, by Chris Griffin-McTiernan, deputy chief inspector of buildings at the BSR, warns that failure to register staff could leave authorities unable to discharge their statutory duty.
Under the post-Grenfell Building Safety Act, building control is becoming a regulated profession, which means building inspectors have to prove their competence and register with the BSR by 6 April.
The government will then publish a register of inspectors for England and a separate one for Wales.
However, multiple parties have called for an extension after fears that many inspectors will miss this deadline.
READ MORE
Local Authority Building Control (LABC), a membership organisation representing council building-control inspectors, has warned that a “significant number” will miss the registration deadline.
In a letter sent last month, Lorna Stimpson, chief executive of LABC, told Westminster, the BSR and the Welsh government that the deadline was causing a “critical level of stress” and should be postponed by “at least” six months.
She warned that the “wide-ranging” impact of inspectors not being registered could include a halt in building control certificates being issued, and councils “unable to perform their statutory duties” under the Building Act 1984.
Siân Berry, London Assembly member and former leader of the Green Party, then added to the pressure on the government to extend the deadline, calling on housing minister Lee Rowley to intervene and stop councils hitting a “cliff edge” and being forced to reduce building inspection services.
The BSR has previously been asked by Inside Housing whether it had considered a deadline extension, but the 1 March letter appears to confirm that will not be the case.
In a recent statement, it said: “We have been working closely with representative bodies from the profession over a considerable period of time to prepare for implementation of the new requirements.
“In addition, we wrote to local authorities, and the wider building control profession, to inform them of the registration requirements in advance of the process opening.
“We have seen a positive response to the changes among the profession and it is encouraging to see a large number of people already engaging with the process.
“We encourage all those who have not yet started their assessment to act now and start the process of becoming a registered building inspector.”
The BSR was also asked to comment on the 1 March letter.
Sign up for our fire safety newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
