Building Safety Bill ‘to enter law today’

The Building Safety Bill is expected to become law later today (28 April).

Lord Greenhalgh, minister for building safety and fire, announced the news on Twitter yesterday.

It is almost a year since the Bill received its first reading in the House of Commons, in July 2021.

The government introduced the Bill in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster and Dame Judith Hackitt’s subsequent Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety.

It marks the biggest overhaul in building safety regulations in nearly 40 years.

But a recent survey by CM found that only 23% of construction professionals think that they and their organisations are ready for the Bill.

In an interview published by CM earlier this week, Dame Judith Hackitt warned that too many construction firms were waiting for the Building Safety Bill to come into force before taking action.

Hackitt said: “Even in cases where third sector bodies have done all of the legwork to set up new frameworks – for example, the excellent competence work led by [Construction Industry Council chief executive] Graham Watts – the construction industry is not taking the steps which only they can take to train their own employees and drive the need for competence throughout the supply chain.”