Building Blocks: The Building Safety Bill – an introduction to Dutyholders

The Dutyholders

A key aim of the Building Safety Bill (the "Bill") is to promote a culture where those responsible for the design and construction of buildings can be held to account. As highlighted by Dame Judith Hackitt in the Building a Safer Future Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety Report, the roles and responsibilities of those procuring, designing, constructing and maintaining buildings are currently unclear. Therefore, where events leading to health and safety issues occur, it can be unclear who should be held to account for the particular event.

The Government seeks to address the lack of clarity through the introduction of "Dutyholders" provisions in the Bill, which seek to make it clearer who is responsible for what throughout the course of a construction project.

The Dutyholders are set to include:

• The Client;
• The Principal Designer;
• The Designers;
• The Principal Contractor; and
• The Contractors.   

Duties

As mentioned above, the intention of the Bill is to provide greater clarity as to the scope of each of the Dutyholders' roles and draft regulations have been produced which provide an insight into what this will include. The draft regulations include an emphasis on Dutyholders ensuring that they coordinate and cooperate with each other to ensure building safety. This will be particularly relevant where separate contractors and designers are used on projects. An example from the draft regulations is extracted below:

"Any person carrying out any building work must cooperate with the client, designers and contractors (including the principal designer and principal contractor, if any) to the extent necessary to ensure that the work is in compliance with all relevant requirements"

Furthermore, the regulations require designers and contractors to ensure that the client is aware of its own duties before starting work on a project. An example includes:

"A contractor must not start any building work unless satisfied that the client is aware of the duties owed by the client under all relevant requirements" 

Clearly, contractors will need to be aware of their own duties in addition to the client's duties and will need to ensure that the client is made aware of their duties before starting work on a project. Frequently, contractors are required to work on projects at short notice. Although important, the requirement to make the client aware of their duties before the contractor starts its work may lead to delays.   

Comment 

It will be fundamental for all Dutyholders to ensure they are aware of their obligations under the Bill. The regulations are currently in draft form and, once enacted, a thorough review will be required to ensure the requirements are understood by the relevant parties.    

This blog is part of a series published by Howard Kennedy LLP on the Building Safety Bill. For more information please contact Sharon Stark or Stuart Duffy. For other blogs on the Bill, please click here.