Commercial success in construction starts with building safety

The UK construction industry has been on a mission to transform since the Building Safety Act became law in 2022 as its requirements are put into practice. Alfie Heyland, Consult Lead for Central Government explains how rising to the challenge and getting this implementation right is one of the most important investments that the industry can make.

As a guiding principle, the cost of getting building safety right is far less than the cost of getting it wrong. Predicated on the post-Grenfell fire recommendations made in Dame Judith Hackitt's ‘Building A Safer Future’ report – the changes being enacted are far-reaching and fundamental.  

As a result, the Act is reshaping the industry to deliver higher standards, a shift in culture and a more holistic approach to cost and value. Lifetime approaches to the delivery of high-quality buildings place safety and regulatory compliance first and foremost, whether Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs) or otherwise.

For clients with new build and refurbishment projects, my view is that adapting to the holistic cost implications of the Act’s requirements should be fully embraced as an opportunity to deliver more successful buildings. This will mean clients developing more rounded, less price-sensitive approaches to project tendering and procurement, making for healthier competitive processes where supply chain delivery capability and quality of outcome are key.

Navigating new variables

Of course, not all buildings are the same and so pricing building safety costs into a project appraisal comes with wide-ranging variables across its Gateways.

Areas of cost affected by the Act are cross-cutting, from insurance premiums increased across the supply chain, training to develop safety capability, to product materials and systems, digital modelling, golden-thread and reporting administration, fire-safety consultants, the Building Safety Levy, building control and regulator charges, inspector fees, the creation of new roles across projects and more. Our teams have devised scenario tests which can model these variables for clients and, while some of these costs will be fixed, others can extend the timeline to practical completion, keeping the meter on other costs running.

Navigating these variables may cause the industry some growing pain under the Act and could result in total construction time and costs escalating - if not addressed in the early stages when defining roles and responsibilities. They also present opportunities for the industry to rise to though, to innovate and to ‘do bigger better’.

Engage early, take the long view

Developing solutions that factor in building safety cost considerations at each project stage requires close collaboration. The new regulations have been described as agnostic to procurement methods by industry leaders, but the new Gateways mean that collaborative, early engagement across the supply chain is imperative.

Greater accountability makes early decisions around cost, design quality and safety visible (mitigating the potential for future disputes) and subject to more robust regulatory scrutiny. Getting these decisions right during Planning Gateway One can generate savings beyond Gateway Three.

Investing in early decision-making can plan the right materials and products into design so that safety-associated costs post-occupation can be better understood from the outset; from cyclical checks and maintenance works required post-occupation to service charge estimation and accuracy. Early design approval will also inform Principal Contractor and supply chain decisions, making construction more efficient, again this can deliver long-term savings.

These are measures worth resourcing and are usually less costly or time-consuming than un-picking and fixing issues retrospectively. By selecting best-fit suppliers committed to their responsibility as duty holders to deliver safe buildings, clients can improve their prospects of getting a building right first-time.

A safety premium, a lifetime legacy

Achieving higher quality, safer buildings is one way in which the construction industry is delivering better outcomes.

We may not have reached the point where factoring the costs of the Act has become routine but embracing the opportunities it has created offers the potential to generate longer-term value, a safety premium even given that buyers, investors, renters and other building end-users will always opt for the safest option with all other things being equal.

Crucially, it will also help to restore faith and trust in the construction industry because beyond the bottom line is a fully costed, deliverable commitment to creating buildings that are safe for their entire lifetime – and that’s a price worth paying.