Building Safety Act: A Knowledge Gap Among Facilities Managers

Summary

A recent report reveals a concerning lack of familiarity with the Building Safety Act 2022 among facilities managers. This knowledge gap poses significant risks to building safety and highlights the need for increased awareness and training. The Act introduces crucial changes, including the “golden thread” of information, to improve building safety and prevent future tragedies.

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Main Story

The Building Safety Act 2022, a real game-changer here in the UK, has brought about some big shifts in building regulations, especially for those high-rise residential buildings. It was, in large part, a response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and its goal is to make our built environment safer. How? By ramping up accountability and raising safety standards, of course.

Now, a recent report by Watco, called “Lifting the Lid on the Building Construction and Refurbishment Sector,” reveals a pretty worrying trend. It seems there’s a significant lack of awareness and, frankly, understanding of this act among facilities managers.

To put it bluntly, the report found that only 26% of surveyed facilities managers actually understand how the Building Safety Act impacts their roles. And it gets worse; a mere 34% even know what the Act is! This knowledge gap is, I think we can all agree, quite concerning given that these managers play such a vital role in building safety and regulatory compliance. After all, their jobs often include maintenance, repairs, and overseeing all those safety procedures that are directly affected by the act. Think about it; they’re the boots on the ground.

One of the key parts of the Act is the mandate for what’s called a “golden thread” of information. This is basically a comprehensive digital record of a building’s design, construction, and maintenance, kept throughout its entire lifecycle. It’s crucial for ensuring building safety. If something goes wrong, or an inspection is needed, this information is readily available. The Grenfell Tower investigation really highlighted how difficult it was to track a building’s history and maintenance, and this “golden thread” is designed to fix that. It’s like a digital fingerprint for the building, if you will.

The Watco report also turned up some concerning stats about wider safety practices among facilities managers. For instance, only 28% of them carry out thorough site audits or risk assessments annually. And even fewer, just 24%, are familiar with how to report potential hazards. This, I think, points to a bigger issue: that not enough attention is being paid to safety protocols, a problem made worse by not understanding this new legislation.

This lack of awareness is particularly troubling because the Building Safety Act increases the workload and responsibilities of facilities managers. Scott Saunders, the technical service manager at Watco, rightly pointed out that compliance with the new legislation is now a top issue for facilities managers. Add to that the government’s significant investment in housing, and it’s clear we need to ensure strong building safety practices and adherence to the Act. It’s a lot of moving parts.

The Building Safety Act actually came fully into force in October 2023 and introduced new responsibilities and systems. The Act covers all buildings but has specific requirements for those multi-occupied residential buildings, hospitals, and care homes that are 18 meters or taller, or have at least seven stories. These changes include a new definition of “commencement of work”, automatic lapse of plans after three years for work that hasn’t started, and new requirements for information and notifications to building control bodies. It also puts resident safety front and center. It’s about making people feel secure in their homes.

Furthermore, the Building Safety Act also created the Building Safety Regulator, or BSR. It’s the body responsible for overseeing building safety and encouraging competence within the industry. It supervises the whole lifecycle of higher-risk buildings, from design and construction right through to when people are living there. They also introduced “gateways” at each stage of the process, meaning you can’t just move onto the next phase until you’ve got the green light. This should help with ensuring things are being done properly at each stage. And get this, building owners now have to register occupied higher-risk buildings with the BSR, and failure to do so is a criminal offense. Ouch!

Looking at the findings of the Watco report, it’s crystal clear that there’s an urgent need to give facilities managers more training and education on the Building Safety Act 2022. They need a deeper understanding of what the act actually involves, including this “golden thread.” And, honestly, it’s essential for ensuring that they can comply with the new legislation, and, more importantly, for protecting the people who live in these buildings. The construction and facilities management sectors have to make training and knowledge-sharing initiatives a priority, and make sure that these managers are equipped to do their job of upholding building safety standards. Because let’s face it, the cost of not knowing, the cost of ignorance in this area, is far too high.