The Building Safety Act 2022 is the most significant overhaul of construction safety law in a generation. It created a new category of legal duty — "dutyholder" — and placed it directly on main contractors. Most SME builders didn't hear about it. That doesn't make them exempt.
Not legal advice
This article provides general information only and is not legal advice. Building Safety Act obligations depend on the specific facts of each project. Always confirm your specific obligations with a qualified construction lawyer or the Building Safety Regulator before relying on this guidance. Official source: gov.uk Building Safety Act guidance.
What is the Building Safety Act 2022?
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. It was Parliament's response to the Grenfell Tower fire — a root-and-branch reform of how buildings are designed, built, and managed to keep residents safe.
The Act does three main things relevant to main contractors:
- Creates a dutyholder regime — named legal roles for the client, principal designer, principal contractor, and contractors on every construction project
- Establishes a Higher-Risk Building (HRB) regime — a Gateway process and ongoing Building Safety Regulator oversight for residential buildings over 18 metres or 7 storeys
- Requires competence — all dutyholders must demonstrate the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours appropriate to their function
Most of the media coverage focused on HRBs and tower blocks. That obscured an important fact: the dutyholder regime and competence requirements apply to all construction projects in England — not just high-rises.
Key legislation
The dutyholder requirements came into force via the Building Regulations (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/911), which amended the Building Regulations 2010. They have applied to all new building work notifiable under the Building Regulations since 1 October 2023.
Does it apply to me?
If you are a main contractor carrying out building work that is notifiable under the Building Regulations in England, yes — the dutyholder regime applies to you. That includes:
- New residential builds
- Extensions and conversions
- Material changes of use
- Commercial works where building regulations approval is required
The Higher-Risk Building regime adds a further layer on top of this for buildings that are:
- At least 18 metres in height, or
- 7 or more storeys, and
- Contain at least 2 residential units
If your work is not on an HRB, the Gateway process (Gateways 2 and 3 — mandatory sign-off by the Building Safety Regulator before and after construction) does not apply. But the dutyholder obligations still apply — including competence requirements for every dutyholder, and, where the project involves more than one contractor, the requirement for the client to appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing.
Common misconception
"We don't do tower blocks, so the Building Safety Act doesn't affect us." This is a common misconception: the dutyholder regime and competence requirements are generally understood to apply across all notifiable building work, not just HRBs. The HRB gateway process is the additional layer — but the core obligations apply broadly. If you're unsure whether your work is in scope, check the Building Safety Regulator's guidance or a qualified adviser.
The four dutyholder roles
The Building Regulations now define four named dutyholder roles. Where a project involves more than one contractor, the client must appoint a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor in writing — and on most SME projects, one person or company will hold more than one of these roles. What you cannot do is leave them unassigned once the appointment duty applies to your project.
| Role | Who holds it | Core obligation |
|---|---|---|
| Client | The person or organisation commissioning the work | Must appoint a PC and PD in writing where the project involves more than one contractor; ensure dutyholders are competent; maintain compliance during the project |
| Principal Contractor (PC) | Usually the main contractor, where the client appoints one in writing (required once more than one contractor is involved) | Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase; ensure all subcontractors are competent; cooperate with the PD |
| Principal Designer (PD) | The lead designer or architect (or PC if no separate designer) | Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the design phase; ensure design information is provided to the PC |
| Contractor | Any subcontractor carrying out work | Plan and manage their work to comply with Building Regulations; cooperate with the PC |
The appointment of the PC and PD must be in writing. There is no prescribed form — a letter or email is sufficient — but the appointment must happen before construction begins, not after.
Competence: the requirement you cannot outsource
Competence is treated as a legal requirement, not simply best practice, under Regulation 11A of the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended). Every dutyholder is required to:
- Have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours necessary to carry out their role
- Not appoint another dutyholder or contractor unless they have taken reasonable steps to check that person is competent
For businesses (as opposed to individuals), the test extends to "organisational capability" — meaning the company as a whole must have the capacity to carry out the work safely and in compliance with the regulations.
What does this mean practically? Before you engage a subcontractor, you need to take reasonable steps to verify they are competent for the specific work they will be doing. "Reasonable steps" is not defined in the statute, but the Building Safety Regulator has indicated it includes:
- Checking relevant qualifications or trade body memberships (CSCS cards, Gas Safe registration, NICEIC registration etc.)
- Asking for evidence of previous similar work
- Checking the subcontractor's own competence policies and procedures
- Reviewing their health and safety record
Critically, you should be able to demonstrate that you took these steps. If something goes wrong on site and you're asked to show due diligence, an unevidenced claim like "we trusted them" is generally considered weak — documented checks are far more defensible than an undocumented one. Whether any particular explanation would hold up depends on the facts; speak to a qualified construction lawyer if you need certainty.
Document your competence checks
Subchecked runs CSCS, CIS, Right to Work and insurance checks — and creates a timestamped compliance record for every subcontractor, automatically.
What you must document
The Building Regulations now require a construction control plan for all notifiable work. For HRBs, this extends to the golden thread — a digital record of all design and construction information that must be maintained throughout the project and handed over to the accountable person on completion.
For non-HRB projects, the documentation requirements are less prescriptive, but the principle is the same: you need to be able to demonstrate compliance at any point during the project. Inspectors from the Building Control Authority or Building Safety Regulator may request evidence of:
- Written appointments of dutyholder roles
- Records showing you checked subcontractor competence before appointment
- Evidence that subcontractors have the relevant qualifications and registrations
- Site construction control plan and method statements
- Change records (particularly for HRBs — changes to design or specification must be notified)
Practical tip
Create a simple compliance folder for every project: written dutyholder appointments, subcontractor competence checks, relevant cards and certificates with expiry dates noted. This is the minimum that demonstrates reasonable steps under the legislation.
What happens if you don't comply?
The Building Safety Act significantly increased the enforcement powers available to regulators. The Building Safety Regulator (part of the Health and Safety Executive) has the power to:
- Issue stop notices — halting construction on a project
- Prosecute dutyholders — criminal prosecution with unlimited fines and up to 2 years' imprisonment for senior individuals
- Issue compliance notices — requiring rectification work to be carried out
- For HRBs: refuse Gateway approval — which means construction legally cannot start or the building cannot be occupied
For non-HRB projects, enforcement is primarily through the local Building Control Authority. The existing enforcement regime (Section 35 of the Building Act 1984) has been retained but strengthened. Fines for non-compliance with Building Regulations have increased substantially.
Beyond regulatory enforcement, there is potential civil liability. If a subcontractor you engaged causes injury or property damage, and you cannot demonstrate that you took reasonable steps to verify their competence, your exposure in negligence claims can increase significantly.
Personal liability
The BSA creates a mechanism for personal liability for individuals, not just the company. If you are a director or senior manager and the company fails in its dutyholder obligations, you may be able to be prosecuted personally. Legal guidance generally indicates that "I left it to someone else" is unlikely to be treated as a sufficient defence if you had overall management responsibility — but the specifics depend on your role and the facts of the case. Confirm your personal exposure with a qualified construction lawyer.
How Subchecked helps
The competence requirement creates a documentation problem: for every subcontractor on every project, you need to be able to show that you checked their qualifications, verified their registrations were current, and recorded what you found — before they started work.
Subchecked automates this for the checks that can be verified against live registers:
- CSCS cards — verification via the CITB register, confirming card type, trade and expiry date
- CIS status — HMRC Government Gateway verification, confirming registration and deduction rate
- Right to Work — document capture and verification, with timestamped record
- Insurance — insurer-confirmed cover or document-level acceptance, with the verification level clearly recorded
- Gas Safe / NICEIC / NAPIT — for relevant trade types, conditional verification against live registers
Every check creates a timestamped, auditable record. If you're ever asked to demonstrate due diligence — by a regulator, a building control officer, or in a civil claim — the Subchecked compliance pack shows exactly what was checked, when, and what the result was.
It doesn't replace the judgement required for wider competence assessments, but it covers the objective, verifiable checks that the legislation specifically requires you to take reasonable steps on.
Reminder
General information only — not legal advice. Confirm your specific obligations with a qualified construction lawyer or the Building Safety Regulator. See gov.uk's Building Safety Act guidance.