Navigating the Building Safety Act: Q&A with Stepnell

Navigating the Building Safety Act: Q&A with Stepnell

We recently published an article exploring the Building Safety Act 2024: What procurement teams need to know, including how the legislation is reshaping contractor competence, compliance, risk management, early engagement and project delivery. As we’ve experienced an influx of questions about this topic, we spoke with Rob Spiers, Director at Stepnell, and Ben Greasley, Design Lead at Stepnell, to get their practical insight on how the Act is affecting projects in real terms.

In this Q&A, Rob and Ben share their views on some of the key questions procurement teams should be asking, from how the Building Safety Act is impacting pre-construction programmes to why clients need to prioritise competence, certification, information management and contractor accountability from the earliest stages of a project.

What impact is the Building Safety Act having on project programmes, particularly during pre-construction?

The Building Safety Act (BSA) has fundamentally shifted the “critical path” of project delivery. Historically, design and construction often ran concurrently, but the new regime mandates that critical design decisions are “pulled forward” into the pre-construction phase. For High-Risk Buildings (HRBs), the introduction of Gateway Two is the most significant programmatic change. No site works can commence until the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) approves the full technical design, a process that requires a minimum 12-week review period.

This necessitates a much longer lead-in for pre-construction. We are seeing a shift toward a “manufacturing mindset”: design is finalised, checked, and tested at the start rather than the end. This requires earlier engagement from a wider group of specialists, including MEP engineers and facade consultants, who might traditionally not have been involved until much later. While this extends the pre-construction program, the goal is to eliminate site-based changes, ensuring that once construction begins, it can proceed with significantly higher certainty and reduced risk of regulatory delays.

Rob Spiers, Director, Stepnell

How has the Building Safety Act changed the way clients should approach procurement at the earliest stages of a project?

Procurement can no longer be a “business as usual” exercise focused solely on cost and speed. The BSA requires clients to prioritise competence and certification from day one. Because the BSR demands total transparency on materials and their performance, clients must select products with robust certification much earlier in the process.

Crucially, the design team’s liability under the Act means they now hold a stronger mandate over product selection; if a product doesn’t meet the stringent safety requirements, it cannot be used, regardless of cost preferences. We are seeing a move toward two-stage procurement or Pre-Construction Services Agreements (PCSAs). This allows the contractor and client to work collaboratively to secure Gateway approvals before committing to a final contract sum. This collaborative approach is essential for managing the financial risk of potential 12-week delays should a “major change” be required during construction.

Ben Greasley, Design Lead, Stepnell

What should clients be looking for from contractors to demonstrate they understand their responsibilities under the Building Safety Act?

Clients should look for contractors who move beyond high-level awareness to provide a detailed regulatory roadmap. A competent contractor will present a clear Gateway Process and a Responsibility Matrix that defines the roles of the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor under the new regulations.

Red flags include tenders that treat the BSA as a minor add-on rather than a fundamental change to the delivery model. Instead, look for:

• A “Golden Thread” Strategy: How will they manage the digital audit trail of information?
• Change Control Procedures: A clear plan for managing “recordable,” “notifiable,” and “major” changes to avoid 12-week site stoppages.
• Education and Guidance: The contractor should be proactively asking about the client’s managed digital environment. Under the BSA, the client is responsible for owning the digital space for Gateway Three documentation. A contractor who doesn’t ask about this early in the tender process likely hasn’t grasped the full scope of the dutyholder requirements.

Ben Greasley, Design Lead, Stepnell

How can contractors support clients in developing clearer, more robust information before construction begins?

The contractor’s role is now as much about information management as it is about physical building. We support clients by acting as a bridge between the design team and the regulator, ensuring that the “Golden Thread” of information is established at the very beginning of the project. This involves conducting early design audits to identify potential compliance failures, such as staircase requirements in HRBs, well before they become costly site issues.

At Stepnell, we help clients define a clear scope of works for all consultants, ensuring the right specialists are engaged early enough to satisfy Gateway Two requirements. By formalising the information-gathering process early, we create a “single source of truth.” While this requires more upfront investment in professional fees, it protects the client from the far greater costs of “notifiable” or “major” changes during construction, ultimately providing a safer, more compliant building and a smoother path to handover.

Rob Spiers, Director, Stepnell