The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) is the most significant reform to UK building regulations in decades. Introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire, it aims to improve accountability, strengthen the regulation of high-risk buildings, and enforce stricter requirements for design, construction, and building management.
While any legislation that improves building safety and performance is welcomed, new research in the form of a White Paper by Wieneberger highlights the substantial impact these changes are having on architects in terms of increased responsibilities, administrative workload and costs. The research involved 80 UK architects, plus interviews with leading practices.
How the BSA has changed the role of architects
As well as reshaping the way buildings are designed, specified and delivered, the BSA has fundamentally transformed how architects design, document and manage projects.
Architects acting as principal designers under the BSA 2022 (rather than under the CDM 2015) are required to:
- Lead on the design; they must also manage, monitor and coordinate the design process to ensure compliance with building regulations.
- Maintain the ‘Golden Thread’ of information. This is a mandatory digital, auditable record of all building data including key product information and design decisions. Its aim is to manage and mitigate safety risks throughout a building’s lifecycle.
- Provide significantly more detailed design, safety documentation and product specification before work begins on high-risk buildings.
- Verify that all specified construction products are safe, tested and meet required performance standards.
In effect, architects in the role as principal designer now design and manage compliance, a shift that is having significant operational and financial implications.
New challenges
“The introduction of the BSA, and the evolving requirements around
compliance, continue to create operational and financial challenges for practices.” Alan McCartnery, Partner Howells, The Cost of Compliance
BSA has reshaped the industry, transforming the role of the architect from primarily designer to both designer and compliance manager, and, as the recent whitepaper found, this has created significant challenges for architects.
- Compliance-related administration has increased by an average of 16%. This includes sourcing product information, checking compliance data, and documenting design decisions.
- There is heightened anxiety around risk due to increased professional indemnity claims and extended professional liability periods.
- Training budgets are up by 14% reflecting the need to interpret complex regulations and ensure teams stay compliant and effectively manage risk.
However, the true cost of compliance extends beyond time, money and resources. It is also affecting creativity, wellbeing and productivity across the profession.
Four in five architects feel overwhelmed by the increase in administrative workloads, while the same proportion believe these additional demands are limiting their creative freedom.
And with 58% of architects saying they don’t fully trust product/manufacturer claims, it’s hardly surprising they are opting for tried-and-tested solutions. While this risk-averse approach is understandable, it’s stifling creativity and innovation, something that should be at the core of all good architectural design.
What does this mean for future generations of architects?
Inevitably, these changes are shaping the profession for future architects who are now expected to have strong regulatory knowledge alongside design skills.
The requirement for more documentation and compliance requirements may create a deterrent to those interested in entering the profession and could present challenges for neurodivergent individuals, whose strengths lie in creative thinking rather than procedural tasks.
And the growing compliance burden could end up dividing the profession between “architectural design” and “architectural deliver” potentially limiting a young architects’ exposure to the full scope of architectural practice and hindering professional development.
But while the BSA has introduced challenges for future architects as principal designers, it also offers opportunities. As well as enhancing skill sets and competencies, they will be working in a profession with higher standards, greater transparency and stronger collaboration.
The real challenge will be for universities to find a way to prepare students to be both innovative designers as well as skilled professionals able to navigate complex regulations.
What practical steps can the industry take?
To help architects manage the growing compliance burden while maintaining design quality, the industry must work together to improve access to reliable information and strengthen collaboration.
Practical steps outlined in the report include:
- Implementing the Code for Construction Production Information (CCPI) accreditation to ensure product information is accurate, up-to-date and independently verified.
- Creating a single, trustworthy digital platform for compliant building products, allowing architects and specifiers to easily access verified product information.
- Strengthening collaboration between manufacturers and architects, particularly during the early design phase to ensure product specifications meet compliance requirements.
- Building a shared culture of responsibility and accountability between architects, manufacturers and regulators.
- Promoting knowledge sharing through industry forums and professional networks.
- Providing clear, legible formats for regulations to help architects and specifiers understand compliance requirements quickly.
- Simplifying and standardising building regulations to reduce ambiguity and ensure consistent interpretation across projects and regulators.
How Proudlock Associates can help
Working with specialist consultants who can manage regulatory complexity is also a crucial way to help save time and reduce costs.
Proudlock Associates can help projects meet legal and safety requirements by:
- Preparing Access Statements to demonstrate compliance
- Reviewing plans for compliance with inclusion / accessibility standards, including Part M, Part K and Part T of Building Regulations.
- Writing an Access Strategy to explain and justify how the standards have been met.
We can also provide inclusive design guidance to ensure inclusive design and accessibility is embedded from concept through to completion.
By collaborating early in the design process, architects can focus on creative design while we help ensure projects meet safety, regulatory, and inclusion standards, offering convenience and saving time and money.
In conclusion
Architects acting as BSA principal designer have a role making them accountable not only for design but also for safety, compliance, and information management.
By working with specialists like Proudlock Associates, as well as ensuring the industry as a whole focuses on collaboration and transparency, architects can deliver innovative, safe, and compliant buildings without sacrificing creativity or productivity.
You can download Wienerberger’s Cost of Compliance whitepaper at wienerberger.co.uk/whitepaper-the-cost-of-compliance